Ethan stood under the pounding spray of hot water and let it slam into his back and shoulders. The pool was waist deep on that end, then shallowed out on the far side, where Eferia's people were now sitting on rocks, scrubbing their legs and feet with the foaming sticks.

He closed his eyes and allowed himself to vanish from reality for a few seconds, stop being a Marine, stop being a man lost on an alien world with no hope of ever getting back to where he belonged. For a couple of minutes, he was just a man standing in a waterfall, relishing the powerful, almost painful massage of hot water.

"This place is pretty amazing."

Ethan opened he eyes. Lydia was standing a few feet to his right, soaping up with a large stick. He looked around, pushing some water from his eyes, and saw Eferia showing Doctor Keller how to use the soap.

"Yeah, it's nice," he said.

"Nothing beats an honest to God shower," she continued. "Those sanitation packs do the job well enough, but this is really nice."

Ethan closed his eyes again.

"And they have toilets," Lydia said.

He listened to the falling water splash into the pool around his waist and tried desperately to clear his mind of every thought pushing its way inside.

"Ethan, I was told to sedate you."

He opened his eyes again, but stared straight ahead, watching Eferia and Doctor Keller swim from one side of the pool to the other, a foaming white trail of soap bubbling and popping behind them.

"Colonel Patterson ordered your team to rest," Lydia continued.

Ethan looked at her. "I had a cut on the arm. That hardly warranted sedation."

"He told me to," she persisted.

He stepped out of the waterfall and ran a hand over his wet hair. It was time to get back to work, get dried off, figure out the next move.

"Colonel Patterson ordered me to sedate you, Ethan."

He looked at her, blinking.

Lydia stepped away from the waterfall and lowered her voice slightly. "He said you hadn't slept in days, and he worried that you were feeling the effects of the constant darkness."

Ethan blinked. He was next to the edge of the pool, where the towels were stacked, so he picked one up and started to dry his face to buy some time to find the right words.

"But the thing is, he didn't sleep that night," Lydia continued. "He ordered down time for all of your men, and told me to put you out for the night, but then he stayed awake talking to Captain Marshall."

"The colonel knows his own stamina," Ethan replied, toweling off his shoulders. It didn't sound like the Colonel John Patterson he knew, but it was too early to call Lydia out on a miscue. She could easily be making a simple mistake with her limited knowledge of the inner workings of the military. "And if he had a question about mine, he'd have asked."

Ethan didn't wait for a reply. He turned and walked out of the pool to dry himself on and get dressed. His men were doing the same, having finally scrubbed themselves clean and thoroughly enjoyed the brief respite.

Eferia was still splashing around the water with Doctor Keller, but her people had left the area, presumably to the houses for the night.

"That felt damn fine," Pyro said as he clipped his night vision set to his belt.

Ethan agreed. "This place seems pretty secure," he said as his men gathered around. "I want one man patrols, two hours each, but keep it casual. We might be perfectly safe here, and we don't want to offend our hosts."

"Roger that," Wingman nodded. "They're nice and all, but it's more than a little freaky, finding humans here, isn't it?"

"I'd rather find humans than something with scales and five arms," Pyro replied quietly.

"But that would make more sense," Flash said. "Don't you think? I mean, how'd they get here? What are the chances of humans developing the same way on two different planets?"

"Maybe God put 'em here."

"Which god, Pyro?" Wingman asked.

Pyro shrugged. "Meant no disrespect."

"Wingman, you've got first shift," Ethan said.

Eferia was stepping out of the water now, reaching for a towel. "It was good, yes?"

She was rubbing herself dry and the men were doing their best not to stare. Modesty had long ago been discarded in the modern world, but it was still considered rude to let your eyes linger anywhere inappropriate.

"It was very good," Ethan replied.

"I would like to show you something now." She reached for her clothes. "All of you."

They waited while she dressed, then followed her around the pool to where the wall started up against the rocks of the waterfall and extended around the village, vanishing in the darkness.

Eferia hadn't brought a torch, and there were no street flames here to light the way. Ethan was carrying his rifle and vest, but when Pyro offered to turn on his light, he stopped him with a shake of his head. Eferia was walking up to the wall itself, and she waved Ethan closer.

