Space (Manifold 2)

Malenfant in this
universe is not the reckless adventurer of TIME. He has stayed on Earth
to invest in research into what he regards as long-term thinking: SETI,
using gravitational lensing to hunt for planets and Eetie signals,
exploring the venerable Fermi paradox, 'If they existed, they would be
here'. 

When Nemoto, a Japanese researcher on the Moon, discovers
evidence of the activity of extraterrestrial intelligences in the solar
system, she is unable to reconcile her observations with the accepted
paradigm. Instead of publishing her findings, she seeks Malenfant's
opinion: he travels to the Moon, ostensibly to lecture on SETI, in fact
to answer Nemoto's question: WHY NOW? 

Nemoto and Malenfant share the
certainty that the resources of all nations on Earth are needed to
respond to this, and this was her reason for summoning Malenfant. But
deeper layers of Fermi's paradox unravel against a backdrop of violently
mixed reactions to the revelation that alien beings, dubbed the Gaijin,
also inhabit the solar system. It's like the Gaijin are e-mailing
themselves from star to star, and are not really there at all - though
others might be. 

In this confusion Malenfant disappears in space and
Nemoto becomes a recluse in a Lunar cave - both are hatching plans to
confront a threat only they can bring themselves to fully believe in...