Communication with the Swarm was sporadic and tended to come in bursts, when the Swarm needed something. The groups had separated under conditions that would have been deemed a state war had the Break not happened in the midst of a catastrophe more deadly than anything that one side could have inflicted upon the other with force of arms. Neither side was likely to begin trusting the other anytime soon…
From: Seveneves, a novel, by Neal Stephenson
Image: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/13/seveneves-by-neal-stephenson-disaster-novel