There was a section, no bigger than his hand, open and set back in the stone wall. She reached her hand inside the opening and began to rub it against something he couldn't see.

"Warmth begins it," she said, smiling. "Look."

It was so faint at first, Ethan nearly missed it, but a moment later the wall began to glow.

"Look at that," Pyro exclaimed.

They all watched as the massive stone wall transformed the darkness into a glowing sculpture. From the point of the small opening, a finger of orange had begun, then spread along the wall, filling in an impossibly intricate pattern that was both carved in and protruding outward from the stone.

No more than a minute or two later, the entire wall was aglow with a soft, orange-lit scene of birds, trees, mountains, streams that flowed with pulsing red waves, animals moving among grasses and flowers growing up all around them.

Eferia took Ethan's hand and brought it up to touch the carving. "It is not hot."

And it wasn't. He touched it, gingerly at first, then ran his hand along the smooth shape of a massive bird. It felt like glass, jutting out in smooth lines from the stone, but glowing with an orange light that didn't give off any heat.

"It's beautiful," he said. "It's very beautiful."

In fact, it was more than just beautiful. Ethan took a step back to try and take it all in, but it was so intricate and massive, it was almost impossible to comprehend. It could take weeks to truly see all the detail, but the overall effect of sparkling, glowing art in relief thirty feet high and miles long was breathtaking.

Eferia smiled, clearly satisfied by the effect, and started back toward the main street. "It will stay for days now that it is warmed. Come, the meal will be prepared now."

When they returned to the house Tolen and Colonel Patterson were in, they found a large meal already laid out on the long table. Lydia was there, running her scanner over everything, while Colonel Patterson was already filling his plate with slabs of roasted meat and various types of green vegetables.

"The beasts," Eferia explained as she took a seat and motioned for Ethan to join her.

"It's all perfectly edible," Lydia declared with a shrug.

Ethan sat and accepted a plate, while the others spread out along the large table, smiling and licking their lips.

There were no utensils, but Eferia and Tolen were happily using their fingers to lift long strips of cooked meat. Nothing stopped a hungry Marine from enjoying a meal, not even the lack of a fork, but Lydia was more hesitant, only lifting a piece carefully with two fingers when it became clear there would be no other way to get the food from plate to mouth.

"Your peoples will be here soon, then we will take you to the gray," Tolen said between mouthfuls.

"Yes, we look forward to that," Colonel Patterson replied. "I hope we won't be crowding them out there." He sniffed, glancing at Ethan. "How many of your people live there?"

Tolen looked down, and Ethan noticed a slight flush to Eferia's face before the older man replied.

"Enough," he said. "But not as many as will come, in time."

Ethan arched an eyebrow at the colonel, but said nothing.

"I see," Patterson replied. "So, how many villages like this do you have here, in this dark side? Are they all as large as this one?"

Eferia turned away for a moment, and Tolen's eyes seemed to be tearing up. He cleared his throat and shrugged. "There are enough. Your peoples will have what they need."

Colonel Patterson sighed, then went back to his meal. After Tolen and Eferia finished, they excused themselves.

"We shall occupy another home, and let you rest among yourselves," she said with a smile. "Good sleep."

"Good night," Ethan said as they left.

"Flash, why don't you help Doctor Warren and clean these dishes." Colonel Patterson stood and motioned for Ethan to follow him outside.

"Yes, sir," Flash replied, dejectedly. "I'd love to do that, sir."

Ethan followed the colonel to the front walk, just outside the door. They watched Eferia and Tolen enter a house on the opposite side of the street, and a few of their people were going into another house just a bit further down.

The dark village was softly lit with the orange glow of lanterns, along the walk and in the street, and a faint glow circled the perimeter. Some of the glowing art work could be seen above the tops of the buildings, looking like birds of lava soaring into the dark sky.

"Getting any kind of real information from these people is damned hard," Patterson said as they stepped outside. "I'm not sure yet if it's a language barrier, or they're being guarded."

"They're probably thinking the same about us," Ethan replied. "They didn't see our ship, and only know they saw one come through the sky. But we only know of this group of thirty or so. There could be another group that circled around, found the Solaria, and have us figured out."

"That's a problem." Colonel Patterson sighed, then rubbed his eyes. "Although we've had Sentinel and the other mobiles on alert. So far they haven't noticed any other people behind or around us. And these people don't appear to have long range communication."

