Rogue

by Alex Schuler, Kevin Weir - contributor

Genres: Space Exploration

Synopsis

The final frontier is closer than we think …

As a war journalist, Jonah Wall saw enough of humanity’s horrors to last a lifetime. He wrecked his marriage, alienated his two sons, and escaped by working on an oil rig in Alaska, as far from civilization as possible.

But when he finds a spacecraft that was buried for millennia under the tundra, he is suddenly and reluctantly thrust into an unbelievable adventure. As the ship is being unveiled to the world, it mysteriously comes to life, taking Jonah, his estranged son, and a disparate group on a terrifying journey.

Our crew of unwilling travelers are transported to a network of planets with remnants of civilizations that are strangely familiar to Jonah and his companions. But something has wiped out every one of them, and the visitors are about to find out what it is.

Rogue is a sweeping adventure story through space and time and a profound exploration of humanity’s age-old obsession with its origins, its flirtation with self-annihilation, and people’s stubborn ability to find love even during the darkest moments.

Release date: April 25, 2023

Publisher: Level 4 Press, Inc.

Print pages: 364

Sample

PROLOGUE

Jonah Wall stood at the precipice of a savage world. The Alaskan wild, the air running cold and unbroken from the Arctic Sea, was a vast white void when the storms picked up, but on a clear day like that one, he could see for miles. An infinite landscape—beautiful and empty, a place that demanded quiet. But in the Natural Petroleum Reserve, it was anything but.

“Sir! It happened again!” a voice shouted. Frankie Moore clomped across the snow toward Jonah, his baby face glowing red beneath a thin layer of grime as he ran, puffing out clouds of vapor.

Another broken bit. Jonah scratched the couple of days of stubble on his cheek and tapped his cigarette out in the ashtray on the picnic table. He stood broad as an oak tree, strong-limbed with pale skin turned to brown bark from working outdoors. Better to cut the smoke break short before his roots sank in and he lost himself in the horizon. He took one last peaceful look at the earth and sky before allowing Frankie to drag his attention back to the rig.

The Nisku 42 was a massive land oil rig, the largest one in North America. A breakthrough for drilling engineering, according to the press releases. Assembled from a couple hundred tractor-trailer loads and built up like a Lego house in the North Slope of Alaska. A mark of power and innovation stuck like a flag into the earth. The newest and fanciest cog in the oil and gas machine.

“Sir? Did you hear me?” One of Frankie’s feet hit a patch of ice, sending him forward half a foot before his boots gripped again. He kept his balance, but his hard hat tumbled off his head, coming to rest at Jonah’s feet.

“Yes.” Jonah scooped up the helmet, shaking the snow clear, and handed it back. “Slow down.”

Frankie took the hat and opened his mouth, but Jonah had already brushed past him. Another broken bit meant another headache and another write-up to the company explaining expenses. He put on his own hard hat and adjusted the safety vest he wore over his winter gear.

Frankie hurried behind him. “Are you, uh, excited to see your family?”

“What?” Jonah frowned.

“When we’re done, I mean. Five days till the rotation, yeah?” Frankie blanched when he got no response. “I thought you were married.”

“I am.” Jonah pressed his thumb against his ring finger, feeling the bulge where his band hid beneath his work gloves. “I live local now.”

Frankie started to speak, then closed his mouth again. Terrence Walker and Saul Young waited near the door to the drilling floor while Mud Nowak and Aleks Kotov leaned against the railings just above. A six-man drill team looked ridiculous under the scale of the structure.

“Staring at the snow again?” Mud called out from the balcony.

Jonah flipped him the bird. “Where’s Darius?”

“Taking another thirty-minute shit. Where else would he be?” Mud was young like Frankie, with a strong jawline, naturally tanned skin, and self-important swagger more suited for a runway than an oil rig.

 The rest of the team got to calling him “Mud” once he became the pit watcher responsible for the drilling fluid—the mud that brought the cuttings up from the well. Jonah figured it also helped the other guys feel better about working with a pretty boy.

Jonah stopped at the entrance to the drilling floor and looked over at the field office with the snow piled up along the north end. He thought he saw some movement behind the curtains, but it was hard to tell from that distance. Darius Hughes, their resident geologist, swore up and down the drill’s path was clear and blamed the first broken bit on the crew’s shoddy work. Behind his back, as they often did, the crew called him an asshole. He wasn’t an asshole, Jonah figured. He was worse. He was lazy.

“What do ya wanna do?” Mud asked.

Jonah wanted to walk into the wilderness. He certainly didn’t want to get into another circular argument with Darius pointing at some indecipherable readout. On the other hand, he needed to get the job done. “Switch out the bit. Hit it again.”

“Man of few words.” Mud clapped Aleks on the shoulder. “Love it.”

The crew went to work. Frankie rushed by, tightening the strap of his hard hat. When Jonah cast him an eye, he slowed and returned an embarrassed nod as he entered the drilling floor. Jonah chuckled beneath his breath. The kid talked a lot, but he had spirit. Jonah’s had broken more years back than he would like to admit, and the slow crawl of time wore on him every day. Thankfully, his team had the energy to pull them through their two-month rotation, and he trusted their skill—even Frankie’s. Whatever broke the drill bits, it wasn’t their shoddy work.

As the crew returned the drill up the hole, Mud sauntered over to Jonah, hooking one arm over a support strut and leaning in. “What’d Frankie do to piss you off?”

