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_Kepler-9_They told us the planet was ready for us.They were wrong.Kepler-9 greeted us the way a predator greets prey, with patience. With stillness. With the kind of quiet that makes you feel watched even when there's nothing there. We descended through clouds the color of bruised silver, and when the Arken's landing doors finally opened, the air hit us like cold hands pressing against every inch of exposed skin.Nobody moved for a long moment.Then Director Solen stepped forward, arms wide, voice warm with manufactured wonder."Welcome to humanity's future."I watched the faces around me. The tears. The trembling lips. The way