The lights in the lab were off, save for the glow coming from the closed door of the computer room. Behind the door, an office chair squeaked. Fingers tapped against a keyboard.

Kendra crept back, quietly shutting the door to the lab. She entered the living area and flopped down onto the couch, brushing her dark hair off the collar of her pajamas.

“She’s still in there?” Seph asked. He sat opposite her, wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. His knee jiggled and fingers tugged at a loose thread on his sleeve.

“Yep. Same as yesterday.”

The tremors in the caves had continued. For two days, the group drove out to the ruins, only to pick up on vibrations on their sensors as they reached the plateau. Bria reacted to the brief interruption in their expedition by holing herself up in the computer room. She rarely spoke to anyone outside of their lab meetings.

Antony emerged, padding barefoot into the living area. His wavy brown hair partially obscured red-rimmed eyes, and he yawned. “God, three days of sleeping in, and I’m still exhausted.” He sat near Kendra. “Let me guess. Bria’s in the computer room, crawling the walls.”

“Yeah. Do you want to try heading to the caves again today?”

“Why not? Hanging around here hasn’t exactly been relaxing.”

Quick footsteps echoed through the hall, and Bria appeared, as though summoned. She scanned the room, making eye contact with each of them. Kendra nodded to her.

“I would like to suit up and head out,” Bria said. “I can be ready in half an hour.”

A moment passed, and no one spoke.

“Yeah, that works for me,” Kendra said.

Antony and Seph murmured agreement as well, and Bria inclined her head and left. Kendra exchanged glances with the other two and shrugged, heading to her room to change.

As she opened her dresser, the photo of her parents caught her eye. They smiled, arms wrapped around one another, in front of her childhood home. Kendra’s gaze drifted to the laughter lines on their faces, to the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes, so like her own.

A rush of melancholy hit her, and her stomach flipped. It was like she was falling into that pit in the ruins again, dark glassy crystals rushing past her. She felt loneliness so intense it nearly buckled her knees, and she sat hard on the bed. She rubbed her thumb and forefinger over the place where her wedding band used to sit, reaching out for warm metal and forgetting it wasn’t there.

Kendra stood, shaking herself. She needed to get ready.

“I don’t see any obvious damage,” Bria said, surveying the main chamber of the ruins.

Seph glanced at the readings on his tablet. “Right, and it’s quiet. I’m not picking up any seismic activity.” His shoulders were stiff, his posture rigid. A low, persistent anxiety radiated off him, though he seemed to do his best to moderate it. He breathed in deeply, letting it out slowly, and Kendra could practically hear him counting the beats in his head.

They retraced their steps to the lower chamber where they had found the dilapidated set of ruins. The machines had not sealed off the tunnels again, and they descended, the drone lighting the path ahead of them.

Antony zoomed in on their location on the holographic map. Seph poked his head over Antony’s shoulder, well into his personal space.

“The tunnel is still structurally sound. Seph?”

“Looks good to me,” he said, still peering over Antony’s shoulder.

“Do you want to lead the way?”

Seph did as they followed the path deeper underground. As they entered the larger chamber, he stopped. Antony walked into him.

“Dude. Don’t just stop, please.”

“Sorry. But there is something strange about this wall; I didn’t notice last time we were here.”

Antony ran his hand over the wall, and the stone crumbled like plaster. He dug his gloves in, scraping it off. “There’s metal under here.” He shined his flashlight onto it. “Maybe the tremors cracked the plaster.”

“The texture is the same as whatever the machines used to seal this passageway,” Seph said.

“I agree, but why would those machines plaster the walls?” Antony asked, as they walked down the stairs to the base of the chamber. The drone floated above them, illuminating the broken buildings. Its light reflected off the massive crystals dangling from the ceiling in the corner.

“Maybe the machines were trying to cover up those crystals,” Kendra suggested.

They crossed the room, climbing over rubble and ducking through collapsed doorways.

“Let me check something out,” Antony said. “We found this room using a form of radar. It’s more old-school than our current tech, but it turns out that the plaster material blocks radio waves. Hence how we found the entrances the machines plastered over.”

The drone flew up and rotated in a circle. Antony’s eyebrows quirked up. He projected a hologram of the area from his wearable. “Most of the cavern walls and floor are covered in plaster.”

Kendra crouched, digging into the sand on the ground. About three or four inches below the surface, her gloves touched something solid. She brushed the grit and clay out of the way. “Yeah, there’s metal under here.”

Antony pulled a small shovel from his pack and dug into the surface of the stairs. It cracked and crumbled away, leaving a dull silver patch behind.

Bria knelt at the base of the stairs, scooping away sand until she had cleared a two foot square of smooth, dark metal. “I’ve studied the initial scans we took of this cave,” she said. “This cavern is too rounded, too regular in shape. Could this room be a ship?”

