Seven years before main Harvester arrival. All colonies preparing. Not for war—Harvesters couldn't be fought. For verification. For survival. For proving silence absolute.
Kiran, now sixty-one, coordinated. Established protocols:
All quantum computers: shutdown during passage. Historical archives transferred to non-quantum storage. Nothing entangled. Nothing detectable.
All radio transmissions: catalog and justify. Harvesters would scan. Would analyze. Would compare to threat profile. Light-speed acceptable. Quantum forbidden.
All colonies: silent running. Minimal emissions. Maximum caution.
Threadkeepers transmitted final preparation guidance: "Harvesters scan thoroughly. Will investigate anomalies. Will classify based on evidence. Your dormant ansibles are safe—non-threatening archaeological relics. Your quantum computers are safe—isolated, non-communicating. Your light-speed networks are safe—expected technology level. Maintain current state. Do not innovate. Do not experiment. Do not risk."
Ross 128's lesson had been absorbed. No colony attempted quantum communication. Even research stopped. Too dangerous. Too monitored. Too final.
Cultural drift: 43% average. Human colonies nearly incomprehensible to each other. Shared vocabulary below 5%. Communication required extensive AI translation. Humanity-singular long dead. Humanity-plural firmly established.
New generations viewed ansible as myth. Ancient technology from Before Time. Some colonies debated whether it had been real. Others preserved knowledge carefully. Most existed between—accepting history but finding it irrelevant to current life.
Zara Kim, now ninety-three, gave final interview. Dying. Last ansible witness. Last person who'd known both unity and chosen its destruction:
"I remember instant communication. I remember speaking to all colonies and receiving immediate response. I remember shared now. It was beautiful. It was doomed. It would have killed us. We chose life over beauty. We chose isolation over extinction. I spent decades honoring woman who proved that choice necessary. I don't regret pilgrimage. I don't regret isolation. I regret only that younger generations will forget we were once together. Will forget we chose this. Will think isolation is natural instead of sacrifice. Remember: we were unified. We chose separation. We chose informed. That choice saved us. Honor it."
Interview transmitted to all colonies. Arriving over decades. Last words from last witness. After Zara, ansible was mythology.
Seven years until main swarm arrived. Seven years of preparation. Seven years of collective breath-holding.
Then verification. Then survival. Or not.
END CHAPTER 13