"We're going to need a few hours to sort this stuff out," Morgan said, steady and clear. "First thing—we'll grab the stuff that'll keep folks fed the longest: heavy, shelf-stable, all that. We'll mark the route, make it easy to follow. Ricchy, do you have two—maybe three—people you can spare with sleds? We also need that comms relay up and running so we can stay connected."
"We've got you covered, Morgan," Ricchy said, voice deep with age and gravel. "Barrett and Dawnus are headed your way with those two sleds, and I'm sending a comms man, too. They'll meet y'all by that hydroponics entrance. Time to make it count. Ricchy out."
"Got it. Morgan out," she said, then turned to her crew. "Y'all heard him. Let's quit standing around. We've got work to do."
For what felt like all day long, Artemus and Yenipha led their crew deeper into the whispering forest, a place that was something else entirely. This wasn't a regular patch of woods, not by a long shot. No, this felt more like a great big, hallowed ground, untouched and full of its own spirit, every step taking them further into its deep, shining mysteries. The tall, tall trees, their bark all laced up with glowing, phosphorescent moss that seemed to pulse with a soft, inner light, made a thick roof overhead. It filtered the alien sun, throwing down beams of violet and gold that just danced on the path in front of them, like the very air was glittering. The air in there was heavy, smelled like damp earth and something kind of metallic, a scent that would just prickle the back of your throat and make you wonder what was really breathing around you. Strange, fat plants glowed from the inside out, like gentle, living lanterns, and the ground was soft and springy, like a deep carpet of emerald green fungi and thick, velvety moss, cushioning their every single step. Every now and then, a faint, high-pitched chime would just float through the trees, a sound so delicate you'd think it was just the wind, or maybe something much more deliberate, like the forest itself was singing. As they walked, little rustles and clicks would come from the shadows, small, unseen critters moving just out of sight, sending a quick shiver down their spines. This forest was beautiful, but it had a way of making you feel mighty small and mighty watched.
Their senses were sharp, honed by that long four-hour walk, and tuned in for both trouble and opportunity. Bravid, his hand steady on his repurposed cutting tool, kept a close eye on the winding path, noticing every snapped branch or scuffed-up patch of moss. Yenipha, she always was more tuned into the subtle energies of things, felt the forest's heartbeat, a low thrum that just vibrated in her bones. "Hold up, Bravid," she murmured, her voice barely a whisper, pointing toward a massive, vine-choked boulder. "Did you hear that? Like a low buzzing, almost like a million fireflies whispering."
"Yeah, I hear it," Bravid Jr. confirmed, his eyes searching through the dense leaves. "And I ain't liking it one bit. This isn't like any bug or critter sound our records ever told us about. Keep your eyes peeled, y'all. And stick to the path I'm clearing."
Krew, a big, burly family member carrying a heavy-duty portable scanner, frowned. "My readings are jumping all over the place out here, Bravid. Lots of unknown energy signatures, just... everywhere. Like this whole forest is alive with something we just don't understand."
"That's why we have to be twice as careful, Orry," Yenipha replied, her gaze fixed on the shimmering moss on the trees. "This place is beautiful, but it feels like it's hiding a whole lot of secrets. And some secrets just aren't meant to be found, you hear?"
A younger member, Tamita, nervously adjusted her grip on her scavenged pipe-wrench. "You think those chimes are from something living? Or... or something real old, like from way back?"
"Hard to say, Anna," Bravid sighed, pushing aside a heavy curtain of glowing vines. "But whatever it is, it isn't in our records. Just stick together, now. We're looking for anything useful, any signs of life, but no unnecessary risks. Hear me?"
As they moved deeper and deeper, the air got thicker with that sweet, metallic smell. The ground felt softer, almost squishy, under their boots, like they were walking on a great big, living pillow. The rustles and clicks from the unseen critters seemed to multiply, getting closer, making the group exchange nervous glances.
"My EchoSync Band AI, 'Berry,' is picking up faint structural anomalies below us," Tawana reported, his brow furrowed as he watched his scanner. "Very deep, ancient-looking architecture. Consistent with... well, something built, for sure."
"Understood, Tawana," Bravid replied, trying to keep his voice steady. "Just mark it. We're focusing on the surface for now. We can't afford to get stuck..."
His words got cut short. Just as Yenipha reached for one of those shimmering devices nestled in a natural hollow they had just found—along with perfectly preserved, self-heating food packs, still-charged power cells, and a stash of beautifully made weapons from some long-forgotten folks—the ground right under Akara, who had been carefully checking out a glowing mushroom cluster, just gave way with a sudden, sickening crumble. Her startled cry got cut short as she vanished, falling into the dark.
