Jim Thorn: Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

Maya sighed as she typed.

Then she sent the text, and reread it to herself.

Sorry to do this last minute. Won’t be able to make it tonight. Something came up. Will reschedule. K? Really sorry.

She exhaled and shoved the phone into her pocket before she pulled away.

Mission accomplished, Gerald.

Maya no longer felt up to her date and blaming her ex-husband seemed like the easiest way to rationalize her cold feet.

Transcript of news broadcast, WLVG Channel 2 Las Vegas

Sally Whitehead: Earlier today, scientists across North America and Europe began buzzing about an exciting new discovery. Apparently, a high level of gamma-ray emissions is being detected from a star 300 light years from Earth. Now if you think this sounds like something right out of a science fiction movie, you’re not alone. Our senior science and medical correspondent, Ashley Acuff, is reporting from the Nevada SETI Center with more. Ashley?

Ashley Acuff: That’s right, Sally. While it’s too soon to jump to any formal conclusions, astronomers around the world are excited about what they’re seeing. I spoke to Dr. Helson of the National Science Institute, and he told me that, normally, gamma rays exist throughout the universe, and the detection of them is neither unusual nor unexpected. However, the frequency of these newly detected rays and their origin is what’s causing so much excitement in the scientific community.

Sally Whitehead: And when you say “origin,” what do you mean?

Ashley Acuff: Astronomers are pointing terrestrial telescopes and gamma-ray detectors at a set of coordinates in a distant galaxy. Helson told me that gamma-ray observation has been around since the 1960s—the technology is not new. But computers have come a long way since then, and scientists are now able to feed the data into a computer system and analyze the results in a way that just wasn’t possible even ten years ago. Even still, the detection of this spike is quite rare. While computers capture billions of bits of data from the cosmos, scientists are lucky if they can interpret even a fraction of it, and detecting a variance within that subset is even rarer. You might say this discovery is like finding a needle in a haystack the size of a galaxy.

Sally Whitehead: I’m sure that’s fascinating work, but our viewers are probably wondering the same thing that I am. What could be causing these gamma-ray emissions?

Ashley Acuff: Again, Sally, I’m not an astronomer or a scientist. But I’ve learned that gamma rays are created by such things as cosmic ray interactions with interstellar gas, collisions between electrons and magnetic fields, and the most common and abundant source—supernova explosions.

Sally Whitehead: Which is?

Ashley Acuff: A supernova is when a star explodes, spewing debris across the galaxy.

Sally Whitehead: Wouldn’t astronomers be able to see evidence of a supernova?

Ashley Acuff: Definitely. But you have to remember that they believe the source of these newly-detected gamma rays is 300 light years away, which means that if the supernova explosion happened today, we wouldn’t “see” evidence of it for 300 years. Because of that, there isn’t really a consensus in the scientific community as to what’s causing the emissions. Therefore, it’s quite possible that an electron and magnetic field anomaly is behind the spike in the readings. So for now, NASA and other global space agencies are continuing to gather data and analyze it. As they draw more solid conclusions, they’ll continue to share them with the general public.

Sally Whitehead: So, Ashley, I guess we don’t have to worry about the arrival of ET. We’re not being invaded from outer space.

Ashley Acuff: Ha! No, no. I don’t think you should stockpile your weapons and food just yet.

“Thanks, Sam.”

“We’ll see you later, Maya.”

Maya smiled as she winked at the cashier and then walked out of the convenience store. Reno sat in the rig off to the side of the parking lot, waiting for her. The Mapco Mart on the corner of Jefferson and Rosa Parks, located on the fringe of downtown Nashville, was a place they stopped at every day during their shift to grab a coffee or pick up a snack.

Maya opened her water bottle and took a sip before climbing back into the driver’s seat. There, she opened a small bag of peanuts and dropped some into her hand to toss them into her mouth.

“You know, you’re lucky I don’t have a peanut allergy. You’d have to get a new partner.”

“And you think I’d have a problem with that?” Maya asked.

“You’re saying you’d pick peanuts over me?”

Maya shrugged and grinned.

“Ah,” Reno said, an insincere frown trying to hide a smile. “I’m a little hurt.”

“Yeah, whatever. You sure you don’t want anything? Sam was a little bummed you didn’t come inside today.”

“I’m sure he was.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I’m sure he’s glad I wasn’t in the way.”

Maya furrowed her brow.

“I mean, he’s got the hots for you,” Reno said.

“What?” Maya asked, scrunching up her face. “He’s at least thirty years older than me.”

“So? Some women are into that.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“What are you into, then?”

Maya felt herself blushing and started up the rig. She glanced in the mirror to make sure the area was clear.

“Come on,” Reno said. “You don’t wanna tell me about this guy you’re going out with tonight?”

“Not particularly. You’re my partner.”

“ And your friend. Don’t pretend like we never talk about our personal lives.” He playfully winked and smiled. “Come on. Tell me about… what’s his name? Rick? Or was it Dick?”

“It’s Nick , you jerk.”

“Yeah, Nick . Tell me about Nick.”

“There isn’t much to tell. I don’t know the guy. And I don’t think I’ll be getting to know him anytime soon.”

Reno shook his head. “You did it again. Didn’t you?”

“I don’t wanna talk about this, Reno.”

“How many dates are you going to break off? This is like, what, the third one in six months?”

Maya said nothing. Sweat beaded on her forehead. What Reno had said was true, though his numbers were off—she’d canceled four dates in five months, almost a stand-up a month.

“I’m sorry,” Reno said. “I shouldn’t be messing with you about this.”

“No, it’s all right. Like you said, we’re friends. Friends rib each other.”

“Friends can talk, too, you know.”

Maya looked at him then, suddenly thankful to have a partner like Reno. She could tell he was a good guy, and he was a heck of a lot more enjoyable to have around than her previous partner, Doug. Doug had been twenty-five years older than Maya, and they’d had virtually nothing in common.

“I don’t want to bore you with my single-mom life.”

“You think that bores me?” Reno let out a small laugh. “My mom raised four kids on her own. I know more about it than you might think.”

Maya turned away and swallowed. “Things have just been a little hard lately. Everything’s fine with Aiden, but Laura’s got that teen girl thing going on where she thinks she knows it all. I figured it would come eventually, but now that it’s here, it’s even tougher to deal with than I’d imagined. Now I know how my parents felt.”

“You? A know-it-all phase?” Reno laughed at his own sarcasm.

She grinned and shook her head, smiling until she thought of the underlying reason for her family’s dysfunction.

“And Gerald… God.”

Maya had complained about Gerald to Reno before—a lot. And it wasn’t fair to Gerald. Reno had never met the man, but he probably thought he was the worst guy on Earth. Maybe she was too hard on her ex-husband, despite his constant arrogance and inconsiderate nature, but it was hard not to be. She believed that he loved his children, at least, even though he spent too much time trying to please the new girlfriend instead of them.