Ethan nodded. "But in this darkness, they have the advantage. One or two of the group we met might easily have come and gone without us noticing. And they've certainly mastered this heatless orange light." He pointed to the artwork over the roofs of the buildings. "With their eyes, there's no telling how far that can be seen. I know without the night vision, just coming to this village Eferia could see as easily as if the sun was up. I could barely see the ground I was walking on."

Patterson grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. "If they didn't light up these torches, I couldn't see the houses on the other side of this street."

Ethan looked down the row of buildings and nodded. "I've been trying to figure out how many people they might have, but without a better reference . . ." He glanced down the other direction. "This village alone could easily hold two or three thousand people. And they say they have more villages like this one, but there's no one here."

"Tolen said something about harvesting and a crop here not being ready again, or something."

"Eferia said the same thing. So they have crops, somewhere, of some kind, and only live here during the harvest. But does that mean there only are a few thousand of their people? It doesn't seem likely. And if they all travel together, where are the rest? How did this group come to look for us while the others are -- where?"

"They're hiding something," Patterson said. "Keeping secrets while they try and figure us out, just like we're doing with them. At least they're smart."

"I'm not sure they're being secretive for the same reasons we are."

Colonel Patterson looked at Ethan, scrutinizing him for a moment. "What do you mean?"

Ethan shrugged. He honestly wasn't sure what he meant, but he couldn't deny the instincts that were making him feel there was something else here, something less than sinister, but terrible nevertheless.

"I'm not sure, exactly. Eferia and Tolen were uncomfortable when you asked how many people there were, but they didn't look upset the way I would have expected."

"Evasive is evasive, Griff. Neither of them wanted to admit any sort of population numbers. You saw them yourself."

"Yes, I saw them," Ethan agreed. "But I didn't see evasion so much as -- emotion. They were upset by the question, or maybe the answer was something they were disturbed by. I don't know." He shrugged. "There was something there."

"Something," Patterson huffed. He stared out at the darkness for a few moments, chewing the inside of his lip. "Maybe we've got them outnumbered, and they don't want to reveal that."

Ethan's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't--"

"That could be it," the colonel continued, unfazed. "Maybe they're afraid we have more ships coming, and will soon overwhelm them with numbers." He sniffed. "Damn darkness. It's unnatural." Before Ethan could interject his thoughts, Colonel Patterson unfolded his arms and heaved a sigh. "Well, I'm off to get some sleep."

And with that, he turned and marched back into the house, leaving Ethan alone in the dark, with his unvoiced opinions.

Wingman came outside, nodding to Ethan as he stepped out on the road. "Shall I start my watch now?"

"Yeah, I'll spell you in two hours." Ethan said. "I'm gonna take a walk, have a look at this whole mural."

"Yes, sir."

Ethan had left his vest inside the house, and his night vision as well, but he had his rifle slung over his shoulder and his com unit in one ear. He stepped off the walkway and headed up the road, back toward the waterfall where the wall mural began.

The village was dead-quiet. A silence only broken by the sound of water as it fell over the wall and splashed into a pool. Ethan walked back the way they'd come, staying on the main road along the flaming bowls lighting the street. As he looked around, he realized just how dangerous a place like this could be. The flames not only disabled their night vision, but cast shadows that danced along stone buildings and over dirt roads, playing tricks with their eyesight.

To Eferia and her people, this must have looked as bright as day. The entire village was likely visible and very easy to see in great detail, while he and his people could barely get around without flashlights.

His training gave him the ability to suspect everyone and trust no one, assuming every situation you found yourself in was a trap of some kind. But his instincts were conflicting that, suggesting Eferia and Tolen were being open and honest, and hiding details out of fear or shame, rather than some evil intent.

But he couldn't know that for sure, and that kept his senses on alert, occasionally banging up against the back of his eyes like a pounding headache that wouldn't go away.

He rounded the corner and walked up to the wall, then started along the perimeter, looking at the glowing orange artwork in all its intricate detail.

It clearly told a story, but what the story was remained a beautiful mystery. He saw two massive birds, then there were several more, smaller in size. A fledge, perhaps? Birds had been extinct in the wild on Earth for a long time, but as children, he and Kathryn had loved visiting that section of the zoo back home.

