Near Impact

The nations of Earth were on the verge of war when the first asteroid struck. It was soon followed by a second, then a third, then more falling in a cascade of burning death and destruction. Much of the world was turned into an inhospitable wasteland by the sudden onset of impact winter. As the people of Earth set about building new floating cities to survive above the devastation, scientists studying the impacts realized that Earth had not encountered the asteroids naturally; we’d been attacked. The Orbital Defense Department (O.D.D.) was founded to protect the planet from future attacks, and to prepare a scouting mission to find out who had launched the asteroids.

In the years since the attack, O.D.D. has completed construction of humanity’s first starship and is preparing for its maiden voyage. But deep space sensors have picked up a new wave of asteroids, far larger than the first, and it’s uncertain that the starship will be ready in time. O.D.D.