Two hours had passed since the sleek hulls of the Nova Express shuttles punched through the clouds and vanished into the blue sky. On Earth, the news was already moving across LucidNet with the speed and force of a planetary shockwave.
Because Nova Technologies had notified only the designated authorities of the regional international airports twenty-four hours in advance, there had been no weeks of public buildup, no official press barricades, and no crowds waiting at the gates. The departure had been carried out swiftly, silently, and entirely unannounced to the general public.
Yet, in an era where billions of eyes watched the sky and tens of thousands of Lucid device holders carried 64K autonomous tracking cameras, secrecy was impossible the moment a starship touched terrestrial soil.