"Akara!" Bravid Jr. roared, lunging forward, but it was too late. He skidded to the edge of a newly opened chasm, a big, gaping hole in the forest floor. Dust and loose dirt just rained down into the emptiness.
"She's gone!" a panicked voice from the group cried out.
"No, she isn't!" Yenipha countered, already dropping to her knees, peering into the blackness. "Akara! Can you hear me, girl?"
A muffled groan echoed from below, followed by a faint, "I... I think so. Landed hard. What... what in the world is this place?"
Bravid Jr. quickly activated his comm. "Bravid to Ricchy, Harry! We've got a problem here, unk. Akara fell into a sinkhole. She's alive, though, but we don't know how deep she is or what's down there. Looks like she uncovered something big on the way down."
"Copy that, Bravid. Standby," Ricchy's voice crackled back, with a clear note of urgency.
"Hold tight, we're coming down there, Akara!" Yenipha shouted, already peering over the edges of that big old gap with her rigged-up cutting tool's light slicing right through the dark. "The fall wasn't too deep, thank goodness. I see... wait. Are those carvings on the walls? And a doorway?"
From the depths, Akara's voice, now clearer but full of wonder, resonated up. "It's not just carvings, Yenipha. I landed on some kind of platform. And below me... below me is a city. A whole ruined city, right under this forest!" That faint, low buzzing they'd heard earlier now pulsed with a new, stronger beat from the newly exposed depths.
Akara's words hung in the air, a mix of awe and disbelief, echoed by the rising hum from below. Bravid didn't waste a second. "Alright, Tawana, Tamita! Roger, Mary! We're going down! Secure the ropes!" he barked, his voice cutting through the group's shock. Yenipha was already looping a thick vine, strong as a ship's cable, around a sturdy tree root near the chasm's edge. Her cutting tool, adjusted to a wider beam, now pierced the gloom, revealing more of the ancient, almost glowing carvings Anya had spotted. They told a story in symbols, something too old for any of their records.
"I got Akara on comms; she's sounding shaken but alright," Tawana reported, setting up his portable winch. "Says she's on a big, flat rock, and she isn't alone. Looks like she broke the fall for two others down there."
"Two others?" Bravid muttered, his brows furrowed. "Who else fell in?"
Before Orry could answer, a faint, strained voice crackled over the comms. "It's Jessie, Bravid... Berry's with me. We landed hard, but we're mostly just bruised. Akara... Akara caught us both. She's something else, isn't she?"
Relief washed over Bravid, quick as a summer rain. "Thank the stars! Alright, Jessie, Berry, hold tight. Yenipha, get a move on! Artemus, you're on the winch. Orry, cover us, keep an eye on the top-side."
Yenipha wasted no time, shimmering down the vine with practiced ease, her cutting tool beam sweeping the walls. The descent wasn't long, maybe twenty feet or so, before she landed softly on the same platform as Akara, Jessie, and Berry. The platform itself was smooth, made of a dark, polished stone unlike any they'd ever seen, with more of those strange symbols carved into its surface, glimmering faintly in the tool's light.
"Well, now," Yenipha whispered, her eyes wide as she took in the scene. The "platform" was just the top of a massive, collapsed structure, one side broken open to reveal a sprawling, silent city below. Dust motes danced in the light, revealing glimpses of buildings swallowed by the earth, their ancient forms just barely visible in the heavy darkness. The air here was even thicker with that sweet, metallic scent, but now it had a hint of something else, something like ozone, or power.
Near Akara, half-buried in the rubble from the fall, lay several objects that truly made their eyes widen. There were artifacts unlike anything in their collective memory: a small, intricately carved box of what looked like shimmering crystal, softly throbbing with a violet light; and scattered around it, several strange, slender weapons. These weren't crude tools or repurposed scrap. They were elegant, almost alive, with blades that seemed to ripple like water and hilts that fit perfectly into the hand, made of a metal that drank the light rather than reflecting it. One of them, a staff-like implement, hummed with that same low buzzing they'd heard from the forest itself, its tip glowing with a soft, steady light.
Bravid Jr. rappelled down next, his boots landing with a soft thud. He gazed around, his face etched with a mix of caution and awe. "This isn't just a discovery, y'all. This is something else entirely. This city... it's a piece of forever. We have to be real careful, but we have to see what else this place is holding."
With Jessie and Berry patched up as best they could be, the group started their cautious exploration. The sheer scale of the buried city was something fierce. They moved through what must have been grand avenues, now just narrow canyons of stone choked with more of that glowing moss and tangled, bioluminescent vines. Broken arches, once majestic, now leaned precariously, like ancient guardians frozen in time. The air pulsed with that low, mysterious hum, sometimes faint, sometimes vibrating through the soles of their boots.
