"Remind me again how I got roped into this?" Kathryn asked as she handed Ethan an instrument case.

"Colonel Patterson likes you," he said as he strapped the case to the top of the mobile unit. "He always has."

"I won't say I'm not looking forward to seeing more of this planet, but a cemetery?" She shook her head as her brother came down from the top of the vehicle. "And how safe is this dark side? Ara told me about creatures that attack in packs?"

"That's why we're taking this," Ethan replied as he nodded toward the mobile. "We were only attacked once by a pack, and apparently it's because we were a large group at the time. Seems to be safer to move around on that side in smaller groups."

"Well, let me just get Todd and we're ready to go."

As Kathryn walked back into the council building, Ara came out. Ethan watched them pause to exchange a few words, then Ara approached, carrying something wrapped in a burlap fabric.

"Have you changed your mind about coming with us?"

Ara smiled, but shook her head. "As much as I would like that, I am needed here. The council are worried at our people's reactions, and there has been much arguing lately."

"I'm sorry about that," Ethan said. "It'll take some time, but things will smooth over. Regardless of facts, people all decide what they want to believe on their own. Some will agree, some will refuse, others just won't care."

Ara nodded and glanced down at the package in her hands. "Yes, I believe you are correct. Right now I believe I am one of the few who have accepted the truth, even while I cannot truly say I understand."

Ethan didn't bother hiding his relief. "I'm glad for that, then."

"Before you leave for the dark side, I would ask you to accept this." She held out the package, then took Ethan's hand and placed it on the top of the burlap. "It is more symbolic than useful, compared to your weapons, but I would be honored if you would accept it as a gift, from me."

Curious, Ethan unwrapped the burlap and found a silver sword identical to the one Ara wore at her waist. He gripped the handle and held it up, admiring the waving blade in the headlights of the mobile unit.

"It's beautiful," he admitted.

"You have done much for our peoples," she said as she handed him a sheath and belt strap for the blade. "You have fought beasts, and helped us find our past. The council believes you will continue to be a great asset to our community here in the gray."

"I don't know how much help I've been," he said with a short laugh. "And as for connecting your people with their past, well --"

"I would be honored if you would accept the gift," Ara insisted.

Ethan looked at her, then finally gave a nod. "Thank you. It's beautiful." He accepted the sheath and belt strap, then holstered the blade. "Are you sure you don't want to come along?"

"I do want to," she said. "But I must stay. The council needs me. You will return soon, and be safe?"

"Yes, I will." Ethan glanced over Ara's shoulder to make sure his sister wasn't coming back just yet, then leaned in quickly. Ara met him halfway, returning the kiss with an urgency that startled him a little.

Kathryn's sudden approach -- and throat clearing -- brought a quick end to the brief moment.

Ara smiled at her, undaunted. "You will be careful, Kathryn Griff?"

"My brother assures me we'll be fine," she replied. "Is he exaggerating?"

"No, not at all," she said. "The beasts cannot harm you in one of these." She looked at the mobile and shook her head. "I expect this machine can help you to see in the darkness?"

"I certainly hope so," Todd said as he stepped up to the mobile. "I'm anxious to see the other side of this place." He reached up for the door handle and glanced at Ethan. "Are we ready?"

Kathryn gave he brother a wink, then followed Todd into the mobile.

"We'll be back soon."

Ara nodded. "Be careful."

He climbed inside the mobile and turned on the engine, then flipped open the communications unit.

"Reaper, this is Ghost, we're good to go."

"Roger that, Ghost. Have a good trip."

"Yes, sir." He glanced back at Todd and Kathryn. "Hope you two went to the bathroom."

They drove through the city gates, then crossed the open valley and reached the steep climb over the ridge and out of the mountain bowl in less than a half hour. While Todd entertained himself with equipment checks and mapping, Kathryn sat up front with Ethan and watched the sky grow darker.

By the time they were on the downward slope, she was smiling.

"Look at the stars!" Kathryn stared up at the black sky. "I was really starting to miss this."

"You can see some stars in the gray," Todd corrected absently.

"Not like this," Kathryn replied with a sigh. "Reminds me of home."

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "I actually felt more at home in the dark part of this world than I did in the light."

"Well, to be fair, you did spend a lot of your time in the light side trapped in an old shipwreck."

Ethan shot his sister a look, then flipped a switch to change the mobile's outside lights from bright white to softer blue, so none of the light-sensitive animals would be inadvertently blinded by their passing.

"We'll reach the graveyard in a couple of hours. I just really wish we had a UAV. It'd be a hell of a lot easier exploring the rest of this world with some eyes in the sky."

Todd turned to them then, adjusting the seat so he was facing forward. "I don't mean to sound -- well, I was wondering why no one thought to bring them. Or were they all destroyed when the Solaria exploded?"

Ethan shook his head. "Fleet assumed our assortment of high and low orbit satellites would suffice," he said. "And they would have, if they'd been launched. This is like living in the dark ages or something."

"It's amazing what you take for granted," Kathryn agreed. "But couldn't someone put one together? We've got enough engineers hanging around."

"Sure, yeah, but they'd have to strip the equipment and components out of some other gear," Ethan said. "And to do that, you have to be damn sure that other gear isn't needed any more."

"Good point," Todd conceded. "Although it's not like we're completely blind here. I mean, the planet is occupied, after all. These people at least know their surrounding areas well enough. There's time in the future to fan further out and explore. Seeing as how this is home for us now."

Kathryn went back to staring up at the stars in the dark sky. She pulled her legs up and hugged them. "I wonder what it's like now, back there, on Earth. We talk about it like things are still the way they were when we left, like Fleet might still launch another ship, or the ELM are still burning them on the launch pads. But that was all twenty years ago. Nearly a quarter of a lifetime." She looked from her brother to Todd and back again. "I wonder what it's like now."

"I've been trying not to think about it," Ethan admitted.

"I have, a few times," Todd said. "I wonder if other Fleet ships did make it, and made it all the way to 581c. I wonder how many wanted to leave and couldn't, since the ELM destroyed so many ships." He shrugged. "I wonder if maybe, just maybe, they're all gone now. If ELM got their wish, and they're all gone."

"If that's the case, Earth could be recovering," Kathryn noted. "If every human being was gone, it would take a while for the air to clear up, but it would. Then the plants would start to grow again. Maybe old, extinct species would make comebacks. Some of the deep earth where the last forests once stood still contain seeds, deep in hibernation, waiting for the right time to make a reappearance."

"So ELM is right," Ethan said with a huff. "If the people die, the planet lives."

"The idea is to find a balance," Kathryn replied. "And make that balance something the entire population strives desperately to maintain. If you look around at these natives, they've got the right idea. Take away the civil war issues they've had, and you're left with a people who work with the nature around them, not against it."

"It's what Fleet had in mind when they started the idea of the Great Evacuation," Todd agreed.

At that, Ethan laughed. "You really believe that?" He glanced over his shoulder at Todd, ignoring a sharp look from his sister. "You really believe Fleet had, at their core, the best interests of mankind at heart?"

Todd sighed. "I'm not exactly a wide-eyed optimist, Major, I assure you. But like it or not, Fleet was the only corporation in a position to save us all by sending us to another world. When Omnicorp was running Earth, their biggest achievement was subterranean crop fields. That did nothing to clear the air, power the cities or feed the starving." He shifted in his seat, clearly ready for a debate but holding back just enough not to offend his girlfriend's heavily armed brother. "Even when both Data Corp and DarCon were battling it out for supremacy three hundred years ago, and merged on the legalization of euthanasia for non contributors, the reduction of population didn't do enough to dampen the effects of mankind on the planet."

"Careful, Doctor Knott, you're starting to sound a lot like ELM."

"Ethan," Kathryn scolded.

"On the contrary, Major."

"Call him Ethan."

"On the contrary," Todd paused for a moment. "Unlike the ELM, I believe very strongly in the continuation of the human race. I believe we can learn from our history, and that -- when push comes to shove -- we can rise above it, given a chance. But I also believe we'll always need people like you, willing and able to enforce the laws of a new society determined not to bring their race to the brink of extinction again."

"Peace through superior firepower?" Ethan asked with a quiet snort.

"I'd like to think, given this rare opportunity to start over, we'll be smarter this time around."

Kathryn shrugged. "I dunno. It's a nice theory, but people are still people. Look what happened to this group. They're the offspring of the first group to try and earn a second chance, and they've nearly wiped each other out. They've only been here eight generations, and already they have no knowledge of their past, and they've wasted nearly all of their time here repeating it."

"Well who's bright idea was it to alter eye color?" Ethan asked. "Sure, you gain an advantage for either side of this planet. But you also take one group and automatically split them into two. Now you have one group that will always want what the other group has. It's human nature."

"Fleet made some stupid moves, too," Todd said. "Separating families for the sake of the gene pool ensured everyone would lose someone. Now you've got those few who made it safely here, jealous of those very few who had family on our ship."

Ethan felt his face flush slightly in a guilt response, but the mobile unit was too dark inside for anyone to notice.

"People like Commander Ellis," Kathryn noted quietly. "That poor man."

They drove in silence for another hour, until Ethan saw the small orange lights of the cemetery spreading out before them, and a woman standing patiently beside a tree.

"That would be Eferia," he said as he pulled the mobile off to the side, near the start of the first row of markers. "She's from the group we made first contact with."

"I thought the council said there would be two of the darksiders meeting us?" Kathryn peered out the front windshield, straining to see in the darkness. "I only see one person out there."

Ethan pulled out two extra sets of head gear and passed them around. "You know how to use these, Doctor Knott?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Todd placed the headset on, then brought down the night vision lenses and turned them on with a smile.

Ethan nodded, then opened the door and stepped out. He kept his own lenses up and gave himself a moment to adjust to the lack of light, then nodded to Eferia as she approached.

"It is good to see you again, Ethan Griff," she said.

"Where is Tolen?"

She shook her head. "He was not pleased to hear what your peoples are saying," she said. "That our stories are untrue."

"They're not untrue, Eferia. They're just -- different than you thought." He turned to his sister and Todd. "This is my sister, Kathryn, and Doctor Todd Knott. They're going to help me try and figure this out."

Eferia beamed at Kathryn and offered her hand. "Greetings from Earth, Kathryn Griff." They touched palms and she looked at Todd. "Greetings from Earth, Todd Knott. I am pleased that you have come."

"I apologize if our information has been hard to hear," Kathryn said as they all followed Eferia into the cemetery. "It came as a surprise to us, as well."

"Will more of your ships be coming?"

Ethan shrugged. "We honestly have no idea." They'd reached the first line of markers and Ethan knelt close so he could read the words carved into the stone.

"That is the mark of my uncle," Eferia said. She sniffed, then pointed along the line. "My family is here, along this line." She pointed to the next one up. "Tolen's children, his mate and his line are there. I can name nearly everyone in this section."

"No one's doubting this is your people's cemetery, Eferia," Ethan said. "But look, down this line here." He pointed, then flipped down one lens. "Do you see how far all the lines go? Do you see how many markers there are?"

"Yes."

"Without scanning a count, there are easily a half million here," he said. "If we're right, and your peoples have been here only eight hundred years, you couldn't possibly have this many dead. Let alone this many in the dark, compared to the same in the light."

"And yet here they are," Eferia countered. "You can see them, can you not? So this would mean you are not right."

"That's what we're here to find out." He glanced at Todd. "Do you know how to use a GPR scanner?"

"In my sleep," Todd replied. "But doing this whole cemetery is gonna take some time."

"What is this you are doing?" Eferia asked as she followed Ethan back to the mobile.

"We have equipment that will let us see into the graves, without disturbing them," he explained. At the mobile, he climbed to the top and began unstrapping the cases of gear and handing them down to Kathryn and Todd.

"We can use this equipment to scan over the top of a grave and see what's buried there," Kathryn continued for her brother. "This way we can see if there are people buried, or perhaps something else."

"What else would one bury in a cemetery for the dead?" Eferia asked. "We do not bury creatures, or beasts. Only family members."

"We realize that," Todd added. "But there has to be an explanation for so many markers."

"And if you find those markers are all for my peoples? What will become of your theories then?"

Ethan paused at the top of the mobile after handing down the last case. "Then we re-think our theories," he said. "We could be here for a while, so for safety at night, we'll sleep inside the mobile. There's room for you, if you'd like. It'll be easier than keeping an armed guard awake while the others sleep."

"I will stay," she said. "I would see what it is you find here."

"Let's get to work then."

They carried the equipment down a line of headstones while Eferia confirmed knowing nearly every one they passed. After her family, and Tolen's, she began ticking off other members of her group who had family buried there, calling off the names on the markers as they walked.

After passing several hundred in various rows, she finally began to admit she did not know the people mentioned. By the state of the markers, they were obviously a few generations passed.

"I never expected it to be so beautiful," Kathryn said as she gazed out over the myriad of orange glows.

"It is our way of remembering," Eferia replied. "To offer comfort in their resting."

Ethan stopped a few yards beyond where Eferia lost track, and had Todd set up the scanner while he helped Kathryn with the computer that would interpret the results.

"This will not disturb the dead?" Eferia asked as she carefully peered at the screen.

"No, not at all," Ethan assured her. "It will just show us what's there."

Eferia's startled look prompted Kathryn's reassurance.

"What my brother means is, we will see if a person is there, but you won't see enough detail to identify the individual. So, nothing disturbing, I promise."

Eferia sighed in apparent relief.

"I thought that's what I said," Ethan quipped.

"In your own special way," Kathryn replied with a smirk.

Ethan shook his head, then pulled up a grid pattern on the monitor. He flipped down his HUD and stood, scanning around the area until they had a good indication on the computer as to the size of the cemetery.

When he was finished, the grid pattern on the display filled in details, then zoomed down to the point where Todd was preparing to scan.

"Okay, we're set." He glanced at Eferia, then nodded to Todd.

They watched the monitor as an image began to take shape. At first it was a solid blue, then a shape formed at the foot of the space, taking the shape of a wrapped human form. As Todd moved the scanner forward, the image filled in, showing a body shape, tightly wrapped and lying prone.

"Okay, we have a good image here," Kathryn announced. "Clearly this is human."

Ethan nodded. "Let's move up another fifty and try again."

"Will you be checking every one?" Eferia asked as she helped carry the equipment.

"Not every one, but we'll do a pattern and go from there," he said.

They moved to the next marker and set up again only to find another wrapped human form. Changing direction, they skipped a few rows and moved down further, along a line of fruit-bearing trees.

It was Todd who first spotted something different.

"I'm not completely up on my ancient Earth history, but didn't Joseph Stalin die in the twentieth century?"

Ethan knelt in front of the marker and ran a hand over the carved name, reading the inscription aloud. "Joseph Stalin, December 18 1878 - March 5 1953. Dictator, Leader, Murderer." He glanced up at Kathryn and Todd. "Symbolic?"

"Here's another one," Todd said as he pointed his hand light at the next marker. "Says Adolph Hitler." He moved to the next marker. "Here's Fidel Castro."

"Okay, we're on to something here." Ethan stood and waved for Todd to bring the scanner to Stalin's grave as he and Kathryn got the computer set up.

"I do not understand," Eferia said as she watched them. "These graves are no different than the others."

"But these names, they're people who died back on Earth nearly two thousand years ago," Ethan explained. "They can't possibly be here." He watched the screen as Todd moved the scanner over the soft grass. "And you see, that's not a human. Not by a long shot."

Kathryn adjusted the gain on the computer, bringing the container into better focus. It was cylindrical, lying on its side in the space of a grave, measuring only four feet long and approximately three feet thick. She looked at her brother. "Did you bring a shovel?"