Matt had to swivel most of his upper body to look at the military woman. The full-face piece – a large curved sheet of clear material – was difficult to get used to, and allowed zero peripheral vision.

On the other side of Tania, Frank gripped the bar, hard. The older man’s large and overweight frame pushed at his suit front, and even behind the faceplate he was visibly flushed.

Matt nudged Andy, and motioned towards his colleague.

Andy turned and peered at Frank. “Okay there, big guy?”

Frank flashed him a look, and then nodded jerkily. He added a small salute.

The cage eased to a stop and Tania pushed open the gate. “Gentlemen.” They stepped out, and Tania shut the gate. “Follow me.”

She took the lead and they walked single file. The amount of light and activity created a show-room environment that made everything seem garish and movie-set-like. Still, Matt was thankful for the extra light as it mostly dispelled the sensation of foreboding he had experienced travelling down.

The four of them skirted other people in similar suits who were working in teams, either collecting the dead birds, scraping samples from door frames and window sills, or waving what looked like Geiger counters at different sections of the newly fortified walls.

“What killed the birds?” Andy asked.

Tania looked from the geologist to the men dragging the bags of feathered corpses. “The birds killed the birds – did it themselves. Just flew into the ground.” She stopped beside a stack of shovels and picks ranging from full ditch-digging size right down to gem-collector picks.

Andy picked up one of the tiny hammers and turned. “Where do we start?”

Mat snorted, liking the guy.

“Very funny.” Tania took it from him. “I didn’t know geologists had such sophisticated senses of humor.” She smiled and dropped the tiny tool back onto the pile. “And we can start wherever you say – you get to show us where you found the sleeve, and we’ll commence there. Further to your report, we’d also like your advice and commentary on what the consistency of the soil looks like as we excavate – any changes or anomalies.”

She swiveled to Matt. “And Professor Kearns here can give us his insights into the symbols.”

“So it was a language?” Andy asked, eyebrows raised behind the Perspex.

Matt shrugged. “Might be nothing more than a formation anomaly. Once I’ve seen the site, and also any evidence of other communication, I’ll be able to judge whether it was human in origin or not.”

“Excellent,” Tania said. “Are we good?”

Frank and Matt nodded, and Andy bowed, and held out an arm. “This way.”

Tania waved over a couple of men and motioned for them to bring the digging equipment. Andy approached a section of wall and leaned in close. “Here.”

Matt stepped up beside him.

“This is where the shirt sleeve was…and the carving or whatever it was.” He waved his arm over a wall now pocked with digging marks.