Connelly watched Willard's bright blue eyes, which seemed bluer than ever, like two sapphires. He looked distracted, edgy, not quite his keen self. But after surviving what he had, who wouldn't be a smidge off target? She decided he just needed time to recover from his experience. Hell, they'd all need a couple of days off after this experience.

"All right," Willard said, adjusting his helmet into place over his head. "Let's take a peak at these caves and then get the hell back to the surface before we all die down here."

*   *   *   *   *

Fully geared in their PMSs, Connelly led Robert and Willard out into the cave. They'd remained close to the sphere for a few minutes, making observations, but after a growing sense of frustration over how little they could actually see, they headed in three different directions, but didn't wander too far.

The barren walls of the cavern looked bright brown under the gleaming sphere lights. Connelly noticed that her shadow was intensely dark as it snaked up the curved rocky surface. But something was off. Her vision seemed blurred, unable to make out the details of the cave. The nooks and crannies, instead of standing out in stark contrast, were vague splotches of color.

"What do you make of it?" Robert asked as he walked across the cave.

Connelly closed in on the wall nearest the tunnel entrance. As she grew closer, the obscure features of the wall began to tighten into a clear picture. "Best guess is that they were formed by high pressure venting gasses or volcanic eruptions a long time ago. That would account for the smoothness of the walls…but there's something else. I'm having a hard time seeing." Connelly came to within a foot of the wall and gasped. A thin coating of…something encrusted the entire wall. It gave the surface a wet look, like a fogged up windshield. Connelly realized that what she was seeing wasn't on the wall at all; it was in front of it, suspended in space. She turned around to report her finding and gasped again. Her thoughts swam with the possibilities…the implications of what she was seeing.

"You know," Robert said as he knelt down to inspect where the floor met the wall. He was leaning in close to one of the glittering streaks of red. "I think there is more to this wall than stone. I think these red veins are the same substance the Europhids on the surface cling to."

Connelly's feet locked solidly to the firm cave floor. "Robert."

"You don't agree?" Robert said without looking away from the wall.

"Robert," Connelly said again, this time with more urgency, "look at me."

Robert paused and then turned around. He shot to his feet, eyes wide. "I can't believe we didn't see it before."