Jonah furrowed his brow. “Nothing. I mean, I’m not pissed off.”

“Right.” Mud pulled back, taking his arm off the strut. “You might want to tell him that.”

Jonah glanced over Mud’s shoulder, where Frankie kept his head down and his eyes on the hole. “He’s working fine.”

“I guess he is.” Jonah

barely caught a change in Mud’s tone but quickly shook it off, and as another roughneck called Mud to come help, he pulled out his phone, uncoiled the earbuds, and popped one in.

While some of his crew listened to music to speed up the clock, Jonah preferred something more calming and loaded up his phone with as many audiobooks as he could fit. He’d gotten through most of them in the month and a half they’d already been out there and was now down to the dry dregs. The narrator, a wizened man with a slight German accent, picked up exactly where Jonah had left off: “When asked about the advancement of the human species, many are tempted to express the wonders of modern medicine, telecommunication, and transportation. Few take the time to consider these same advancements also resulted in the nuclear bomb, chemical weaponry, and environmental destruction.”

Frankie detached the massive bit, holding it with two hands and hauling it aside. As he plunked it on the ground, something within the grooves flashed. Jonah frowned and approached. Frankie continued with the switch, unaware of the odd material or Jonah leaning in to investigate.

A silvery substance coated the bit like a thick liquid or gel. Jonah had never seen anything like it come up from the earth. It looked more like mercury than ore. Out of pure curiosity, he gave it a poke before immediately realizing how stupid that was. It could’ve been acidic or toxic, but as his gloved finger struck the liquid, it hardened, taking on a semi-reflective sheen.

“Stop!” Jonah shouted, holding up his hand. “Get the camera.”

All the while, the narrator continued. “Even if one weren’t so dramatic, we’ve seen our rush for advancement result in feelings of isolation and detachment. Our lives are longer, filled to the brim with experience after experience, but what do they mean? Take it all away now, and we would miss it, but a thousand years ago, we could not even have

 comprehended these technologies. We are living in a completely different world from our ancestors.”

Jonah couldn’t look away from the substance on the bit as his team sent the down-hole camera into the earth. Every time Jonah touched it, it sealed up like a shell, only to return to its gelatinous form again a minute or so later. When he finally glanced up, he saw his crew crowded around the monitor, jaws agape and eyes wide.

Mud turned from the screen, his face a combination of alarm and confusion. “Jonah, you need to see this.”

The tension on the drilling floor could have drowned them. Jonah’s heart pounded against his sternum, and the audiobook narrator’s voice became distant, as if from underwater: “As you look at the world around you, consider: Is progress the only goal? Is all progress the same? Is there a point where marching forward blindly will send humanity off the cliff?”

In the grainy black-and-white monitor—in the distant depths below the snow and dirt and metal—the camera showed a small cavern with chairs, windows, and a control console that could’ve fit easily into a science-fiction movie. The walls weren’t unworked stone, but smooth, and as the camera swung around, it revealed a closed exit to the tiny room. Jonah’s mind stalled at the thought, urging him to stay sane, but there was only one explanation he could conjure.

It looked like a spaceship.

 

CHAPTER 1

TWO YEARS LATER

Summer had come to Anchorage. Warmth was relative in the northern latitudes, but when Jonah woke to the chirps of song sparrows, it was as clear a sign as packed beaches. And with the added benefit of fewer people.

A beeping sounded through his home, bouncing off bare walls and cold linoleum. Jonah rushed from the bathroom, dressed in only a towel. His new coffeemaker squawked in time with its display; two loud beeps, a pause, and two more in an infinite loop. A gift from Mud, or, rather, a curse. Jonah stomped down the stairs into his kitchen and started hammering buttons on the infernal device.

He scrolled through menus and options before finally finding the button to stop the beeping. He took a breath of relief. Wi-Fi connectivity, phone app, programmable schedule, but no way to make a noise less grating. He grabbed the travel mug from beneath the nozzle and drank down a hit of caffeine. At least the coffee wasn’t bad.

He snatched the remote off the couch and turned on the news. The screen instantly lit up with shots of work crews milling around the Nisku 42’s former drill site. Jonah paused to take in the images. He hadn’t seen the site in person since making his report, as his crew was moved to another site soon after the discovery, but with everything that came in the news after, he was still stricken by what he’d stood over that day. The mere thought of it made his chest tighten.

A spaceship. He’d felt like a fool thinking it at the time, but that’s what all the media and experts called it. Its metallic shell flashed in the background, but the station never gave the viewer a clear shot. When the military and men in black suits had arrived, he’d figured the discovery would get covered up. But there it was, a great silver machine dug out from the earth like a piece of ore and shown to God and all the people of the planet. He took a sip of coffee and leaned back on the counter.

The newscaster’s smooth voice reported over the scenes. “Efforts continue in Alaska as crews have officially unearthed the final piece of what some officials are calling a spaceship. Reports from the ground are limited, though we are seeing a multinational push from researchers to understand what exactly this structure is.”

The shot changed to one of many military vehicles driving atop the Alaskan permafrost. The entire landscape had been torn up and padded down to make room for checkpoints and temporary structures. Soldiers, NASA

specialists, and civilian researchers flooded the land like ants over a picnic. And Jonah thought the noise from his coffee machine was bad. The entire point of living in Alaska was the solitude.

“More information is expected to be given at the official unveiling in the next couple of weeks,” the newscaster concluded.

