This is a short story but an entertaining one.

April Mullen has been hired as a planetary astronomer for the outpost on Tertius to track stars.  Tertius is a lovely place, a little retro perhaps, but everyone is friendly and the company apparently wants everyone to be as happy as they can be, although there are some odd orders going with the place…such as always close the drapes before you turn on the lights.  Still, it’s a nice place and a good job, so April doesn’t mind a bit of strangeness, though it produces an uneasiness in the back of her mind.  Then, one night, she spots an unidentified object on her screen.  It bobs…it veers…it’s obviously the very thing she—and the other members of the other members of the now-discredited SETI have been hoping for.  Her co-worker, Bart. however, orders her not to mention it again.  Confused, she obeys.  And then, one night April forgets to lower the blinds and goes to sleep with the lights on…

MY OPINION:  This story reminds me a little of “The Invaders” episode from the original Twilight Zone.  It’s a steady little story in which the strange little requests made by April’s employers add just enough “oddness” to make one expect something sinister.  The reader starts looking for it,  and when it happens…it’s the kind of shock to make you wonder whether to laugh or be terrified.

A great little story.  Looking forward to longer ones, Clare.

(The copy of this novel was supplied by the author and no remuneration for the review was involved.)