by iiambam-
The Fermi Silence... For decades, humanity searched the stars for signs of intelligent life. The answer arrived in the form of thirteen pulses. When a young astronomer named Evan Walker detects an impossible signal hidden within deep-space radio noise, he believes he may have discovered the first evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Moments later, every electronic device on Earth shuts down for exactly thirteen seconds. Governments call it a solar anomaly. Scientists call it impossible. Conspiracy theorists call it proof. Investigative journalist Dakota Sparks intends to expose the truth. What begins as a routine story soon leads her into a web of classified programs, missing persons, buried histories, and a mystery connected to her father's disappearance years earlier. Meanwhile, far beyond humanity's understanding, an observer known only as Xyren arrives with a simple directive: Observe. Do not contact. As strange signals spread across the globe and humanity stands on the edge of a discovery that could redefine life itself, Evan, Dakota, and Xyren find themselves drawn toward a truth older than civilization, older than recorded history, and possibly older than the stars. The universe is not empty. It has been listening. And something has decided to answer.