Jonah chuckled. That was why they never showed the entire ship, better ratings for the big reveal. He had once lived that life. Why have journalism when they could have spectacle?

He returned upstairs to finish getting dressed, but when he got to his room, the single photo he’d allowed in his spartan home arrested his attention. Him and his boys, Rowan and Ethan. Ethan had his arm out holding the camera, a smile showing a gap where he’d lost a tooth only two days earlier. He’d tripped trying to catch a flyball and tumbled down a small embankment. More subdued, Rowan had his arm around his younger brother. That was a few years back, Ethan a spritely eleven and Rowan a moody fourteen. Now Ethan would be the fourteen-year-old and Rowan a frightening seventeen.

Jonah tugged a shirt over his shoulders and fastened the buttons. Their mother had put them on a late-night flight from Massachusetts, and they were due to arrive that morning. With the rig working him relentlessly, summers were the only time he had to spend with his sons, and he hadn’t seen them since the last one. Every year they changed, and he only saw a few frames from the movie of their lives.

A large diesel truck rumbled down the street as Jonah returned to the kitchen. A scrawny man with thin-rimmed glasses and a close-cropped haircut appeared on-screen, talking to a reporter. A chyron scrolled across the screen beneath him.

DARIUS HUGHES: PETROWAVE COMPANY GEOLOGIST

“The readouts showed something down there.” The man adjusted his glasses and touched his tie. Sweat glistened against the dark skin above his brow, and Jonah could tell it took everything in him not to constantly wipe it away. “While my crew couldn’t hit any oil, I knew there was something important, and we had to keep going at it.”

Jonah groaned and shut off the TV, tossing the remote to get lost among the couch cushions. If Darius wanted to stand in the middle of the circus, slowly melting into a puddle, that was his prerogative. Jonah wouldn’t be any more comfortable in front of a camera, but he’d also never get himself into that situation. He grabbed his jacket off a hook and his truck keys out of their bowl. The spaceship—whatever it was—was the last thing on his mind.

***

The Anchorage airport bustled as people dodged around each other and through terminal hallways. In the arrivals area, military personnel escorting scientists with big bags and hard cases cleared paths amid w

hispers and gawking stares. Within the ocean of travelers, Row and his brother Ethan, each with a hefty backpack in tow, scanned the crowd for a familiar face.

“Oh, cool!” Ethan suddenly took off at a jog, weaving between the bodies, lithe and small enough to sneak through the cracks like a snake. His blond mop of hair bounced as he came to a stop in front of a set of tall glass panels.

There were nine of them of varying height, stretching high over the escalators between them. Each tower contained overlapping images, from blue-green representations of the Alaskan landscape to rectangular fields of copper glass. They’d been there as long as Row could remember, yet Ethan got excited every time they flew in.

Row adjusted the strap of the backpack slung over his shoulder and stepped forward to chase after his brother, only to nearly be knocked down by a family with rolling suitcases. They didn’t look back as they cruised by.

He rolled his eyes and flipped up the hood on his sweater, stomping after Ethan. “Don’t run off,” he said once he caught up. “Mom’ll kill me if I lose you before we even get there.”

“Oh?” Ethan poked him in the side. “She won’t if you lose me later?”

Row grinned and looked at the panels. They were uneven like mountains, and he had to crane his neck to see the tops of them. “That’s pretty cool, I guess.”

“Imagine if they fell over!” Ethan threw his hands into the air like an explosion. “Smash! Like when Mom dropped that mirror, only bigger.”

“Yeah, well, then at least Mom’ll kill you.” He glanced behind him at the rest of the terminal. “Come on. We need to find—”

“Dad!” Ethan took off again, slipping through a gap in the crowd toward a man in a padded jacket who’d appeared from behind a column.

Tall as Row remembered, their father’s strength was visible even through the coat’s puffy insulation. His sturdiness had comforted Row when he’d been little, but now he thought his dad looked old and worn down. Row watched as Ethan slammed chest-first into his waist and wrapped his arm

s around him.

“Whoa!” Dad clapped Ethan’s shoulders. “You’re getting big!”

Ethan laughed and released his grip.

Row took a deep breath, reminding himself it was only for a month, and sauntered over. “Hey, Dad.”

“Hey, Rowan.” And there it was, Row thought. The familiar woodenness Dad always adopted when he talked to Row. With his thumbs tucked into his jean pockets, he looked like a cowboy on TV. “You have a good flight?”

“Yeah.” Row considered telling him he went by “Row” now, not “Rowan,” but there didn’t seem to be much of a point. He’d just forget or bug him about it.

Ethan apparently didn’t have the same concerns. “He goes by Row now, Dad.”

“Oh.” Jonah stiffened like he had stepped on a tack. “Did you have a good flight, Row? I know those overnights can really suck.”

Row rolled his eyes, unwilling to give his dad credit for trying. “It was fine. I slept. I played some Switch.”

“Switch.” Dad snapped his fingers. “That’s Xbox.”

“Nintendo.”

Dad nodded, but Row knew he had no idea what he was talking about.

“We should get our bags.” Ethan smiled, though Row could tell it was forced. Even at fourteen, the kid could feel the tension between Row and their dad.

“Great idea.” Dad finally took his thumbs out of his pockets. “I’ll pull the truck around and meet you out front.”

