Pink light suffused the sand as the four explorers left the research station. They rode in silence, the comms quiet this morning. Kendra tilted her head toward the sunrise, the warm glow burning across the horizon. As they passed the stone temple and dunes, the terrain changed. Rock formations filled the valleys, and the cliffs rose up until they dominated the landscape.

Antony stopped his bike in the shadow of the plateau. “We’re here,” he said over the comms. The sleek black drone detached itself from the back of his bike, rising into the air.

Kendra pulled up next to him, followed by Bria and Seph.

“I found something yesterday while I was surveying the cliffs with my drone,” Antony said, tapping at the blue holographic interface floating above his wrist.

“Did you see anything on the plateau?” Seph asked, trying and failing to sound casual—the anxiety crept into his voice, regardless.

“Nothing of note. You are more than welcome to pick through the recordings and scans I’ve taken, if you feel inclined,” Antony said.

“You know, I’m happy to leave that to you. We’re about a half mile from where Kendra and I collected samples a few days ago, right?”

“Right. Still roughly in line with the four sites we’ve found so far. Anyway, the stone under the sand is riddled with holes. Some only a few inches, some a lot bigger.” The light from the drone outlined a circular area. “I’d wager the cave system I detected down here is pretty big.”

Bria inclined her head toward Seph. “Ready?”

The sand crunched beneath the rover’s wheels as Seph drove forward, extending the excavator attachment over the highlighted area. The bucket dug down, its teeth facing slight resistance before hitting air. Clay and gravel crumbled into a deep hole in the ground. Sand drained away, leaving exposed rock in the area surrounding the hole.

Light illuminated the floor of the chamber below.

“That’s a long drop,” Bria said. “Antony, would you check out the cave’s layout with the drone?”

He nodded, tapping the hologram that floated above his wrist and sharing it with the others. The drone descended, illuminating the cavern with soft blue light. The hologram appeared over the watch-like device on Kendra’s wrist—her wearable. She zoomed in on a rectangular shape near the cave wall.

“What is that? Can you get closer?” Kendra asked.

“That’s a building!” Bria said. “And look, there’s light coming in from other gaps in the rock. There could be another path down there.”

As the drone passed the building, the cavern split into several tunnels. Antony guided the drone into one. The passage rose higher, curling around a bend and up a steep incline. It opened to the air. “Look here,” he said. “Might be a squeeze, but there’s an entrance nearby.

They hiked up the natural stone columns to a small platform. Nearly hidden in the wall of the cliffs was a small gap. Kendra edged sideways through the gap, the rock scraping against her protective gear and pressing into her thighs.

“How tight is that squeeze, Kendra?” Seph called.

“Not bad; it opens up after a few feet. You might have to duck, though.”

She ran her gloved hand over the stone wall as the scant light from the entrance faded into darkness before her. Kendra swiped the drone’s hologram to the side and pulled up the interface for her wearable, turning on the lights woven into her suit.

The others entered the passage behind her. A bright light rounded the corner as the drone met them. After a steep climb down, the path leveled as it opened into a larger chamber with a high ceiling. To the right sat the rectangular stone building, accompanied by broke stone slabs lying on the ground.

Seph marched over to the building, shining the flashlight embedded in the arm of his suit over the walls. “Look at that—first glance, it certainly resembles the stone of the temple.”

Antony guided the drone over, scanning the building. “Less ornate, though. I’m seeing stress fractures in the walls, but it looks structurally sound enough to go inside.”

The ceiling was gone, the fallen stone littering the floor. Shelves were carved into the walls opposite them, though many had broken and crumbled. Kendra touched the surface of one, finding nothing but a bit of sand.

“Intriguing, but I’m more interested in how this building ended up here,” Bria said. “The cavern lacks other signs of inhabitation.”

Above them, a few rays of light came in from cracks in the cliffs above. Kendra patted Antony’s shoulder. “Hey, can you scan the ceiling up there?”

The drone hummed as it rose through the cavern, the glow from its scanner washing over the stone many feet above them. “Huh. It almost looks like this building crashed through the ceiling, and then the stone toppled down over it, closing the gap,” he said.

“How is it not just rubble, though?” she asked.

