THE SIGNAL

The Boy Who Remembered

Kampala had become a ghost city.

Nyra moved through the abandoned streets before sunrise, keeping her hood pulled over her face. Buildings stood empty, covered in vines and dust. Old vehicles remained frozen where their owners had abandoned them seventeen years earlier.

Her laptop led her toward Sector 7.

Then she heard footsteps.

Nyra spun around.

A boy stood in the middle of the road.

He looked about her age, carrying a battered backpack and holding a strange silver device.

“You shouldn't be here,” he said.

Nyra raised her electromagnetic device.

“Neither should you.”

The boy smiled slightly.

“My name is Kian.”

“I didn't ask.”

“I know.”

Nyra narrowed her eyes.

“How do you know my name?”

Kian looked toward the sky.

“Because I remember the night it happened.”

Nyra's expression changed.

“Everyone remembers.”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“Everyone remembers what they were told.”

He stepped closer.

“I remember what actually happened.”

Nyra lowered her device.

“What happened?”

Kian stared directly at her.

“You weren't twenty when the sky opened.”

Nyra's heart stopped.

“You were three.”

The world seemed to go silent.

Kian continued.

“You were inside the first alien ship.”

Nyra couldn't speak.

Then the silver device in Kian's hand began to glow.

A voice came from it.

“SUBJECT NYRA HAS BEEN LOCATED.”

Both of them looked upward.

Something moved behind the clouds.