 We have been sending deliberate signals out into space since 1974. Many people, including some scientists like Stephen Hawking, have wondered if this might be a grave mistake. In an interview with The Times, astronomer Martin Dominic said, some say alien contact is the greatest thing we should do. Some think we should be very quiet, and this is the last thing we should do, and it may indeed be the last thing we do. The Dark Forest theory states that if the universe is teeming with life, the reason for all these years of radio silence is self-preservation, that hungry hostile conquering forces glides silently past, always listening, and if we want to survive, we need to be just another quiet little blue dot in the vastness of space. Olivia and I grew up in Magdalena, New Mexico. It's a very small town. The last census had us at 912 full-time residents. We have a few restaurants and cafes, and every year for a few weeks of winter, tumbleweeds take over the town. They can be found here and there along almost every road, and sometimes, if the wind is just right, they will completely cover the sidewalks and colorful storefronts along the east side of Main Street. The houses here are small and a bit rundown, but the people are friendly and kind. We're located in the high desert on land that is as flat as a pancake. There aren't many trees to be found. It's mostly low-growing desert scrub with a few pines, but often the distance you can see the surrounding mountains. The one thing that sets us apart is that we're just a stone's throw from the VLA. The very large array is a radio astronomy observatory. It's a huge bank of radio telescopes set out in a gigantic Y shape in the desert. The VLA receives signals coming from space. It listens. Olivia and I have worked at the observatory every summer since we turned 15. Her mom would drop us off or we'd ride our bikes. We did everything from running the gift shop to sweeping the public walkways. It was interesting and it was fun because we were together. I've always lived here with my Aunt Vera on the outskirts of Magdalena until I went away to college last year. I still come back on holidays and summer break. This year in particular I've been looking forward to spending the summer working at the observatory and spending time with Olivia. I have an important question to ask her and I don't mind telling you I'm a bit nervous. She's going on a trip to visit family in New York with her sister Irene. She's planning on leaving two days after I arrive. It's just for two weeks so I'll wait until she gets back to ask her. I was in my dorm room packing up my belongings and checking to see I hadn't missed anything when I got the call. My aunt was in the hospital. She'd had a heart attack and was stable for the moment. She was the only family I had left. I threw my stuff in the car and took off. I can barely remember the ride. Olivia was waiting for me outside the hospital and we went in together. My aunt was conscious and able to talk quietly. She looked very frail lying there in that cold metallic bed but we were told she would make a full recovery. We stayed at the hospital until visiting hours were over then picked up some takeout and drove back to my aunt's house. Olivia talked about canceling her trip but I told her not to worry. I told her I could handle things here. She'd been planning that visit for months. I told her to go. Looking back now it's the thing I most regret. We spent a last quiet evening together sitting and talking on the front porch and looking out across the desert at the star filled sky. The next morning I drove Olivia and her sister to the airport. We said our goodbyes and I drove back to the hospital. There I was surprised to find Aunt Vera sitting up by the window laughing with her best friend Lucy Meyerson. I stayed for an hour then excused myself to go check in at the observatory. There was little traffic and in no time I was pulling into the parking lot a plume of red dust trailing behind me. I could see Leon, the head maintenance man, wrestling with a large terracotta planner so I rushed over to lend a hand. David, it's good to see ya. How's Vera doing? He asked. Getting better every day. They're sending her home in a week. I replied with a sigh of relief. That's really good to hear. Leon smiled, clapping me on the shoulder. And I'm sure I'm glad you're here. I could use the help. Leon and I spent the afternoon digging out a couple of small dead trees and replacing them with an olive tree and some native grasses. It was too hot to talk much while we were digging and hauling but on our lunch break he filled me in with the local goings on. Leon told me that over the course of the last six weeks the staff had been reduced to a skeleton crew. At first he thought that some of our funding had been cut so he asked Karen, the office manager. She said no that there hadn't been any recent cutbacks but there had been a lot of closed door meetings and phone calls back and forth between other observatories and also to Washington all of the temporary help and been sent home and after tomorrow Karen would also be working from home. Some things up Leon said but I don't know what. Maybe we found something out there. I said looking upwards or maybe something's found us. Leon shook his head continuing. It's the damnedest idea I