Beyond the smaller birds, were slightly larger ones. Ethan counted the same number as the smaller ones, assuming the story was progressing in time.

The medium-sized birds were standing in two groups now, and more animals were appearing in the relief. They were taking sides, grouping behind the birds. After a while, the two groups of birds and animals separated, and the artwork switched attention to trees and flowing water, then intricate shapes of twirling, knotting vines.

Beyond that, the story was harder for Ethan to interpret. There were birds flying here and there, and detailed landscapes that amazed him with their obvious level of difficulty. He still couldn't figure out how the relief had been made, or what was making it glow with such depth and movement, but the beauty was undeniable.

As he progressed around the far end of the village and back up the other side, there were fewer and fewer birds in the mural. There was a wide line now, and birds on either side, but only one or two here and there. The other animals and the landscapes were dominating.

Finally, as he reached the far opposite end of the wall from where he'd begun, it was once again down to only two massive birds, locked in combat with claws clutching each other while sharp beaks stabbed at each others throats.

He stopped walking and stared a the image.

"Is that what you don't want to admit?" he asked to know one in particular.

"Say again, Ghost?" Wingman asked.

Ethan sighed. He'd forgotten his com was on. "Nothing, just talking to myself."

"Yeah, the dark'll do that to you," Wingman replied with a snort. "It's really bugging me, you know? I keep looking up, waiting for the damn sun to rise, only it doesn't."

"It never will," Ethan replied. "Not on this side."

"That's really screwed up. I just hope the other side of this dirt ball is where we can settle in."

Ethan laughed shortly and turned around, walking back along the wall. "You really think having daylight constantly, with no hope of the sun ever setting, would be easier to handle?"

"Well, when you put it that way, I dunno," Wingman admitted.

Ethan stopped following the wall and went down a side street, unlit and dark. The street just ahead of it was also dark, with no flames in the torches or pots.

The darkness was so enveloping, he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. Standing in the center of the dirt road, the buildings to either side vanished into the blackness. Even the orange glow from the wall cast no light outward. If he turned around, he could see it, shimmering there, but turning around left him completely in the dark.

He brought his rifle around, but didn't flick on the light.

In the silence, only his footsteps made sound, but he felt there was movement somewhere nearby. He continued walking, staying in the center of the dirt roadway.

When he realized the roadway seemed to be shifting, he followed it, rounding a corner. From there, he could no longer look back and find the glowing mural at his back, but if the entire village was laid out in the pattern he'd already seen, it should be just a matter of following main roads to the ends, or taking a side road to the other end.

If he could see a side road.

As it was, he couldn't even see the buildings a few feet away.

Ethan felt his heart rate increase.

Something was definitely moving. He couldn't hear it, or see it, but he had the distinct feeling he was not alone out there in the dark.

He raised the rifle and looked through the scope, scanning the buildings to either side. They were visible now, glowing slightly blue through the rifle's single eye, but nothing was moving along the walkway.

He moved the weapon slowly, panning up and down one side, then around to the other as he continued to walk. Another side street came along, and he moved closer to the edge of the corner building. The blood was rushing through his ears, giving his mind a white noise blanket to wrap around the growing tension.

When he finally did hear it, he froze in place.

The sound was coming from directly behind him.

Ethan spun, rifle up, finger on the trigger.

He startled the man strolling up the road, and the little mera he was holding.

"Greetings from Earth," the man said with a smile.

Ethan lowered his weapon instantly, then let out the breath he'd been holding.

The man held out the mera, offering Ethan the chance to pet the creature, which he did. It was incredibly soft, and seemed to be making a vibrating sound deep inside its chest that was oddly soothing.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Ethan apologized.

The man smiled widely. "Greetings, from Earth."

"And you don't speak English."

He brought the mera closer in to his body and continued along his way with a nod and quick wave.

"Good night," Ethan said. He turned to watch the man walk down the street, and almost instantly lost sight of him in the darkness. "Damn." He keyed his com unit again. "I'll tell you one thing, Wingman. If these people wanted us dead, we'd be dead already."

"I hear that," Wingman replied.

Ethan flicked on his flashlight and used that to find his way back.