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conversation.
    “It depends on their timeline," Camilla answered.
    “Explain, please," Web directed.
    “If they’re not in a hurry, these would not be the best targets to select in order to kill the most humans over time. I’m sure you’re all aware of the recent rapid growth in world population, but I’m not sure how much thought you’ve given it.
    “For most of human history, the population of the world was measured in the tens of millions. Advances such as improved irrigation and sewage disposal increased those numbers to the hundreds of millions as recently as two thousand years ago, but it took another millennia and a half to raise the number to half a billion. Over the next five hundred years, the population tripled. Between then and now, a little over a century, the population has more than quadrupled. There are many reasons why this is so, but the primary one is the availability of energy, particularly portable energy. It is not a coincidence that the rise in the rate of population growth aligns with the increasing use of hydrocarbons as fuels. It is causal. If they destroyed our hydrocarbon sources and infrastructure, much of the world would starve to death in relatively short order; yet, they ignored major oil producing countries in favor of more populous ones.”
    “So, you don’t think their intent is hostile?” Web asked.
    “I didn’t say that. I don’t think this approach,” she gestured toward the map, “is the most efficient use of resources over time if their intent is to cause us harm," Camilla corrected.
    “Camilla makes a very good point and also brings up another tangentially. Not only did the anomalies not target hydrocarbon infrastructure, they do not appear to be targeting infrastructure at all. If they wanted the most immediately destructive effect, wouldn’t they at least target the largest city in the selected country?” Dan asked.
    “We don’t know that they haven’t. The original anomaly split into multiple smaller spheres. What’s to say the smaller spheres won’t do the same in order to achieve wider coverage?” Jack asked.
    “Which one is headed toward the U.S.?” Web asked, looking at Rui.
    “The one we’ve been receiving data from," Rui answered.
    “The one we could be talking with," Sam said, just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
    “What?” Chang asked almost before Sam finished speaking.
    Doctor Chang Liu was the team’s mathematician. Although nearly everyone on the team had at least a minor in math in one of their degrees, none of them came close to the expertise Chang brought to bear in the area of game theory. Up to this point, he’d had little to do but theorize with minimal data. He, more than anyone else on the team, had been frustrated at the singular response from the anomalies in the face of all subsequent attempts to communicate. If they could establish a real dialog with the anomalies, he could begin applying his expertise in a meaningful way. Normally not an outspoken member of the team—he was more comfortable with numbers and theory and suspected his accent was thicker than people told him it was—he could become quite so when he felt his ability to contribute was being ignored.
    “Sam’s talking about…” Jack began before Sam cut him off.
    “What I’m talking about…” he started in a more forceful voice before Jack interrupted him, “This isn’t the time to discuss that.”
    “This is precisely the time to talk about a new way to communicate with the anomalies. Why haven’t we heard about this before?” Chang asked pointedly, directing his attention to Web. Unlike Sam, Chang did not need Web in order to do the work he loved. As a result, he had not developed any habit of deference. He showed respect to everyone on the team, deference to none of them.
    Web was well aware that he did not want the outcome of this event, whatever it turned out to be, to include the fact that he ignored Chang’s input. Although he