Atto opened the emergency trunk retrieving a pair of rubber-cased binoculars. After studying the square, he lowered them. Liza asked:
‘What’s going on? What do you see?’
Unable to find the right words, he crossed the boat, handing the binoculars to Liza. Looking for herself, she saw that the crowds who’d previously been enjoying the evening were now packed tight inside the restaurants and bars, with those who couldn’t find space inside clustered as close to the windows as possible, their attention fixed on television screens as if the country were gripped by a penalty shoot-out in the World Cup final. Many people were holding hands, some children were on their parents’ shoulders, others pressed against their legs. Half-eaten dinners were abandoned on the outside terrace tables. Instead of swooping on the remains, chapims were flying in peculiar geometric formations, zigzagging like bluebottle flies trapped inside on a hot summer’s day.
Nearing the dock, they passed abandoned tourist boats which hadn’t been tied up and were now adrift, bobbing like ghost ships.
‘Why would they leave their boats like this?’
‘I’ve no idea. I’ve never seen it done before.’
They both checked their phones. Neither were working; the screens were blank as though the batteries were dead. Atto secured his boat to the moorings, offering his hand to Liza, not because she needed help but as a pact – they’d face this predicament as a team. Understanding the proposition, she accepted his hand. They climbed up to the jetty walking nervously through the eerily empty square, like explorers setting foot on the beach of a newfound land, waiting to see what kind of people would greet them, friend or foe.
As they reached the centre of the square, with the city as hushed as a scolded child, the evening sky turned blindingly bright, as if the sun and the moon had swapped positions. Liza closed her eyes and covered her face as an exploratory light seemed to pass through her skin. She could feel it inside her body, hungry for every molecular detail. Was she floating right now? It felt that way, but she couldn’t be sure, her body was tingling, her teeth were chattering and then it was gone – the vibrations stopped, the light disappeared and the sky was dark again. Slowly she lowered her arms, opened her eyes. Her feet were firmly on the ground and, adjusting to the darkness, she peered up. She saw stars multiplying like bacteria in a petri dish. These weren’t stars, she thought, they were too bright, too big, and they were arranging themselves in formations – they were ships, ships in the night sky. A staggeringly beautiful alien armada had arrived, the moment many had pondered but few had ever thought would happen. With no previous fascination in space, her interests grounded in the world around her, Liza was surprised how quickly her mind accepted this new reality. A scientist to her core, she updated her understanding of the universe – they were not alone in the cosmos and, more importantly, they’d been found.
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