Project Hail Mary

Lila Reyes catches a pale comet tail through a cheap rooftop telescope-and men in blue-taped vests appear in her stairwell the next night. The official story says nothing is confirmed. The streets say otherwise. In a near-future America of blackout tape and ration cards, Lila hunts evidence that a killer comet has been known for longer than anyone admits-while billionaire "continuity" outfits quietly sell seats to the end of the world. Malik Carter is FEMA logistics, the guy who moves oxygen tanks and buses and sick bodies-until the same contracts draining public routes start feeding private bunker convoys. As panic hardens into curfews and checkpoints, Lila and Malik follow a sabotage trail straight into Project Hail Mary: a last-ditch launch throttled by budgets, liability fear, and bureaucratic turf wars. It won‘t stop the comet. It only trims the death toll. And when impact comes, the country learns what it always learns too late: access is a weapon.