Row and Ethan wandered to the bag carousel as their dad sped out of the terminal. Row sank even deeper into his hood. Why couldn’t Dad just act normal? Talking to him now felt like torture. Everything Dad did came out stilted, like a bad actor on a soap opera. Ethan didn’t seem to notice; to him, that was how their dad was. He didn’t remember a time before.

“You should be nicer

to Dad,” Ethan said as they reached the carousel.

“I am nice to him.” Row looked over at his brother. Ethan stared down at his sneakers, his smile fading. Row squeezed his eyes shut. The last thing he wanted was to ruin Ethan’s trip. He clapped his arm around his brother’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Hey, aren’t you excited about the camping? You know if you keep that face, Mud’ll break out his guitar. No one wants that.”

Ethan clamped his jaw, but a smile fought its way through. “Do you think Dad’ll let us see the spaceship?”

“That’s, like, way up north.” Row shrugged, even though he had the same hope. Ever since he saw it on the news, it was all he and his friends had talked about. It had taken a full two weeks for Dad to let slip that he was part of the team who found it. Even then, he said it casually, with no real excitement, like describing finding ten dollars in your pocket. But Row would give anything to see the ship up close—finally, something interesting in boring Alaska.

The boys found their luggage and hauled it out to the road, where Jonah waited in his big Ford F-350. Mud was splashed across the side, coating the blue paint all the way up to the windows. Ethan jumped into the passenger seat while Row took the back. They hadn’t even left the airport before Row put on his wireless headphones and let the alt-rock fill his ears.

The truck tore down the highway, past thick treelines and families of deer wandering the curb. Nature hugged against the edge of the asphalt, and Row lost track of time watching birds keep pace in the distance before disappearing into the cloud cover.

In the front, Ethan talked excitedly at Dad. Row couldn’t hear the words, but Ethan’s big gestures and facial expressions spoke volumes. Conversation came easy for his younger brother. Dad nodded along, and while Row still saw that wooden wall, Ethan didn’t.

At one point, Dad handed Ethan a pair of boxing gloves. Ethan’s face lit up, and he immediately put them on, punching at the dashboard and swaying his head side to side, imitating the fighters he’d seen in movies. Dad

caught Row’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and Row saw his dad’s lips move.

“What?” Row tapped the side of his headphones, shutting the music off, and hung them around his neck.

“I said there’s something under my seat.” Dad elbowed Ethan gently, giving him an all-too-obvious wink. “Can you dig it out for me? It’s really poking me in the ass.”

Ethan laughed like it was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Row ducked down and waited until he was out of sight to roll his eyes. Then he felt underneath the seat until his fingers brushed something, and he pulled an oddly wrapped box onto his lap. The edges were more tape than paper.

“See? I didn’t forget you.” Dad drummed his fingers along the steering wheel. “First day of summer, gotta celebrate somehow. Right, Row?”

“Right, Dad.” He tucked his fingers into the folds and tore the paper away. Inside sat an Nvidia graphics card in its colorful display packaging.

“Frankie, the young guy I work with, said that’ll speed your computer up. I don’t know how, but Frankie’s only a few years older than you. He’s got to know what he’s talking about.”

Row turned the box over in his hands. The card was a few generations old. His system already outclassed anything that GPU could get him, but at least Dad hadn’t given him yet another baseball bat. “Thanks. It’ll help.” He put the box aside. He could strip it for parts.

A green light turned yellow, and they slowed to a stop. A bright red sports car roared up next to them, and Mud smiled from behind mirrored sunglasses.

“Row! That’s a Porsche 911!” Ethan excitedly rolled the window down.

“Hey, kids!” Mud shouted. “I heard trouble blew into town.”

“Mud!” Ethan leaned out the window and knocked his gloves together. “Check it out!”

Mud lowered his shades. “Pretty cool. Now, make sure you kids give your dad all kinds of hell this summer. He’s been working too hard!”

The light turned green, and the Porsche’s wheels squealed on the asphalt before Mud tore off, laughing like a madman.

“That’s, like, the sick

est ride,” Ethan enthused. “Do you know how much that costs?” He tapped Dad’s shoulder. “Doesn’t Mud work for you? Why don’t you have a car like that?”

“The truck works fine.” Dad revved the engine. “And it doesn’t get stuck in the snow.”

Ethan looked over his shoulder, tapping his gloves against the side of his head and giving a goofy smile. Row smiled back half-heartedly. If only he could joke and pretend so easily. Maybe then the ocean between him and his father would dry up. Instead, he snapped his headphones over his ears again and zoned out for the rest of the drive.

***

The truck stopped outside Jonah’s wood-paneled split-level, and Ethan jumped out while Row eased himself onto the drive and gazed up at the peaked-roof front, squinting against the sun. The house hadn’t changed since last summer, yet Row still expected to find his father living in some log cabin he’d built himself.

“Come on, Row!” Dad called, holding the front door open as Ethan rushed inside. “Don’t forget your computer thing.”

Row paused mid-step, then spun back to the truck and grabbed the GPU.

Nothing was different on the inside, either. Same bland walls, same single couch with a fifty-five-inch TV—not even a smart one. Row hung his headphones around his neck while Ethan zoomed by, shadowboxing with his new gloves. He’d already tossed his bag haphazardly into the corner.

“You boys remember where the room is?” Dad asked, hanging up his jacket next to the door. “Down that hall right next to the laundry.”