“Stasis field, maybe,” Bria said, folding her arms. “There’s evidence ancient spacefarers used stasis fields to transport massive structures. Could have absorbed most of the impact if it fell.”

A yelp echoed through the chamber. Kendra stepped back over the rocks, out of the stone building, Antony and Bria behind her.

Seph stared down at the floor. “Sorry. I tripped,” he said, gaze still fixed on something: a crack or fissure from the looks of it.

Antony angled his flashlight at the floor, the light glinting off something dark and shiny. Seph backed away. Rows upon rows of small black crystals lined the inside of the fissure. Though it was only a few inches across at its widest, the hole appeared to descend deep into the rock beneath them.

“I wonder how far that goes,” Kendra said.

Antony crouched, peering inside. “That’s weird. Like a mouth with a lot of tiny little teeth.”

“I was going to say it looks like the inside of a geode, but alright,” Kendra said. “Seph? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” He turned away. “God, I need to get it together,” he muttered.

“Careful, everyone,” Bria said, her hands on her hips. “Seph, would you help me document this building?”

“Right, sure thing.”

Antony caught Kendra’s gaze, and she nodded to him. “We’ll check out the rest of this cave,” she said.

The cavern extended farther on past the building, and they walked in silence into a second chamber.

“Is it just me, or has Seph been unusually twitchy today?” Antony asked when they were out of earshot.

“Vibrating with anxiety, you mean? I heard him and Bria get into an argument this morning.”

“What is going on with them?”

“Bria was trying to contact somebody, maybe her lab, and she got irritated about the spotty satellite connection. Acted like Seph did something wrong.”

“I mean, it is a safety issue if we can’t get a message out of here. We’ve got emergency beacons and all, but still,” Antony said.

“Seph put in a service request in but they said it’s all ‘within parameters.’ Bria’s lucky they can talk in real time at all—it’s not like every satellite is equipped for faster-than-light video streaming.” Kendra scoffed. “I don’t get it. I thought she understood that a remote expedition means you won’t be calling in for weekly lab meetings back home.”

“I’m surprised to hear you be so critical of her.”

“I don’t like the idea that Seph may be suffering because Bria couldn’t moderate her expectations. If that’s what’s happening, yeah, it makes me annoyed.”

Kendra’s foot grazed something, and she shined her flashlight down. “Careful,” she said. As she scanned the floor, the light reflected off crystals lining the crevasse. “There are more of those fissures.”

Antony grimaced at the floor. “I think you’re right. Remember when we were planning this trip? If communication is that important to Bria, why was it always Seph who was messaging us? Unless Bria, uh, delegated a bunch of planning to him.”

“Maybe. Though, much as he overplanned in some areas, I appreciated his taste. He went to great lengths to get good food for the research station. None of that chalky nutrient powder nonsense.”

“Uh-huh. Subject line: What snacks do you want for the pantry? You know, I visited my mom and her husband while we were planning this expedition. Made the mistake of leaving my wearable out somewhere,” Antony said as he adjusted the drone’s light so that it illuminated more of the cavern. “You know what my mother said?”

“What?”

“‘Oh Antony, you’d tell me if you moved in with a boyfriend, wouldn’t you?’”

Kendra let out a bark of laughter. “Are you serious?”

“Horribly.”

She laughed, slapping him on the back. “Is that the real reason you didn’t want to room with him? Too domestic and all?”

Antony huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets. “No. I don’t know. God, mom would love him, though. I’d bet money he’s the kind of person with calendar reminders to call his in-laws up on their birthdays. Probably wakes up in the middle of the night to get the time zone right, so he isn’t bothering them after bedtime.”

“Wow, sounds like you haven’t thought about this at all.”

He shot her a sour look. “I can’t help it that I think thoughts.”

Kendra snorted at him and turned her attention back to the cavern. As they crossed the room, large crystals emerged from the cracks as though climbing up onto the floor nearby. The largest crystals were waist high, and she reached out, placing a gloved hand on one.

“Really don’t know how I feel about these things,” Antony said, eying the glossy stone with obvious suspicion.

“What are they?”

“Scans are suggesting smoky quartz, but I’m getting errors.”

Without warning, the drone wobbled and fell out of the air. Antony yelped, catching it. “Shoot, some kind of interference? I’m not detecting dangerous radiation, at least.”

