The Kepler Loop

When astrophysicists Lena Ruiz and Mark Carter detect a mysterious signal from distant Kepler-186f during a late shift at their university radio lab they think they've made the discovery of a lifetime. The structured transmission appears to be an intelligent response to Earth's decades-old 'Are we alone?' broadcast. But as government agents descend media swarms and the pressure to decode the message intensifies their secret romance fractures under the weight of first contact. What they finally uncover defies everything they know about space time and the nature of discovery itself. Some signals should never be answered. Some truths are too dangerous to reveal. And sometimes the greatest act of love is choosing silence over scientific glory. The future of two worlds hangs in the balance.