The aliens appeared one day, built a base on the moon, and put an ad on the Internet: "We are an alien race you may call the Atoners. Ten thousand years ago we wronged humanity profoundly. We cannot undo what has been done, but we wish humanity to understand it. Therefore we request twenty-one volunteers to visit seven planets to witness for us. We will convey each volunteer there and back in complete safety. Volunteers must speak English. Send requests for electronic applications to witness@atoners.com." At first, everyone thought it was a joke. But it wasn't. This is the story of three of those volunteers and what they found on Kular A and Kular B. Title Info. Dedication. Poem. Quote's. Pt I. THE CRIME.1: LUCCA 2: TRANSCRIPT, "WITNESS" INTERVIEW. 3: AVEO. 4: LUCCA. 5: FROM REWIRED AND HACKED IN, EDITORIAL COLUMN. 6: CAM. 7: AVEO. 8: DATA ANALYSIS. 9: LUCCA. 10: CAM. 11: AVEO. 12: PRESS CONFERENCE. 13: LUCCA. 14: CAM. 15: LETTER FROM A WITNESS. 16: LUCCA. 17:.WWW.URGENTALIENCRISIS.ORG. 18: AVEO. 19: LUCCA. 20: ADVERTISEMENT. 21: CAM. 22: LUCCA. 23: "SCHLEPPING TO THE STARS" 24: AVEO. 25: LUCCA. 26: CAM. 27: SOLEDAD. Pt II. AMICUS CURIAE. 28: SOLEDAD. 29: FROM THE OPRAH WINFREY Show. 30: FRANK. 31: SOLEDAD. 32: INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING. 33: FRANK. 34: SUPERMARKET KIOSK DISPLAY. 35: CAM. 36: SOLEDAD 37: A STATEMENT FROM CONGRESSMAN HARRY MELSON (R-GA). 38: SOLEDAD. 39: FRANK. 40: TRANSCRIPT, OVAL OFFICE TAPE #16,845. 41: SOLEDAD. 42: CAM. 43: E-MAIL. 44: FRANK. 45: D-VID GAME. 46: SOLEDAD. 47: FRANK. 48: FOCUS GROUP REPORT. 49: SOLEDAD. 50: CAM. 51: FROM THE NEW YORKER. 52: SOLEDAD. 53: FRANK. 54:Book Review. 55: SOLEDAD. 56: FRANK. 57: FROM WRITER'S DIGEST MAGAZINE. Pt III. THE ATONEMENT. 58: SOLEDAD. 59: GUEST EDITORIAL, TIME MAGAZINE. 60: LUCCA. 61: FROM THE DIBELLA ROSE CATALOG [2021]. 62: CAM. 63: POSTED ON WHYWAIT.COM. 64: SOLEDAD. 65: FROM THE PURPLE BREADBOX. 66: FRANK. 67: SOLEDAD. 68: CAM. 69: ARTWORK IN MS. JUDY KESINGER'S SECOND-GRADE CLASS, ТОРЕКA, KANSAS. 70: LUCCA. 71: CAM. 72: SOLEDAD. 73: TRANSCRIPT, OVAL OFFICE TAPE #17281. 74: FRANK. 75: FROM THE JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY . 76: FOUR. PART IV. THE VERDICT. 77: LAWSUMMARY.COM. 78: ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL, MANHATTAN. "Nebula and Hugo winner Kress presents a fascinating mystery in classic SF style…Kress' philosophical explorations will keep readers hooked and thoughtful." "[Kress'] casually vicious prose smolders with a smooth, page-turning magma flow, unearthing persecuted individuals who live without sleep, bloodthirsty dogs, and morbid murders of bioengineered ballerinas. But all this imaginative bedrock gives way to deeper questions lurking beneath the tough crust of her stories. Kress mishmashes mystery with morality but never entirely drops her poker face, avoiding the literal-minded devil that lesser authors hide in too many details." "Kress once again demonstrates her absolute mastery of alien-human encounters, fleshing out her characters as believable individuals while at the same time managing surprising plot twists and philosophical conundrums at every turn." "A curious and absorbing novel." "Arrestingly ambiguous and persuasively set forth-in the best science fiction tradition, guaranteed provocative no matter what your personal opinions."