“We know, Dad!” Ethan laughed. He slipped his arms through the straps of his bag without removing his boxing gloves. “Same place as last time.”

Dad nodded. “Fair en

ough. But don’t get too settled in. We’re leaving for the campsite early tomor—”

Sudden beeping cut him off.

“Oh, fu—” His eyes flicked toward Ethan and Row. “Frick.” He hurried into the kitchen, dodged around the island, and hammered his fingers on the coffeemaker. “Sorry, this stupid thing won’t shut up.”

Row spotted a piece of paper stuck to the fridge with the Wi-Fi name and password. He put his bag on the ground, set the GPU on top, then pulled out his phone. Something had changed in his dad’s house, and, as to be expected, Dad couldn’t handle it. Row connected to the internet, opened the camera app, and pushed past his father.

Dad gave him space but peered over Row’s shoulder at the screen.

A square QR code sticker sat on the coffeemaker’s shell. Row scanned it and quickly downloaded the app. A moment later, the beeping silenced.

“You set the alarm to go off every hour instead of every morning.” Row leaned against the counter and hovered his finger over his phone screen without looking at his dad. “When do you want it?”

“I don’t want an alarm,” Dad said. “I just want the coffee at six-thirty.”

“Done.” Row stuck this phone in his pocket. “Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s stupid.”

“I know.” Dad leaned against the counter, looking down at the coffeemaker. Quieter, he repeated, “I know, Row.”

Row got his bag and GPU and passed Ethan coming out of their room. As with the rest of the house, there wasn’t much to it. Two twin beds and a desk with a stool. He immediately unzipped his bag and pulled out his laptop.

“We should call Mom.” Ethan poked his head back into the room. “We said we would when we landed.”

“Yeah, right.” Row placed his laptop on the desk, retrieved his phone from his pocket, and opened the video calling app. It already felt like they’d been in Alaska forever.

The phone only rang once before Mom’s face appeared onscreen and her voice came through the speaker. “Hi, Row!”

“I'm

m here, too!” Ethan called while bouncing cross-legged on his bed. Row turned the camera to him, and he waved with his boxing gloves. “Look what Dad got me.”

“Oh . . .” She smiled. “Great. You’re already at the house?”

“Yeah.” Row turned the camera back on himself and paced. “Dad was waiting at the airport. We didn’t have time to call, sorry.”

“That’s all right.” She sat back in a big lounge chair, the one she always read her books in. “Did you have a good flight?”

“Is that your mom?” Dad appeared at the door. Row spun the camera around, and Dad froze at the sight of their mom. It took another second for him to right himself. “Uh, hi, Lorri.”

“Hey, Jonah.” They had all the rapport of a slug and salt.

“We’re having burgers for lunch, so . . .” Dad pointed vaguely in the direction of the grill. “I’m going to get that started. You boys let me know what you want on your buns.”

“Thanks,” Row and Ethan said in unison.

Row gestured at the gloves still enveloping Ethan’s hands. “Take those things off and help Dad. I wanna talk to Mom for a sec.”

“Okay.” Ethan sounded disappointed, but he tore the Velcro straps open with his teeth and snapped his hands down, sending the gloves bouncing across the room. “Bye, Mom!”

“Call me again before you leave for camping!” she said before Ethan sprinted out of the room.

Row checked to make sure Ethan and Dad were long gone, then eased the door shut. “Mom,” he whispered, “how long do I have to be here?”

“Row.” Her Mom Voice appeared at lightspeed. “You haven’t even been there for a day.”

“It’s so boring.” He flopped onto the stool and booted up his computer.

“You’ve got that camping trip this week. You love camping.”

“Ethan loves camping. I tolerate camping because Ethan loves camping.” He launched his internet browser and waited. It lingered on a white screen, trying to load the home page. “Oh, God, and the Wi-Fi's

s so slow! How am I supposed to hang out with my friends?”

“You can see them when you get back.”

His shoulders slumped as he shut the laptop in defeat. “How do you know Dad even wants us here?”

“Of course he does.” She sighed, her jaw clenching as it always did when she talked about Dad. “Your father is a . . . complex man. He’s got a lot more going on in his big lunkhead than it seems. Just know he loves you.”

“Then why is he out here?” Row ran his fingers over the stickers decorating his laptop case. The GPU lay crooked against the side of his bed.

“Maybe you should ask him.” Mom leaned in closer to the camera. “On your camping trip.”

“Fine.” Row laughed and shook his head. Then he glanced out the window above the desk, toward the backyard where his father and brother happily prepared lunch. Maybe he would ask Dad why he left. If he could find the words.

CHAPTER 2

Jonah loaded up the boys’ camping gear early the next morning. His coffeemaker pressed out hot brew beeplessly after Row’s work, and at 6:30 on the dot, he took a full mug out on his porch, looking into the thin treeline separating him from his closest neighbor.

After giving the boys plenty of time to get up on their own, he downed the last of his coffee and headed back inside, checking his watch. 7:12 a.m. He’d told them to set their alarms for seven, though he wouldn’t be surprised if they’d slept through them.

He rapped on their bedroom door. “On your feet, boys. I’d like to get to the site before noon.”

No answer. He opened the door to find the covers on their twin beds cast aside and the mattresses empty. He scowled. Odd.

Ethan’s laugh echoed through the open window above the computer desk. Jonah leaned out of the room and spotted the sliding door to the backyard cracked open. The boys must’ve snuck out while he drank his coffee. Ethan’s doing, no doubt. He never liked sleeping.