“Do you hear that?” she asked, her boots crunching against the gravel on the floor. “It’s like a grinding sound, but I can’t tell if it’s coming from in here.”

“I can’t hear it,” he said, a brief look of consternation passing over his face.

As they walked farther into the chamber, the sound of their boots against the floor changed. A hollow thump echoed through the room.

“Okay, that came from here,” Kendra said. “Maybe we should turn b—”

The ground beneath them cracked like an eggshell. As they fell, all Kendra saw was the light glinting off thousands of crystals. She crashed into one, bouncing off it and sliding down between two more.

She hit the ground.

Sand and dust rushed across the floor as Antony landed in a heap a few feet away.

“Are you hurt?” Kendra asked. Her thighs and back ached from absorbing the impact of the fall, dull pain reverberating through her body. She pulled herself up onto all fours, grit crunching against her gloves. Sand covered the bottom of the pit.

“God, ow,” Antony said, rolling over onto his side. “I got made into a pinball.”

Kendra stood, bracing herself against the crystal jutting out from the wall. “You alright, though?”

“I’m scraped up, and I smacked my arm. Gonna have bruises everywhere,” he said.

“Your suit’s ripped.”

He winced, running his hand over his other arm. There was a wound visible through the tear in his suit, near his right elbow. He touched something Kendra couldn’t see, grunting as he pulled shards of crystal from his arm. They crumbled. “Ugh, feels like I still have grit stuck in there. Speaking of which—”

He kicked hard at a large crystal, and part of it crumbled into sand. “I guess we can be grateful that these rocks broke our fall.”

“Pretty weird. Quartz doesn’t crumble like this,” Kendra said, smoothing her hand over the crystal nearby.

“Yeah, I don’t know of anything that does. I don’t like it.”

The crystals lined the passage above them. They had a subtle glow of their own that emanated from purple inclusions running through the stone.

“It’s like being inside a massive geode,” she said, looking up in wonder at the light glinting off the shards of crystal lining the walls.

“Yeah, it’s kind of amazing, and yet I’d like to get out of here. This place is freaking me out,” he said, tapping at the display on his wrist. “Hey, Bria, Seph, are you getting this? Can you come to our location?”

A moment passed, and he repeated himself.

Kendra shifted from foot to foot. “It isn’t going through. Do you have your climbing gear on you?”

“Yeah, no, I don’t. I know I should have it, but I don’t.”

“It’s fine—I’ll use mine and you can climb up after me.”

Kendra removed a grappling hook and rope from her pack and launched it at the rock above. As she tugged on it, the rope snapped backward and the metallic hook fell to the ground. She launched it up again, and it hit a crystal instead, sending down a spray of sand as it splintered.

She grunted. On the third try, the hook stuck in the rock and she climbed up the wall, avoiding the crystals when possible, and otherwise gingerly testing her weight on them. Her legs hurt, but she reached the top. She anchored the hook deeper in the solid ground and signaled to Antony, who grabbed hold of the rope.

He climbed slowly. A quarter of the way up, he slipped, reaching for a crystal to steady himself. It cracked, falling to the ground, and Antony’s arm twisted as he lost his grip. He fell, sending up another cloud of dust as he pulverized another crystal on the way. He lay there for a moment, groaning.

“You alright?” Kendra called, peering over the edge.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Hey, listen, Seph has a rover attachment that can lift you out so you don’t need to climb. I’m going to find him and Bria,” she said.

“What? No. No way, don’t leave me here!” he said, voice hitching.

“It’s too unstable here and your arm is hurt. Don’t make it worse trying to climb.”

“Can’t you just try them over the comms again?”

“It isn’t working. I will be right back, okay?”

“Kendra? Kendra, don’t leave me in here alone,” he yelled, clenching his fists, his panic evident.

She leaned over the edge. “Hey, hey, I’m gonna come back. If I can’t find them in ten minutes, I’ll come back, alright?”

“Okay, okay, but hurry,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

She waved to him and hurried back through the cave.

The clawlike attachment from the rover creaked as its metal cord retracted, pulling Antony up out of the chasm. As he reached the top of the rock, a rumble shook the ruins. Antony moved just enough to send him bumping into a crystal, which broke off and crashed to the floor.

