Fireflies at Midnight

Chapter 5: They're Coming

The first evening stargazing session went well as far as Neal was concerned. Armed with a star chart, he and the kids spread mats on the grass and looked up at the stars, not bothering with binoculars. Mozzie had different headgear to wear at night—boppers with LED antennae, making him look like he'd just dropped down to earth from his spaceship. The youngest kids all had glow-in-the-dark space antennae headbands. El had suggested them as a way to keep track of their pint-sized charges, and they were an instant hit.

After the kids were bused back to the nature camp, Neal helped with cleanup chores.

"Put the binoculars on the shelf next to the star charts," Peter directed. "Did you find the lens cap for the spotting scope?"

Neal handed him the cap. "Travis spotted it in the grass."

"Thanks. Where is our man from SETI?"

"Surely you can guess. As soon as the kids left, he headed back to the radio room. Mozzie's there too."

"Figures. Has Mozzie started to excavate a bunker to hide out from the aliens?"

"No need. He wants to be the first to greet them with open arms."

Peter chuckled. "He can practice on the fireflies."

"Is it unusual to see so many? The meadow was ablaze with them."

"I've never seen anything like it. We should ask a ranger."

"When we were storytelling, Amita told us about a legend she'd learned at school where fireflies are stars descending to earth."

"Don't tell Mozzie," Peter warned. "That will simply stoke the flames. He already thinks bees can be possessed by alien intelligence." He zipped the cover on the spotting scope. "Is Ethan sweet on Amita?"

Neal nodded. "Pretty obvious, isn't it? I bet she's his first crush, and he has it bad." At the sound of footsteps, Neal turned to see Janet and Mozzie enter the classroom, followed by Sam and Travis. Sam was carrying a couple of boxes.

"Pie for the hungry astronomers," Janet announced. "El picked these up for us earlier in the day at the farmer's market—we have blueberry and blackberry. There's ice cream in the freezer."

They headed upstairs for dessert, with Janet taking charge of dishing out the pie.

"Who wants honey wine?" Mozzie asked as he opened the fridge.

"I'm sticking with beer," Sam said. "I bought some six-packs at the store to replenish our supply."

Peter spooned a mound of ice cream on top of his slice of blackberry pie. "Any reports of vampires in the area?"

Sam nodded while swallowing. "Bobby put together a map of suspected vampire attacks over the past couple of weeks. The general direction is toward this area, but the frequency of attacks is very low. We've heard about sightings from other hunters, but the vamps are being discreet. We suspect they may be carrying their food sources with them."

Janet looked at him wide-eyed. "They take along bottles of blood?"

"They could, but more likely they're transporting cattle with them—either human or livestock. Bobby's checking with a contact in Europe who may know something about the anistemi." He turned to Travis. "What about the radio waves?"

"Our latest theory is that the waves come from a previously undiscovered pulsar. Dark matter may have obscured its transmission. We're seeking confirmation from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, North Carolina."

Neal looked at Mozzie and smiled in sympathy. "So, the transmission wasn't sent by little green men?"

He shook his head vehemently. "Not necessarily, and I refuse to comment on their skin color till I have more data. There's still unexplained anomalous behavior. The signal now appears to come from multiple discrete sources, all of which are moving in our direction."