Jonah followed the cries of joy into the field of wild green he called his backyard. The grass rose to his sons’ calves as they squared off, dew soaking their jeans to the knees. They were dressed and ready for the trip and, judging by their wet hair, had even showered. Ethan wore the boxing gloves Jonah had gotten him, taking slow punches at Row while Row danced back and slapped his brother’s hands away.

Jonah leaned against the drainpipe coming down from the gutters and watched his sons play-fight. At least they had each other back in Massachusetts. Ethan dropped his hands and lunged at Row’s midsection, wrapping his arms around his brother’s waist and trying to take him down. Row held his ground against the much smaller boy and let out a whooping laugh.

“I haven’t seen that move before!” Jonah called out.

“Dad!” Ethan released Row and waved. “I got him out of bed!”

“I can see that.”

Row rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Ethan, who spun around on him, one glove over his head and the other one straight out. He swiped his hands up and down, like a flagger directing an aircraft in for a landing, as Row shuffled back.

“You gotta keep your hands up,” Jonah said, heading across the backyard. “And plant your feet.”

“We’re just playing around,” Row told him.

“I know, but you can still have a proper stance.” Jonah caught Ethan by the shoulder and held him still. “Raise your back heel slightly and put your gloves up, not too close to your face, or else your opponent’s gonna knock your own fist into your nose.”

Ethan followed his directions. It had been years since Jonah had done any boxing, and then only as a hobby, but it had kept him in shape. There was a time in college when he considered giving it a real go, but he never found much enjoyment in taking punches. Ethan, however, had taken one look at his old gloves on an earlier visit and become obsessed.

Jonah held his hands u

p as targets. “Give me a swing. Hard as you can.”

“Really?” Ethan’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. Just remember, pivot your body. Your power starts from your legs.”

Bobbing his head, Ethan focused on Jonah’s hands, giving a few test turns with his hips. Steadying himself, he thrust his fist out, striking Jonah’s right hand. His entire body followed the punch, with his back leg coming off the ground. He stumbled forward, Jonah catching him before he hit the dirt.

“Pretty good, right?” Ethan grinned up at him.

“Not bad, yeah.” Jonah set him on his feet again. “Just keep yourself planted.”

Ethan laughed, then stopped with a frown. “Where’s Row?”

Jonah scanned the backyard. Row was gone.

“Row!” Ethan walked in a tight circle around Jonah and called to the trees as though he expected his older brother to have suddenly climbed to the top of one of them.

“I’m out front!” Row’s yell barely made it to the back.

Ethan skipped across the yard, arms swinging limply at his side. Jonah followed. They circled the house and found Row leaning against the truck’s bumper, scrolling through his phone.

“I had to grab my power bank.” He indicated the small battery plugged into his phone. “I grabbed my and Ethan’s backpacks, too. You wanted to go now, right?”

A dark voice in Jonah’s head told him Row hadn’t left just to get the power bank and luggage. How did I mess this up? He rubbed at the back of his neck. I was just giving Ethan a few pointers. He’d have to figure out what he’d done wrong this time, so next time he’d get it right.

“I’ll make sure everything’s locked up,” he said.

After checking the d

oors and grabbing his own phone, Jonah hopped into the truck where Row and Ethan waited. He watched his eldest through the rearview mirror, sitting in the back seat and focusing out the window.

“Hey, Row. Check it out.” He showed him on his phone where he’d downloaded the coffeemaker’s app that morning.

“Cool, Dad.” Row gave a placating nod.

Well, I’m proud of myself, Jonah thought. He’d only gotten a smartphone because it came with a better phone plan. He’d never scanned a QR code before that morning when he copied what Row had done yesterday.

They drove three hours out of Anchorage to a camping spot near a slow-running river. A couple of men from the drill team and their families were already there, setting up tents or parking trailers, letting their kids have the run of the clearing. They were all Ethan’s age or younger, leaving Row the oldest out there.

As Jonah parked his truck in an open spot, Mud exited his travel trailer, hopping down from the raised door. Jonah wasn’t surprised to see he’d left his Porsche at home. You needed a truck out here in Alaska, not some impractical toy car.

Mud gestured at Jonah with a beer bottle, shouting, “Look who showed up! You getting old? You’re usually the first one here!”

“I’ll work on that,” Jonah said, dropping the tailgate.

“What kind of comeback . . .? Whatever.” Mud chugged the rest of the beer and tossed the bottle into a bag.

The other two roughnecks came over to help Jonah unpack. Terrence was Jonah’s age, only leatherier from a long life in the sun. He’d worked rigs in warmer climates and never let the rest of the team forget it. Jonah had no doubt that when a job opened somewhere southward, Terrence would lug his old bones past the forty-ninth parallel. He grabbed some of the lawn chairs from the truck bed.

“Oh, look who’s lending a hand!” Saul exclaimed, coming up behind him.

Terrence gave Saul the finger, sauntering off with the lawn chairs.

Saul plucked the cooler of beer from the back like it was filled with foam. He had the big belly of a powerlifter and the grin of a clean-shaven Santa Claus.

Jonah waved him over, indicating his sons as they circled around the front of the truck. “Remember my boys? Ethan and Row.”

“What’s up, dudes?” Saul’s voice hit with the bass of a large drum. “My own boy, Lon, is over there with Claire.” He jerked his head toward a woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a boy who looked about Ethan’s age, both in good shape, like Saul, setting up a tent across the site. “I’m sure he’d be happy to meet ya.”