ever heard of sending out signals into space. We don't know what's out there. It's like dropping yourself in the middle of the ocean and sending out a tray of chum. Sharks can smell blood from a mile away and just like whatever's up there we won't hear him coming. That evening I drove back to my aunt's house with Leon's words going round in my head. There's something about the desert that makes you realize how small and insignificant we are. After a while I got up to bring my dishes inside and down the street I could hear a soft metallic tapping. It was Miss Perez ringing the dinner bell for her stray cats. The next day was busy. I stopped at the hospital first thing in the morning then headed into work. Leon in fear of losing his last extra hand kept us working hard at one project after another. At home that night while warming up some leftovers I heard the creaking of the front porch steps. It was Miss Perez. After asking about Aunt Vera she smiled at the good news and handed me a plate of still warm chocolate chip cookies. We talked for a few minutes then turning to go. She asked if I had seen her cats. She'd put out food for them last night but the dishes were left untouched. I told her I'd keep an eye out. I ate my supper on the porch. As the final rays of light followed the sun below the horizon a cool breeze picked up and I must have dozed off in my chair because I woke to the pattern of quiet rain. A thick layer of clouds blocked half the sky but in the distance I could still see the full moon over the mountains. A quick flash of movement to my right caused me to rise from my chair and walk to the top of the steps. I counted eight deer moving quickly in single file. They ran across the road and headed for the mountains. Trailing along behind them were two dogs and a cat. The following day at work I told Leon about the strange caravan. I asked if he'd ever seen anything like it. He paused thinking, well I did hear about a study that said a lot of missing house pets can signal something's coming that the animals can sense things like earthquakes and such ahead of time you know so they can get out of dodge. Later that evening sitting on the porch I listened for the usual sounds of neighborhood dogs barking but there was only silence. I had a hard time falling asleep that night. Eventually though I dozed off. I bolted full awake at 3 a.m. with a feeling of abject dread. My heart was pounding and it felt like the ceiling above me was pushing down with incredible weight knowing full well that I'd never get back to sleep. I got up to check the house. Flicking the switch to the main room resulted in nothing. Checking the kitchen I found the light was out there too. The curtains to the window over the sink were opened and I could see a dim flickering light reflecting off of the chain link fence. It was coming from the street and my first thought was fire. I grabbed my phone and headed out onto the porch. Immediately I saw sparks trailing down from the utility pole directly in front of the house. Thanks to the recent rain there was little chance of fire. Then I noticed the other utility poles were the same lined up all down the street like a row of gigantic sparklers. Several houses down. I saw Miss Perez run down her steps and across the front lawn towards there was something laying in the street. It looked like a person. My first thought was a downed wire. No stop. I yelled to her. I went to step off the porch when something some kind of intuition stopped me in my tracks. It was then that I noticed a low mechanical hum. The air was filled with static electricity but it wasn't coming from the power lines. I looked up. In the distance the night sky was clear but there was a massive bank of low clouds directly overhead. The clouds were dense but I thought I could see a dim pulsing of lights above them. I heard Miss Perez begin to scream. Then the humming rose in tone and a wide swath of light swept down to the ground. As soon as I touched her she dropped to the ground like a rag doll. That's when I saw them skittering along in the shadows. Six or seven of them at least. They were fast and they were coming this way. Backing into the house I closed the door quietly then went to the front window. With no lights on I would remain unseen but I kept to the side and moved slowly just in case. Through the half closed blinds I could see across the street to about six or seven houses down. This was when I got my first clear look at them. I think I stopped breathing. Their legs were elongated thin but muscular. They moved with impressive speed on all fours but they would often pause to stand and look around. Their angular heads tilting like a dog looking up at its master. Three of them approached a house. In running full force they hit the front door and it exploded inward with a crash. One moved around to a side window and another moved easily up onto the rooftop perching there its head darting quickly in all directions. I caught a glimpse between the houses of two people running through the darkness. They must have run out their back door in a panic. The thing on the roof screeched and leapt down after them. I heard two gunshots and then a scream and then nothing. The creatures returned to their methodical siege of the next house in line and I realized then that they were most likely