“The earlier sites pointed us here,” Kendra said. “They formed that line from the temple to the cliffs. What if that was the path the ship transporting the ruins took?”

“It could be, right? Ships crash for a reason,” Antony said. “What if it was damaged, and it lost some of its cargo, the other ruins?”

Seph hovered nearby, folding his arms. “I’m not saying I disagree, but we’d be talking about a massive ship. This room alone is immense, and it’s missing obvious evidence of the other elements of a ship. Engines. A control room.”

“You’re not wrong. But it could be a capsule or storage module, not a complete ship,” Kendra said.

Bria stepped toward the nearest building, glancing between it and the walls. “I agree; this could be a modular storage capsule made to transport the ruins. Furthermore, the ship may no longer exist. It lost cargo and perhaps it jettisoned this capsule to lighten the load. The ship may have been destroyed shortly thereafter without landing on this planet.”

“But what does this mean?” Seph asked. “What about the ruins upstairs?”

“If those machines were working to restore the ruins, they may have gathered up the lost pieces of them and rebuilt them elsewhere,” Bria said. “Regardless, there may be more to this capsule.” She turned to Antony. “None of your scanners can determine what’s below the plaster in this area, correct?”

“Right.” He flew the drone close to the ground, scanning an open space devoid of buildings. “Over there. This part of the floor is completely covered in plaster.”

“Seph, can your laser clear it away?” Bria asked.

He nodded, crouching as he cut through the layers of dusty material. When he had outlined a square an inch deep, the floor crumbled, leaving a deep hole behind. A crack opened up, splitting the plaster from the hole to the nearest wall. Seph backed away from the edge, sending small rocks clattering below.

“Let me take the drone in,” Antony said, guiding it downward. Its light illuminated dark metal, the edges of which were twisted as though torn apart, leaving wires and steel bars jutting out. The drone sank another foot when a giant crystal appeared out of the darkness. A purple glint ran through the crystal, lighting it up from within as the drone approached. Antony jumped, and the drone dropped out of the air, clattering as it bounced off the stone.

There was a crack. The remaining plaster crumbled, leaving behind a pit the size of a large room. Kendra peered in, shining her flashlight. Crystals lined the hole, pointing inward at the top and upward from metal at the bottom.

The drone sat in the nook between two crystals a few feet below. It rocked and, after a moment, fell. The drone bounced off another crystal, which burst and sent a rush of sand and dust upward. The entire room tilted by a fraction.

Kendra’s stomach lurched, and she thrust her arms out to balance. Seph gasped, pitching forward. She reached to grab him as he hung in the air above the pit, but she missed. Seph bounced off the crystals in his path, crushing them as he rolled down the steep slope. A thunk echoed through the room as he landed on metal at the bottom of the pit.

“Are you alright?” Kendra called as Antony yelled his name.

Seph lay there, sprawled between the stones growing up from the floor. Finally, he moved, pulling himself up onto all fours. He coughed, gasping as he removed his helmet. His blond hair stuck up at odd angles, his face covered in dust. “I don’t think I’m hurt,” he said. “Cracked my visor, though. HUD’s dead.”

“What’s down there?” Bria shouted.

“A lot of those crystals. I can’t see much else.”

Antony let out a grunt as he tapped at his wearable. “I can’t control my drone from here. Must be too close to those crystals again.” He turned and peered down. “Seph! Can you grab my drone?”

“Yeah, give me a sec.” He coughed, bracing himself against the wall, before reaching up to grab the drone.

He yelped. An eerie purple glow suffused the stones, crisscrossing like a set of veins. A crystal moved, turning and pointing downward until the drone slid off it and fell to the ground at Seph’s feet. He stepped back, holding his hand to his chest as he coughed again.

He cleared his throat, trying to get a breath in, but failed. Seph backed into another long crystal, and it slowly twisted around. From above, the pit looked like a bird’s nest, the long crystals reaching out towards each other in a spiral. Seph jumped, and a ripple passed through the entire spiral. The stones moved in a wave, from bottom to top, undulating.

“I don’t like this,” Kendra said, reaching into her pack for the climbing ropes. She attached them to her harness. Bria grabbed the other end and anchored it, and Kendra began the steep descent. Though brittle, the crystals held her weight, and she swore she saw them move into her path as she climbed down, forming a series of steps.

At the bottom, the stones moved faster, rising higher and falling down in waves, growing from nowhere and shrinking again. Seph yelled, his voice high and raspy. He disappeared under the tide as the crystals surged higher before falling down in a crash of dust and sand.

“Seph, can you hear me? Can you stand?” Kendra shouted.

He picked himself up off the ground as she approached. Small crystals grew from his suit, and dust and bits of rock stuck out from his hair. “We’ll be crushed,” he said, his face twisted into a grimace. But the stones pushed him back and forth without holding him in place.