Yenipha, always the one with a feel for things, kept her hand outstretched, almost sensing the energy in the air. "It's like a whisper," she murmured, her eyes half-closed, "a whisper getting louder. There's something here, something important, drawing me in."
They started their search in a partially collapsed chamber that smelled faintly of ancient dust and a sweet, unknown bloom. Most of it was rubble, but as Yenipha led them toward a section of intact wall, a gentle hum vibrated through the air, pulling at her like a silent current. She pointed, her eyes fixed. "Right there. It's... calling to me."
Roger's scanner flared. "Massive energy spike behind that crumbling section, Bravid."
Bravid nodded, carefully prying away loose stones. Behind them, nested in a shallow alcove, they found it: a long, elegant spear, its tip a perfectly clear crystal that hummed with silent power, the same low buzz they'd heard since they got here. Its shaft was made of a smooth, dark glathrium, intricately carved with symbols that glowed faintly. It felt impossibly light, yet solid. Beside it lay a curved short sword, its hilt wrapped in glowing, sinewy material. Its blade, a dark, reflective metal, seemed to absorb the scant light around it.
"These aren't just tools," Berry whispered, her eyes wide. "They're part of this place, like they were grown from it."
As they moved deeper into the ruins, the subtle pull on Yenipha intensified, a constant thrum beneath her skin, guiding them through corridors where vines hung like silent curtains. They entered what looked like a grand, circular room, its walls still adorned with faded murals depicting figures with elongated limbs and eyes like molten gold, seemingly looking out into forever. Here, the hum was almost a vibration in their chests.
Yenipha stopped dead in her tracks, her hand trembling slightly as she reached out to the very center of the room. "It's right here," she breathed. "I feel it. Like something powerful, something ancient, reaching out, pulling at my very soul."
Bravid scanned the area. "Lee Jr., what's your reading?"
"Off the charts, Bravid! Concentrated source, right below Yenipha's hand!" Lee Jr. exclaimed, his brows furrowed in disbelief.
Carefully, Bravid moved a heavy slab of stone that appeared to be a fallen ceiling piece. Beneath it, nestled in a pristine, dust-free indentation, lay the prize. A small, spherical orb, no bigger than a child's fist, floated just above a stone pedestal, its surface rippling with faint, shifting constellations. Yenipha reached for it, and as her fingers brushed its surface, a burst of warmth spread through her, and she felt a fleeting, impossible connection to something vast and ancient, a rush of understanding quickly fading.
Beside the pedestal, neatly stacked, were a set of thin, metallic tablets, their surfaces covered in the same strange, glowing symbols from the chasm walls, their edges cool to the touch. Each one seemed to vibrate with a silent story, as if waiting for a touch to awaken the knowledge held within.
"These... these aren't just things they left behind," Bravid murmured, his gaze lingering on the glowing orb. "They feel... alive. Like they're waiting for something."
The low buzz from the city seemed to deepen, a silent acknowledgment of their incredible discoveries. What other secrets did this buried world hold? Before they could delve any deeper into the ancient mysteries, a sharp, urgent crackle cut through the comms.
"Bravid! Bravid, you read me? This is Ricchy! You there, man?" Ricchy's voice was tinged with excitement and a heavy dose of urgency.
Bravid quickly tapped his comm, pulling his attention away from the shimmering artifacts. "Loud and clear, Ricchy. What's going on? We just hit the mother lode down here, found a whole buried city and some incredible... well, you just have to see it to believe it, trust me."
"Yeah, yeah, a city sounds wild, Bravid, but listen up, now!" Ricchy practically shouted, overriding Bravid's report. "Me and Andrew, we found it! The wreckage! The main haul! It's buried deeper than we thought, but it's all there, mostly intact. Problem is, it's heavy. Real, real heavy. We're going to need every hand you've got down there to help haul it all back to the ship. We're talking serious salvage here, you hear me?"
Bravid glanced at the ancient spear in his hand, then back at the glowing orb Yenipha was still mesmerized by. The lure of the ruined city was powerful, a silent invitation to unravel its secrets. But Ricchy's words were a stark reminder of their true mission: survival, and getting off this alien world.
He sighed, a mix of disappointment and resolve settling over him. "Copy that, Ricchy. Understood. We're on our way. It's going to take us a minute to secure these finds and get everyone out, but we'll be there as fast as we can."
He turned to his team, their faces still lit by the ethereal glow of the newly discovered artifacts. "Alright, crew. Y'all heard the man. Base is calling us back. Morgan and Andrew found the main wreckage. Looks like our deep dive into history's going to have to wait. Time to get to work hauling our future home out of the ground."
A chorus of groans met his words, but there was also a shared understanding. The magic of the ancient city would have to wait. The harsh reality of their situation, and the promise of a way home, pulled them back from the whispers of the past.