coming down both sides of the street. That would mean that they were almost here. I started moving then quietly locking the deadbolt on the front door and moving through the rooms both checking that the windows were locked and looking for a place to hide. The house had no basement and only three closets. Both Mai and Aunt Vera's closets were packed to the brim so I decided to try the small closet in the living room. Aunt Vera used that for guests so it was half empty. I grabbed a large knife from the kitchen and moved to the closet. There were a few long coats that I pulled in front of me as I moved to the back. My knee struck something hard. Feeling around in the darkness I recognized a little wooden step ladder. That's when I remembered the crawl space above the closet. I felt a tiny ray of hope until I heard a hard crash at the front door. They were inside. Slowly and carefully I slid the coats back and opened up the ladder. It only had three steps so after quietly lifting the wood panel in the ceiling I pulled myself up into the dusty space above and silently put the panel back in place. I didn't move then. I tried to listen but I couldn't hear much above the pounding of my heart so I tried to slow my breathing. I heard glass breaking and loud crashes as they tore through the house. A minute later I thought I heard the scrabbling of claws on the floor of the porch. Then it was quiet. I didn't move for 10 minutes. Then as silently as possible I crawled over to a small vent and looked out. From there I could see a car on fire in the street. The door was open and a charred human figure lay on the ground. I watched the houses across the street for any faces in the windows with the slightest movement of the curtains but there was nothing and I wondered then if everyone was dead. I took out my phone and tried to call Olivia. There was no signal. I noticed that the loud buzzing hum was moving away now. It grew softer and the air was less filled with static electricity. About 10 minutes later though it started moving back this way. I listened to the pattern repeat three more times until exhausted. I rested my head on the attic floor and slipped into unconsciousness. I heard the slow familiar creaking of the rocking chair. Aunt Vera sat smiling on the porch. She looked so young. I'm fine now. She said I'm with your uncle Jack. I haven't seen him in such a long time. With tears in her eyes now she said I'll miss you my boy but you need to go David go now. My eyes snapped open and it took me a moment to get my bearings. When I came fully awake I was absolutely certain of two things. My Aunt Vera was gone and I had to get out of here. Now lowering myself quietly down to the closet floor I did a quick check of the house. Empty. Heading for my room I grabbed two backpacks and a duffel bag. I threw in clothes, my camping gear, flashlight, a small radio and all the batteries I could find. In the kitchen I got canned goods, some lighters and two large knives. Then I set an unopened five gallon water jug next to the front door. Rating the medicine cabinet I found aspirin, bandages and some leftover antibiotics. Closing up my packs I looked around. Sprinting back to my room I grabbed the picture of Olivia and me that I kept in a frame on my dresser. An old arrowhead sat next to it. I took that as well. I did one last thing too. Then I cinched up the packs, grabbed the water jug and headed outside. Watchfully I moved across the street and through my neighbor's backyard. Then out into the low scrub towards the mountains. Staying low I moved as quickly as I could until I felt the air begin to charge with electricity. Then I hid in the bushes until I heard it once again moving away. After a few hours of this I thought that I was far enough away to just keep walking. Whatever was above the clouds seemed to stay over the town. I wondered if the same thing was happening over every city. My mind kept returning to thoughts of Olivia. I tried to stay positive. She was smart and there were lots of hiding places in New York. Maybe she had just taken an early flight to surprise me. Maybe she was headed for home right now. As the sun began to set I adjusted my bearings so I wouldn't overshoot my destination. I knew where I was going. I reached a small rock outcropping at the first light of dawn. One. Resting there. I drank some water and then buried most of my supplies in the sand. A few miles west of here was a small valley. Tucked away into that wall of the valley was a cliff dwelling. Olivia and I had found it once when we were camping. I wanted to make sure that it was empty before I carried in my supplies. It took me a couple hours to find it. Then I stayed hidden. One. Listening. After a while I climbed up the rocky ledge and looked inside. It was empty. There were three levels empty and silent. Retrieving my buried supplies I returned and set up camp inside the highest level. Exhausted. I slept. I dreamt of our camping trip. 20 minutes from here we had found two very old arrowheads. We'd each kept one. And I dreamt of the message I'd written in black marker on the wall across from the front door. Olivia. When I left they were sweeping the town every 10 minutes. Wait until they're moving away. Then head for where we found the arrowheads. I'll watch for you there every day. I love you. David.