Kendra neared him. “I need you to calm down, okay? They won’t crush us. They’re moving around us,” she said. It was true. Whenever the crystals neared close enough to pinch them, they moved improbably, detaching themselves and twisting out of the way. As they did, the light bounced off them, reflecting geometric patterns across Kendra’s suit.

“I don’t understand this. It makes no sense,” he said, and the crystals grew longer, pushing Kendra back.

“I know, I know it doesn’t make sense,” she said as she tried in vain to get closer. But the moving stones pushed her away.

Antony stood on the ledge above Seph. The crystals flowed around him as he grabbed hold of a sturdy rope, climbing down into the pit. “It’ll be easier to climb out over here,” he said.

Seph’s breath came in wheezes. “I—I can’t move. I’ll be crushed. All of us will.”

Antony slapped the swaying crystals out of the way and winced. “I can’t hear you well with the interference.” He held his arms out as he reached Seph, lightly grabbing hold of his shoulders. “Hey, hey, I got you.”

Seph squinted his eyes shut and wrapped his arms around Antony’s chest in a tight hug.

“Oof,” Antony said, and hugged him back. “You’re okay. Just close your eyes.”

Kendra watched the mass of crystals from farther back. Their movement was slowing, returning more to a wavelike undulation. They sank back into the ground until only waist-high. She weaved between them, crossing toward the two men. “Let’s try to climb out,” she said.

Seph hugged Antony for another moment, and then pulled away. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” he said, giving the rope a sharp tug before hauling himself upward.

Bria leaned over the edge, expression tight. “Are you three alright?” she asked, hands balled into shaking fists.

“Yeah, I think so,” Kendra said as she reached the top of the wall.

Seph dusted off his arms. “I believe we are fine. Though, I’m going to deep clean my suit tonight,” he said. “Are we in agreement about leaving?”

“Y-yes,” Bria said. “We need to regroup. Reconvene.”

Antony’s foot slipped as he climbed out of the pit. Kendra grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him over the edge. “You good?”

He forced a smile. “Yeah, just bruised, I guess.”

Seph clambered into the rover, dumping his helmet in the back seat and digging out a spare. Bria, Kendra, and Antony climbed onto their bikes and took off across the sand.

Bria rode in front, and Kendra after her. Only a few miles had passed when she spotted a cloud of dust in the mirror. Antony’s bike wasn’t moving.

“Sorry guys, I think I did hurt my arm. It’s hard to steer,” he said over the comms.

“I’ll tow your bike,” Seph said. “You can ride in the rover.”

“Yeah, sure.”

The rover circled back for him and the two men chattered over the comms as they hooked up the bike to the rover. Seph cleared his throat. “Uh, I didn’t thank you yet. For helping me in there.”

“You’re good—I’m glad I could help,” Antony said.

“I just didn’t understand why or how that was happening,” he said. “Anyway, I wish it were under better circumstances, but you give a wonderful hug.”

Antony laughed. “Thanks,” he said, as the rover took off again over the sand.

Kendra’s stomach fluttered as she drove on, nausea coming in waves with the rise and fall of the dunes. The strange movement of the crystals replayed in her mind. Had Seph seen something else in them? It was like the crystals had synced up with his emotional state.

She had stared into them as well—she had seen nothing definite. But as she drove across the desert, half-formed memories entered her mind: the first bite of ripe fruit from her parents’ garden. The pattern of the carpet in the room where she defended her dissertation. The cool water of the lake behind the home she had shared with her husband.

An unease lingered in her gut. Days earlier, in that same cavern, she had felt a presence, a profound sense that they were not alone. Why it would send her own memories bubbling to the surface, she didn’t know.

The research station appeared on the horizon, and it brought her back to reality.

“Can we agree to a thorough decontamination before we enter the station?” Seph asked as the garage door opened and he pulled inside. He stepped from the rover and slammed the door. The crystals growing from the shoulders of his suit were gone, crumbled to dust on the ride over.

Kendra and the others mumbled in agreement as the decontamination field swept over them. She shifted from foot to foot. Finally, Seph stepped out, unbuttoning his protective gear and dumping it piece by piece into another machine for cleaning. Kendra followed suit. She turned back to Antony.

Antony peeled off the upper layer of his gear, leaving his gray undershirt on over his trousers. A pained expression passed across his face as he clenched and unclenched his right fist.

“Hey, are you okay?” Kendra asked.

“I don’t … I don’t know.” He rolled his wrist, and it let out a crack. He clenched his fist, and it froze in place. Eyes wide, he moved his shoulder back and forth, but the rest of his right arm remained stationary, his fist still clenched.

“I can’t move my arm,” he said, his voice shaking. In a panic, he continued to move his shoulder. The rest of his arm hung there limp, swaying. The skin was dry and cracked.

Kendra neared him, holding her hands out in front of her. “Don’t force it.”

“It feels odd,” Antony said as he stepped toward her. There was a soft crunching noise.

His arm hit the floor with a dull thud.