“Are you okay?” Bria asked him as he climbed out.

“Y-yeah, more or less,” he said, not meeting her eyes.

Seph peered down into the pit. “I don’t like this. Who knows how stable these crystals are, or how deep they go into the ground?”

“Yeah, I know,” Antony said, and there was another, more perceptible rumble through the cave system.

Kendra stepped back, catching herself as her knee buckled under her. She brushed her hand across the material of her trousers and found a tear. She picked pieces of crystal, digging them out of a scratch in her leg.

“I don’t like that something here is messing with our comms,” Bria said.

There was a loud crack from somewhere far away, followed by a grinding sound. Kendra whirled around, trying to see where it was coming from. She exchanged a glance with Bria.

“I don’t think that’s coming from here,” Bria said.

“Maybe it would be best if we left. We can reassess when we’re outside,” Seph said.

The grinding noises continued as they made their way out of the cave. Atop the platform, the desert stretched out before them, the cliffs curving around the expanse of sand. The rumbling and grinding sounds originated from somewhere deep underneath the plateau across from them.

Antony pointed at the desert. “That’s the hole where we dug into the ground earlier.”

“But that’s several feet bigger now,” Seph said.

“That’s my point. The rock under the sand is shifting around.”

“Antony, you said the stone here is porous, right?” Kendra asked.

“Right. I saw tons of small vesicles and holes in the stone. Some tiny, some much larger. But they looked like natural features of the rock. There were also massive fractures, and I couldn’t tell you where they came from.”

“So why is this happening now? I mean, sure, we were crashing around a bit, but was that enough to move tons of sand?”

Bria stepped forward next to Kendra, peering out into the desert. “The research station was established two decades ago, and we know the temple in the desert wasn’t visible then. Our evidence suggests the ruins have been here for a long time, so what changed between now and then?”

Antony shrugged. “Don’t know. It’s possible this area was already delicate and something else caused a disturbance. Maybe somebody else was here.”

“We don’t have evidence of anyone else being here, though,” Seph said.

“Yeah, but we can’t rule it out yet,” Antony said.

They watched as sand drained away, revealing rock formations hidden underneath.

“Do you see that? That far cliff,” Bria said.

Kendra tapped at the controls for her visor, zooming in. The sand drifts that had accumulated against the cliffs were spilling down, dislodging crumbling clay and rocks. They left behind a hole that looked like the entrance to a cave.

The four of them exchanged glances.

“We have to check that out,” Bria said.

Once the rumbling stopped, they crossed the sand, Antony scanning the ground with his drone. They entered the cave with several feet of space above their heads, the ceiling growing higher as they walked. Sand and clay piled deep on the floor, and Kendra’s feet sank into it.

The passageway opened into a large round antechamber. Small blue marks studded the walls at irregular intervals.

“What do you think they are?” Seph asked.

“What?” Antony asked.

“I asked what you think these blue markings are.”

Antony fiddled with his helmet. “Not a geological formation, I’d guess.”

“Are you alright? That fall looked like it must have hurt. From what Kendra was saying, it sounded like you made the fall more than once,” Seph said.

“I, uh, yeah. I can’t say I enjoyed it,” Antony said.

“The med kit back at the base has some stuff to help with bruising. Goodness knows I’ve been using it. All that crashing around in the rover keeps bruising my backside,” Seph said.

Antony snorted. “Yeah? My bruises may give yours a run for their money.”

“If you two decide to compare them for scientific purposes, keep it to yourselves,” Kendra said.

“Yeah, I’ll pass,” Antony said, and Seph went red in the face.

“I see light coming in ahead,” Bria said as she turned a corner.

The passageway opened up into a cavernous space.

The chamber was massive, the ceiling hundreds of feet above them and marked by innumerable cracks. Towering ruins reached high into the air. Light streamed in through one immense opening in the cave. It illuminated the room, spilling down onto the walls of sprawling ruins in the center of the cavern. The golden stone glowed with midday light.

Passages had been carved into the rock encircling the buildings. Inscriptions and carvings ran through the walls and multiple colonnades, flowers decorating the pillars of the nearest column.

Kendra gazed up at the ruins.

“This is amazing,” she said.