They asked no questions, and he offered no comment. As soon as he walked through the gateway, they quietly escorted him to a glider and flew him to his home.

Checking the date and time, Halden noticed they had taken twenty-four hours from him. He was exhausted and dispirited. He felt broken inside, but he would not let them have the last word.

Shaking himself, he took a shower, then lay on his bed to get some rest. Tomorrow, the visor would send someone to pick him up for his trip back to Nad’irith. He sat up suddenly. With all that had happened, he hadn’t sent the list.

Cursing, he hurried to his desk and went through his options. He considered taking Groggan with him, but eventually decided against it. After his experience in the Fault, he knew his assistant would have a role to play and suspected he’d need to be outside the influence of the thilium source to play it well.

Five minutes later, he had a list of ten individuals he felt sufficiently qualified to assist him with this mission and sent it out to the visor. He expected a call from the man, but he didn’t hear back.

Halden returned to his bed and fell asleep.

The next day, he waited for his pick-up. It never came.

An hour after the agreed time, he called the visor. The man did not answer immediately. When he finally did, he sounded irritated.

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Prof. Roche.”

“I can see that.”

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“Right. Well. It’s just that someone was supposed to pick me up today. At least, I thought so, but—”

“Damn it, Roche! Don’t you think I have my hands full right now? I—” Rash stopped. Took a deep breath. “I should not have snapped at you. Apologies. The invasion is putting a lot of stress on everyone at the moment.”

Halden frowned. “The invasion? What invasion?”

The visor squinted at him. “Where have you been the past twenty-four hours? I suggest you check the news, professor. What we feared might happen has happened, only sooner than expected. I’ll get you out there, but you’ll have to find us some answers quick.” A frown. “I had to cancel your transport because I needed the men elsewhere, but it’s for the better. We’ll get you through a gateway. It’ll be faster this way. I doubt they have one on Nad’irith, but we’ll get you as close as we can. I’ll be in touch.”

The communication was cut off before Halden could respond. He blinked and stared at the wall across from him.

An invasion?

He went to his desk and loaded the latest holoflux on his TriVid screen.

“—thousands of ships headed for Vetexta,” said Athissia’s familiar voice. “According to preliminary reports, the local population is resisting evacuation. Five Imperial fleets are, as we speak, converging to meet the invaders and should intercept them before they reach Vetexta. If this fails, three billion more victims could be added to the fast-growing death toll.”

Another reporter—this one a man—appeared, floating in the air before Halden.

“It has been confirmed that the invaders are moving in a straight line toward Assalin. This has allowed the military to predict all the worlds that will be impacted and to commence evacuation and strengthen defenses. Population is urged not to panic. It is unlikely the invaders will succeed in penetrating far into the Imperium. They will be met with deadly force. Twenty additional fleets are being positioned to intercept their advance. Do not panic, but remain vigilant and stay informed. You will soon be notified if your world needs to be evacuated. If such an order comes, please comply as calmly as possible with Imperial instructions.”

Halden’s heart was beating fast by the time he turned off the holoflux. He pulled up information on those worlds that had already been hit and he blanched upon reading the description of the creatures.

Fang-covered.

Just like in his visions of the future.

Those monstrous creatures had arrived.

And humanity was not ready.