First published 1996
A single observer spots the incoming weapons, but warning comes too late. Relativistic bombs from an alien civilization strike every inhabited world in the solar system nine days before America's Tri-Centennial celebration. The assault eliminates all planetary life in moments. Only scattered survivors remain, hiding in mobile research stations and experimental habitats between the worlds. They struggle to comprehend their destruction while searching for escape routes before the alien technology locates them. On the devastated Earth, two people survive the bombardment. A Jesuit priest and a pilot find protection aboard the deep-sea submersible Alvin, shielded by ocean depths. The historian and scientist emerge to explore their transformed world. They wander across empty continents, fighting isolation and creeping madness as they wait for the alien destroyers to return.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, action, apocalyptic
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, survival
Setting: Earth, Solar System
Period: Tri-Centennial
340 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Avon Books
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence