Ethan rolled over, then sat up and rubbed his face. His arm was bandaged, and the shirt sleeve pulled back down. He found his vest and weapons neatly stacked on the ground beside him, but no sign of Lydia anywhere.

As he looked around, all he saw were sleeping figures, on cots and the ground, and one Marine patrolling nearby.

"Dammit, Lydia," he muttered. He reached for his com unit to check in with Colonel Patterson, but before he could key it up, he heard footsteps approaching.

"Good morning, I think."

It was Pyro, smiling and offering Ethan a cup of dark, steaming liquid.

"They dosed everyone from your group, Colonel Patterson's orders," he said. "Rest of us are doin' patrols. I just got off duty. Here, try this."

Ethan had been looking around, trying to identify the sleeping forms in the cots nearest him. He turned and saw the cup, then took it and gave the steam a questioning sniff.

"It ain't coffee, if that's what you're thinking," Pyro replied. "The locals call it Halo. It's tea."

"Tea?" He sniffed again. The scent wasn't unpleasant. A heavy mix of hickory and smoke, with a hint of something akin to mango.

"Yeah, tea that they make from those little flower things. You know, the tuft thing on the top of the long flowers those rabbits are eating," he said. "It's really good, honest. Has caffeine, too."

Ethan brought the cup to his lips and tasted it. The hickory smoke scent was even stronger as he drank, but there was no trace of charred wood in the flavor, just a strong, dark kick and a fruity aftertaste not at all unpleasant.

"See? Not bad, and plentiful. It'll wake you right up."

"Where's the colonel?" He took another drink, less hesitantly this time. "How long have we all been sleeping?"

"Well, Colonel Patterson's over there, talking with Captain Marshall. He woke up about an hour ago, but we were all under orders to let you keep sleeping."

"Dammit," Ethan finished the tea and handed the cup back to Pyro. "Where are they?"

"Just right over there, but it's no big deal, Ghost. He said for you to sleep."

Ethan grabbed his vest and gear and stood, but had to pause for a moment when the world took a sudden turn. Before Pyro could offer a hand, he'd steadied himself.

Angrily, he slipped on the vest, attached his rifle, slung around behind his back, and clipped the night vision lenses to his belt. He was shoving the com unit into his ear when he found Colonel Patterson sitting by the orange glow of a small fire, with Captain Marshall, Commander Ellis, Tolen and Eferia.

Vowing to have words with Lydia, he approached the group.

Colonel Patterson looked up, then smiled and waved for Ethan to take a seat on the ground with them.

"Griff, you're up."

"I'm sorry, sir. Lydia sedated me without so much as--"

"I told her to," Patterson replied.

Ethan blinked. "Sir?"

"You were exhausted, Griff. Hell, we were all pretty spent, especially after that firefight. And I know you well enough to know you wouldn't have volunteered for some sleep." He gestured toward Tolen. "They tell me that's one of the largest herds they've ever seen."

Ethan was grateful for the darkness just then, so their new friends couldn't see the flush coloring his cheeks. He accepted the information with a nod and turned to face Tolen.

"The beasts attack as needed," Tolen said. "If you were numbered smaller, fewer beasts would have attacked."

"That is why we travel smaller," Eferia added.

Ethan nodded, still flustered about having been sedated, then sleeping through part of this gathering.

Tolen continued. "Your people will rest in our village, then we will take you to the gray." He made a point of aiming a finger at Ethan, then the colonel and the other two. "We will take you, then we will do again, and again. It is safer for traveling."

"In smaller groups." Ethan agreed. He noticed Colonel Patterson and Captain Marshall looking at him. He looked at Tolen. "How far apart?"

Eferia shrugged. "Four turns, maybe five. Not long, but safer."

Ethan glanced at the dark sky and stars above.

"I've calculated a full turn of the constellations as just over two hours," Commander Ellis supplied. "So five turns would be ten hours, for the most part."

"Our village is four turns from this place," Eferia said to Ethan. "How many of your hours is that?"

"Eight," he replied, pointing to his watch. "Eight of our hours."

She nodded, clearly pleased to have learned a new word in the Starlight language. "Eight hours."

"All right, so if we section our group into manageable numbers, it'll take the better part of twenty four hours to get them all into the village." Colonel Patterson turned to Captain Marshall. "I'd like to get them all together again before we set out for this gray location they're talking about."

"So this gray place is the light side of the planet, right?" Marshall asked. "We're still moving to the light side?"

"No, the gray is the gray," Eferia corrected. "We cannot take you to the light side."

"The light side is not for us," Tolen added with a sharp shake of his head. "We can take you to the gray. There, they must decide. No one in the dark can make a ruling for the light."

Ethan was nodding when he noticed the commanders both staring at him again. "It makes sense," he said.

"You wanna explain it to the rest of us, Griff?" Patterson grunted.

"I--" He turned to Eferia and Tolen. "You are the people of the dark, yes?"

Eferia laughed.

"Yes, of course," Tolen replied.

"And the other part of this world, the part where the sun shines all the time, that is where the people of the light live?"

This time Tolen chuckled, covering his mouth politely.

Ethan shrugged and looked at the colonel. "The gray would be what they're calling the twilight section. Where the sun isn't rising or setting, but touching the horizon. I think they consider that a neutral area, separate from either side."

"Like a demilitarized zone?" Commander Ellis asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I think so," Ethan replied. "It's where they make their rules and laws."

"In the gray," Eferia confirmed. "The light cannot speak for the dark, and the dark cannot speak for the light, so the gray speak for each."

"It has been so since the time of dying was ended," Tolen said.

Ethan held up a hand, warding off Colonel Patterson's question. "When can we start?" he asked Tolen.

"When you say."

He turned to the colonel. "A word, sir?"

"Yes." Colonel Patterson cleared his throat, then stood. "Tolen, if you'll excuse us for a moment, we'll need to discuss how best to divide our group."

"Yes," Tolen nodded. He then turned to Eferia and they began a casual conversation in their own language.

The colonel waited until Captain Marshall and Commander Ellis were on their feet, then he gestured with his head for them to follow.

Ethan took a breath, then followed his commander away from the small fire and out into the darkness, away from listening ears.

"Anthropologists, you said."

"Sir?"

Colonel Patterson pointed back toward the group. "You said you were from a long line of anthropologists. Is that why you're picking up on what they're not saying?"

Ethan could hear the undertone in the colonel's voice, but dutifully ignored it. "Yes, sir, I suppose that's right."

"So what exactly are they not saying?" Captain Marshall asked. "What's this gray, and why don't they go to the light side of this world?"

"Their eyes couldn't possibly handle that much light," Ethan explained. "Scans showed they're almost all pupil."

"That's why it looks like they all have black eyes," Ellis said with a nod. "So sure, too much light would be impossible for them to filter out, if their pupils don't close like ours."

"However it happened, the humans on this world separated back in the beginning of their history," Ethan explained. "It stands to reason those who lived here in the constant dark evolved ways to deal with no light. I'm sure those who live in the constant sunlight have specific adaptations, as well."

"Adaptations," Patterson huffed. "So why don't they intermingle? Why would one group stay in the dark, and one stay in the light, when they could easily travel between the two?"

Everyone was staring at Ethan, looking at him as if he were one of the scientists holding a clipboard with all the answers on it.

He got that look a lot, but he hated it nevertheless.

"I don't know why, and neither did Eferia. At least she didn't mention why," he said. "But she did say that for as long as anyone knows, the two sides were at war."

"War?"

"It's what Tolen called the time of dying," Ethan explained. "Eferia explained to me what it was and I told her our word for it was war."

"What exactly was it?" Captain Marshall asked.

Ethan took a breath, then let it out slowly. "She said that their two peoples were trying to end each other, for all time. Only in her early childhood did they finally reach a peace accord, and now the use the gray -- the twilight area -- as a border between the two sides. She said it's there that rules and laws are given, trades are made, and the two sides can live in peace now."

"War?" Patterson repeated. "Well, that puts our provincial hosts in a new light, doesn't it?"

"So two tribes have been throwing sticks at each other," Ellis said with some derision. "They don't really know what a real war is."

"I wouldn't jump to any conclusions," Ethan warned. "Don't confuse their remedial understanding of our language with a lack of intelligence."

"He has a point," Patterson agreed. "Let's not drop our guard just because they don't know our words. If there's a ruling body on this planet, that's who we need to be talking to." He turned to Ethan. "They seem fond of you, so use it, but keep an eye on our white-coated friends. Everyone, keep an eye on them. They're a bit over enthusiastic and can easily tip our hand without even trying."

"Yes, I've had to explain a few facts to them already," Captain Marshall said. "As expected, they don't see a reason not to throw themselves at the feet of these strangers and offer up every detail with a smile and a handshake."

"It's not their job to be wary and on guard," Patterson replied. "It's ours." He cleared his throat. "I want all but Doctor Keller and Doctor Warren to stay with your group, Marshall. I'll take the two, along with my squad. You can divide the rest into equal numbers, but I'd like to get a look around this village before the rest arrive, just in case."

"Agreed," Captain Marshall nodded.

"Griff, get them ready. Let's move out as soon as Tolen is willing."

"Yes, sir."

Ethan found the rest of the squad awake and ready to go. In fact, they'd been awake for nearly an hour and had been assisting Tolen's people in packing up the meat that had been stripped from the beasts.

Frustrated, he found Lydia and Doctor Keller and informed them of the changes, leaving before either of them could ask a question.

The meat was divided up among the groups and tied in bundles with the ropes Ethan had seen in Tolen's camp earlier. His own men volunteered to carry all of the meat given to their group, and started out ahead of them.

"Won't the smell of that meat attract more beasts?" Ethan asked Tolen as they prepared to leave camp.

The older man shook his head. "The smell of death frightens the beasts, and will help keep the peoples safe."

"That's a handy trick to know," Colonel Patterson replied as he approached. "Let's move out. Ghost, take point with Eferia. I'll cover our six, but stay on the com."

"Yes, sir." Ethan had his communication unit in his ear, but kept the night vision lenses hooked to his belt. Eferia was carrying a torch, and the light would render the lenses useless. "Let's go, people."

Eferia smiled and picked up her crossbow, then started out into the darkness, through the tall grasses.

"Why does he call you by another name?" she asked as they fell into an easy pace.

"You mean Ghost?"

Eferia nodded. "With my peoples, it means someone to fear. Someone you cannot truly know or see."

"It's a call sign," Ethan explained. "When we're -- during times like this, when we have to move carefully and protect the ones who don't carry weapons, it's tradition to use other names. Shorter names that are assigned to each person by their commanding officer during their first trip."

"And you are Ghost?"

"And I am Ghost," he replied. "It means something similar in our language."

"He's Ghost because he's damn sneaky," Pyro said over the com.

Ethan knew Eferia couldn't have heard that, so he ignored the man. "A ghost is something that you can't see, or touch. The name was given to me by Colonel Patterson, during my first mission."

Eferia smiled. "Because you can go unseen?"

"When I need to," Ethan replied.

They continued for a bit, moving through the grasses covering the valley floor, then came to an area where the ground began to slope in rolling hills, with trees grouped here and there. These trees were different than the ones that made up the forest. Shorter, with broad leaves and a bark covered in thorns.

"Niro trees," Eferia pointed out. "The bark is good for protection."

Ethan glanced at the sharp point of a thorn as he passed by, but didn't touch it. "Against the beasts, or the other peoples?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Only in the village, the beasts can't come. And the peoples no longer fight, so we have no fears."

"That's good to know," Ethan replied. "How many villages are there?"

"Many more than are needed," she said with a wave of her hand. "You will understand. If you have a word for war, then you must understand."

"I do understand war." Ethan chose his words carefully. "I've seen war, and I've seen peace."

She nodded. "Then you understand that peace is better. Our peoples understand this now, but it has been a long thing to come."

They rounded a grouping of Niro trees and the ground became more rocky and uneven in places. Eferia moved to the left, and Ethan realized they were now on a path, smoothed by years of foot traffic.

"You do not see the darkness as well as my peoples, do you?"

"No, we don't." Ethan touched the lenses attached to his belt. "We're used to more light to see, so in the dark we use these." He pulled the headset out and offered it to her to try on, bringing just one lens down in front of her eye. "Move the torch away further."

Eferia complied, shifting the flame around behind her and pointed down.

As he flicked the unit on, she inhaled sharply.

"This is how you see my world?"

Ethan smiled. "Not exactly. Only through that. Without that, we see your world as very dark."

"It glows," she exclaimed. "This is a very strange way to see, Ethan Griff." She reached up and pulled the headgear off, then handed it back with a shake of her head. "Very strange."

"Yes, it is," he agreed with a short laugh. "But on my world, the sun comes and goes." He pointed to the sky and moved his finger from one horizon to the next. "So we have half light, and half darkness."

Eferia's jaw dropped and she nearly stumbled over a slight rise in the path. "You half your world?"

"Well, we didn't half it," he corrected. "That's just how it is."

"Your peoples can share the light and the dark together, in peace." Eferia sped up her pace with renewed determination. "Those in the gray will want to talk with you."

Ethan couldn't think of a response, so they continued walking, passing by Niro trees and low growing bushes, around boulders and over quietly flowing rivers no more than three feet wide.

Eferia happily named each plant and small animal they saw along the way, making a point of how they do not eat the animals they've respected with a name, only the beasts undeserving of respect.

As they rounded another bend in the path, she smiled widely and pointed ahead.

"There is the village."

Ethan squinted in the darkness, but could only make out a massive, black section that could easily have been another hill or cluster of rocks. He put on the night vision and focused the HUD in the direction she was pointing.

"Reaper, this is Ghost," he said as he stood there, staring at a massive wall of stone, thirty feet high, that went on for several miles in either direction. "We're here."

"What do you see?"

"It's walled," Ethan replied.

"For protection, against the beasts," Eferia said with a shrug. "Come, I will show you."

Ethan flicked a switch on the HUD and transmitted what he was seeing back to Colonel Patterson and the others, then followed Eferia toward the looming dark wall.

As he drew closer, he pushed one lens out of the way so he could see the wall in the natural darkness.

It was solid stone, with a double doorway twenty feet wide and as high as the wall itself. Next to the door, set in the stone, were columns of rock jutting out like fist-sized push buttons.

Which is exactly what they were.

Eferia pressed in four of the six buttons in a sequence, making sure Ethan saw was she was doing.

"The beasts could push the door open, if we did not do so in this manner," she explained.

As the fourth stone button was pressed into the wall, Ethan heard a deep grinding sound, growing louder, as if massive rocks were rubbing against each other.

There was a click, then the wooden doors began to swing outward, slowly but steadily, until they were completely open on each side.

"Come, I will help light the fires while the others join us." Eferia stepped through the doors, leading Ethan into their walled village. "Our friends have brought the meat, but have not yet lit the fires."

Ethan followed, transmitting what he was seeing via Sentinel, but with both lenses pushed aside so he could take it all in with his own eyes.

The village was larger than he'd expected, with rows and rows of buildings seemingly carved out of stone lining streets of smoothed dirt. Spaced every few feet was a tall stake, with a bowl at the top, and here and there in the center of the street were larger bowls filled with a thick, dark liquid.

Eferia touched her torch flame to one of the large bowls, and a flame erupted, then settled in to a soft, golden glow. A moment later, all of the other bowls ignited, somehow fueled by the single bowl she'd touched with her flame.

Satisfied, she moved to one of the poles and reached up as high as she could. As her flame neared the bowl at the top, it ignited, casting more warm orange light onto the city's street. That flame then spread, seemingly of it's own accord, lighting each pole in turn down to the end of the street, across the far end, then back up the other side.

With the added glow, the city became more visible in the darkness. Ethan could see the buildings a little better now, and adjusted his mental description from buildings, to homes. Each one had wide wooden doors, several shuttered windows and multiple levels. As each street spread the orange flames, he saw more and more of these homes spreading out, filling in the space within the stone wall.

Puzzled, he caught up with Eferia who had been moving down the main street. "Aren't there more of your people here?"

"Not at this harvest, no," she replied. "This village is not needed now, so we can use it to rest."

"So your people follow the harvest?" Getting any sort of tactical information from her was like pulling teeth, but Ethan was hoping it wouldn't become a factor any time soon.

Eferia was laughing. "How does one follow a harvest? We harvest what grows, and what grows does not move, so it cannot be followed."

Ethan smiled. "You're right."

"This harvest was done, and the growth is not complete again, so the village is not needed." She stopped walking and turned with a sweeping gesture of her arms. "You see, there is room for your people to rest here."

"Yes," Ethan agreed. "There is plenty of room here." He saw Patterson and the others coming through the gate then, and walked back to meet them.

"Tolen tells me there's plenty of space here," Colonel Patterson said as Ethan approached. He looked around, pushing up his night vision now rendered useless with the flames. "Damn, it's bigger than I expected."

"And empty, except for Tolen's group," Ethan said. "Eferia tells me they use this village during harvest, but it's not needed right now, and that's why it's empty."

The colonel grunted, then turned to Tolen who was approaching. "We appreciate your hospitality."

Tolen blinked, then smiled widely and pointed to one of many houses along the street. "Come, I will show you our homes."

"Sentinel, park just inside that gate and keep a relay open to Captain Marshall."

"Roger that, Ghost."

Ethan followed behind Tolen and the colonel, and Eferia joined them at the doorway of one of the houses. It was then he noticed they were identical, each home matching the one next to it, all along the street. And they were attached, as well.

Inside, Tolen and Eferia lit several small versions of the street lanterns, then a large bowl set along one wall.

The interior of the house was also stone, but covered generously with thick carpets and heavy furs. There was a stairway, carved into the stone, that angled gently up to the other levels, and open passages from one room to the other.

The only doors were on each outer wall, that connected each house to the other.

"For family," Eferia explained. "The homes are all one, so that no one wishes to have what another has."

"Is this your house?" Ethan asked.

"This house is not in use," Tolen replied with a shrug. "Anyone may use what is not in use."

Eferia took Ethan by the arm and pulled him toward the stairs. "Come, I will show you more."

He glanced at Colonel Patterson, then followed her up the wide stone steps to the second level. There he saw a corridor with open doorways on either side, each leading to a spacious room with a bed carved out of stone and piled high with furs and blankets. Eferia continued down the corridor to the very end, where one room had a closed wooden door.

With a push on one side, the carved wood pivoted on it's center, opening to a large washroom.

"For cleaning," Eferia said. "But not for bathing."

Ethan admired the system, taking in as much as he could. The sink and toilet were also carved of stone, and had a continual flow of water coming in one side and flowing out through a drain leading down into pipes hidden somewhere in the stone floor.

There were plush towels of tanned and softened animal hide folded next to the sink, but there was no shower anywhere.

"Where do you bathe?" he asked.

Eferia smiled widely. "Come, I will show you."

She touched his arm again and left the bathroom, pushing the door closed again. At the bottom of the steps, she waved to the other Marines looking around the main room.

"Come."

Colonel Patterson looked at Ethan.

"Apparently I need a bath," he replied with a shrug.

Patterson laughed, then took a seat at a wide, long table where Tolen had gotten comfortable.

Ethan followed Eferia through the open door, but looked back at the rest of the squad. "Come on, boys and girls, you could use some washing up yourselves."

"I'm for that," Pyro announced happily.

"Damn straight," Wingman agreed.

They all filed out of the house behind Ethan, and Eferia led the way down the dirt road to the far end, then turned left down another street lined with glowing orange lamps.

"You see," she said to Ethan as she pointed ahead. "My people are bathing."

He squinted in the softly lit darkness and couldn't really make anything out, but he distinctly heard water falling and people splashing in it.

A few yards closer, and he could finally make out a large pool of steaming water, with a wide water fall coming down from over the stone wall. The men and women who had carried the meat to the village ahead of them were standing in the waist-deep water, rubbing their skin with twigs that foamed and rinsing off in the falls.

"A friggin' hot spring," Pyro exclaimed.

The men hurried forward and were greeted by those already in the water with waves and gestures to come in.

"Go ahead," Ethan said as he unclipped his rifle and walked to the far side of the pool. There were stone seats and piles of tanned fur towels stacked nearby, as well as a supply of twigs. He took a seat and picked up a twig, giving it an experimental sniff.

"You will not join them?" Eferia asked.

Ethan tapped his com. "Reaper, this is Ghost. We're gonna be off the com for a few minutes. It seems pretty quiet here."

"Roger that, Ghost. Take your bath," the colonel replied with a chuckle.

"Yes, sir." He looked at Eferia and started to unclip his vest. "Sure, I'll join them."

She smiled wide and started to strip off her clothes. "Afterwards, I will show you something beautiful."