“Why don’t you pick out a spot and then meet the other kids?” Jonah handed the boys their sleeping bags.

“You wanna sleep outside?” Ethan asked Row, bouncing on his toes.

“I don’t know.” Row scanned the clearing.

“It’s not supposed to rain tonight,” Jonah said. “It’s nice to sleep under the stars.”

“Speak for yourself.” Mud jumped to sit on Jonah’s tailgate. “You’ll mostly be sleeping under the sun. Night doesn’t fall until about eleven.”

“Please, Row.” Ethan clapped his hands, begging his brother.

Row sighed. “Sure. Let’s find a spot.”

Ethan took off at a sprint, Row meandering behind. Jonah hoped Row would find some connection with the other kids. Maybe someone who liked computers or video games like him. Though that could be hard to come by. Row had been into the whole tech side of life for years. Even planned on going to MIT for some computer degree. Jonah couldn’t remember which one.

“Did you hear back from the others?” he asked Saul.

Saul nodded. “Frankie’s gonna stay with his girl in Portland. He hasn’t seen her in two months, Don’t blame him. And you know Aleks. The day he goes camping is the day Mud here shaves his head.”

Mud barked out a loud laugh.

“Bah,” Terrence rejoined them. “Let ’em miss out. I’ve been marinating steaks overnight, and I’m cooking on an open flame once dinner hits.”

The men cheered at the thought of the steaks and got to finishing the campsite setup. Jonah

kept back, watching his crew and the kids. The yearly camping trip made for high spirits and gave the team something to look forward to. As for Jonah, it forced him to break his isolation for a bit—though he couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy the time away from his house at least a little.

The day went by with hockey talk and beer. Terrence lit a fire in the evening, hours before the midnight sun would dip along the horizon, and placed a cast-iron pan above the flames. All the time they spent eating steak and corn, there was no mention of the spaceship they’d all found two years earlier. Whether it had been talked out or they preferred to keep conversation manageable, no one brought it up.

Finally, Saul clapped his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet, pulling out a Frisbee from beneath his chair and tossing it to his son. “Let’s put this energy to use.”

The group set their finished plates aside and moved down toward the river, tossing the disc between them. Even Terrence got involved, though it took a bit of prodding from his wife, a tiny woman with hair down to her waist. The kids ran circles around them. Ethan caught a toss from Lon, diving and rolling to his feet, then hurled the disc onward to Terrence’s twin daughters. They collided in the air and fell into the grass, laughing.

Jonah stood near the riverside, listening to the water slapping against the stones. A cheer rose behind him, and he turned to see Mud flat on his back, holding the disc proudly in the air. Row sat on a large rock farther downriver, holding his phone sideways and tapping the screen with his thumbs.

For a long while, Jonah looked between Row and the quiet expanse of the Alaskan wilderness stretching before him. He couldn’t come up with the words to start a conversation. On the rig, he never felt out of his depth and didn’t have to worry about saying something he couldn’t take back. Everything could be fixed there, a place where he knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Where he didn’t have to worry about

 taking chances.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and walked over to Row’s side. “You should get in the game. Have some fun.”

“I am having fun.” Row hardly looked up from his phone. “Why don’t you get in there?”

“I guess I’m having fun, too.”

“Doing what?”

Jonah gestured around them. “Taking in the sights.”

Row put his phone down and looked across the river. Wildflowers of purple, pink, and yellow broke up from the dirt and turned to the sun. Clouds billowed through a sapphire sky, their shadows drifting across the mountains like leaves on a lake. The wind blew down the river, creating small ripples with invisible fingers, wrapping around Jonah and Row in the kind of warm embrace the two couldn’t share on their own.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Jonah said. “Even in winter.”

“Yeah.” Row put his elbows on his knees. “It’s nice. Just quiet.”

“Do you not like the quiet?”

“Not always.”

A Sitka deer meandered out from a pocket of trees a few yards past the far bank. Big, branching antlers rose from its head, and its reddish-brown coat shone in the sunlight. Once it spotted them, it froze, ears out, staring at the troublemakers in its territory.

Row met the deer’s gaze, his expression peaceful. Neither of them moved. Even the sound of the others tossing the disc around seemed to fade away. Jonah tried to raise his hand to place it on his son’s shoulder, but he couldn’t get it beyond his own waist.

Then the buck bolted, and Jonah’s hand settled at his side. The moment had passed.

“Dad?” Row frowned.

“What?”

“I . . .” He scratched the back of his neck. “Ethan asked about the spaceship.”

“Oh, that.” Jonah picked up a rock and tossed it up and down. “I’m not even sure it’s a spaceship.”

“What else could it be

?”

Jonah cast the rock into the river. He didn’t have an answer.

“Why aren’t you and Mud and the others more excited about it?” Row persisted. “This is a big thing, right?”

“I guess. People have other stuff going on.” He leaned back, stretching, and gazed up at the quick-moving clouds. “Whatever comes out of that thing is gonna be beyond us.”

“You have no interest in it at all?” Row scooted around to face him.

“Why should I?”

“Because it’s . . . it’s a . . .” He squeezed his eyes shut, then lay back on the rock. “Never mind.”

“Humans will keep being humans, even if we get new toys.”

“I thought you’d be more interested in flying off somewhere,” Row muttered.

