Fenton peered around a tree trunk, leveling his rifle at the ruins in the clearing. He dropped his eye to his scope and studied the damaged structures. With a few adjustments, the distant images snapped into focus, pulling a curse from his lips. He touched the comm jutting from his ear and slid down to the ground. “Everyone fall in on my signal, double time.”

Rolling to a knee, Fenton examined the crumbling walls. As the silence lingered, he spun away from the devastation and sat down to watch his squad’s arrival. When the last member of the squad approached, Fenton rose and wiped his face. “Anyone discover anything dangerous during the brief walk?”

“We...” Shandri turned around. “Need to correct Diana’s definition of that term.”

“Quiet!” Fenton jerked his thumb at the ruins. “What oddities did we encounter?”

After a series of negatives rang out, Fenton nodded. He shouldered his rifle and walked through the trees toward the ragged structure. “No matter, I’m sure Jarvis is already cataloging whatever wildlife we missed. Let’s hustle over there and explore the remains of our ancestors’ colony.”

“What are we looking for?”

Fenton snickered as his eyes studied the path. He patted a tree and smirked at the woman behind him. “Brianna, I thought our mission was self-evident. We’re here to discover what happened to that outpost.”

“Is anyone else nervous that we haven’t come across any wildlife?” Drew asked as his head spun, attempting to focus in every direction at once.

Brianna shoved her shoulder into Drew’s back with a chuckle. “Don’t be jumpy.”

He jumped, training his weapon on her.

Brianna batted his rifle away. “Calm down! The landing wasn’t stealthy. I’m sure all the critters and creatures scampered away. Before long, we’ll run into all the mysterious things Dyrk and Diana discovered from orbit.”

“Their descriptions make me uncomfortable.” Drew lifted his gun while resuming his meticulous inventory of the surroundings.

“The simple reasons are most often the right ones.” Fenton ran his hands along the fragmented edge. He punched the wall and turned to face his team. With a deep breath, Fenton jerked his head toward the damaged barrier. “While there is some decay, it’s obscuring the actual source of the damage.”

“What happened?” Shandri asked, examining the rupture.

“Among everything else, an explosion devastated the remains.” Fenton wiped his face as his gaze slipped to the structure’s interior.

“What?!” Alek stalked to the gap and traced the devastation arrayed along the breach. “Why would our ancestors bomb themselves? What could have prompted that decision?”

Fenton pointed at a building in the distance. “Morris, you take Brianna and Shandri and inspect that structure.”

“What’s our job?” Drew asked.

Fenton shook his head and gestured at another form. “We’re examining that.”

The skittish man squealed as he leapt back from the colony wall...