Jonah looked at his son, arms spread wide, supine across the rock with his phone held in one hand. It didn’t matter how far Jonah went; the world always lay cold across his shoulders. He didn’t need a spaceship to feel distant.

***

The sun dipped low in the sky, scraping along the far-off mountains in its slow eventide descent. The campers drifted off to their respective sleeping areas. Row followed Ethan to the spot he’d chosen on the edge of the campsite, still in sight of Jonah’s tent but where they had privacy and a clear view of the sky.

They lay head-to-head and looked up as the final oranges and yellows faded away. Row wanted nothing more than to sleep, to count down one more day until this terrible trip was over, but he couldn’t get his mind to sit still. Usually, he’d be able to put on music, any amount of noise to help him calm down. In the dark stillness, he only had his thoughts.

Fortunately, he also had Ethan.

“Hey,” Ethan whispered. “You awake?”

“Yeah.” Row turned in

 his sleeping bag.

Ethan had his arms behind his head, gazing into the burgeoning starfield above. “So, the spaceship. Does that mean aliens exist?”

“I guess so.” Row mirrored his brother’s position. “But it was buried far underground. Some of the articles I read think it’s old. The aliens won’t just be walking around Earth.”

“Can you imagine flying into space?” Ethan pointed a finger into the sky and moved it from side to side like it was zipping between planets. “You could go anywhere. There’s gotta be people somewhere, right?”

“Yeah. Someone built it. They must be super smart.”

Ethan reached back and playfully slapped at Row’s head. “Not as smart as you.”

“Stop.” Row smiled and knocked Ethan’s hand away. “They built a spaceship—that’s super smart.”

“Cool!” one of Terrence’s twins exclaimed across the campsite.

Neon greens and vibrant purples filled the night sky, the scintillating bands of the Northern Lights framed against the star-filled backdrop. Ethan gasped and even in the dark, Row saw the smile spread across his face.

For a long time, no one said a word. They took in nature’s brilliance in rapt silence until Ethan whispered, “I think you’d be happy out there. With people who get you.”

Row smiled. “I’m happy right here, Ethan.”

Colors danced above them, and Row finally found sleep.

***

Jonah woke to ringing. At first, he thought it was his demonic coffeemaker until he saw morning light coming through the thin tent fabric. He slapped through his stuff until he found his cell phone. Without glancing at the number, he stabbed the answer button.

“Jon—” He cleared his throat. “Jonah Wall here.”

“Hi, Jonah . . . Erin . . . department . . .” The voice cut in and out.

Jonah checked the reception. He had one bar disappearing and reappearing with alarming consistency. “Hold on!”

He unzipped the tent

and stumbled into the world.

“Hello . . . Mister . . . Petro . . .” The reception didn’t get any better outside.

Mud, brushing his teeth outside his trailer, saw Jonah. He waved and pointed as he spat the toothpaste onto the grass. “There’s a spot near the road.”

Jonah nodded in thanks and took off at a jog.

“Wait, I need more bars,” he said, not knowing if the other end could hear him as he rushed to where the gravel road turned off from the paved highway. Finally, he got a clear sentence.

“Jonah?” the woman said. “Jonah, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you.” The morning chill cut into his T-shirt and boxers. “Sorry.”

“That’s quite all right.” She sounded like someone who remained cheery on company mandate. “This is Erin Meyers from PetroWave’s media department. We’re looking to have you come up to the dig site for the big reveal next week.”

“I didn’t think you’d want us there.” Jonah rubbed his arms to warm them. More accurately, he thought, I’d hoped you didn’t want us there.

“We see nothing better than having the very crew who made the discovery standing on stage.”

“On stage . . .” The beginnings of a headache twinged between his eyebrows. “I got my kids; I can’t go—”

“Good news.” Papers ruffled on her side of the line. “When we couldn’t reach your cell yesterday, we called your backup contact. Your wife is thrilled to be involved. We just confirmed her flight out.”

Jonah stifled a groan. Great. The first time he’d see Lorri in person in years would be at the site of the ship he’d tried so hard to forget. That was definitely not going to happen if he could help it.

“Look, Erin. I’m not interested in going to any sort of press event. Get someone else.”

Erin sighed throu

gh the line and took on a firm tone. “I understand, sir. However, I’ve been told to relay that your continued employment with PetroWave is dependent on your attendance.”

Jonah squeezed his eyes shut until he felt the blood pounding behind his eyes. Just like PetroWave, wanting to play hardball. The air rushed from his lungs. “Then I guess I’ll be onsite.”

“Excellent!” Erin’s chipper tone returned. “We’re excited to show our wholesome American PetroWave family to the world. See you at the luncheon on Tuesday. I’ve already emailed you details and will now do the same with your team.”

Jonah ended the call and knocked the phone against his head. At least they could finish the camping trip. It was only one day, one trip in front of the cameras then he could vanish once again. He headed back to camp, much slower than his jog to the road. Ethan had asked about the spaceship, and even Row had sounded intrigued.

The kids could enjoy it, at least. He snapped a twig off a tree as he passed. Hell, they’d probably love me for it. That would make the visit worthwhile for them.

He passed Mud’s truck as the rest of the camp awakened, and Mud cast Jonah a side-eye. “What was—”

As if on cue, his phone dinged. Then Saul’s. Terrence’s sounded as he came out of his RV. The rest of the invitations had arrived.