Drom shoots me a thumbs-up. She weaves through some buildings on the outskirts of the city and slows in preparation for landing. As we round a corner, I realize at the last moment what she’s headed for. I curse, the word lost in the wind.

Drom brings the clunker right up to the foot of a Primus statue and lands there with an ungraceful thump. I lurch forward, my stomach threatening revolt. After a few long moments, I swallow and stand up, trying not to look at the statue towering over us.

It stands at least twenty feet tall, pitch black and completely unblemished despite a thousand years of wind and rain and time beating down upon it. It’s almost humanoid at first glance, with a head, body, and four limbs. But where the arms should be are slender, tentacle-like appendages, and where the face should be, the statue is smooth and blank.

The Gaians have constructed a small fence around the base of the ancient monument, plastered with warnings about getting too close. I’m not sure why they bother. You could unload a full blaster at one of these things and it won’t chip its surface. The twins have proved as much on a previous trip. The aliens had some way to manipulate the material, given that there are knives and other objects made from it, but as far as humans are concerned, the stuff is indestructible.

At the very front, near the strange, bony appendages that compose the statue’s “feet,” is a golden plaque. Scientia potentia est, the engraved words read. Knowledge is power. It’s so Gaian I want to vomit. The remains of the Primus are scattered across the other planets as well, with the exception of Pax. But none have ruins as prominent as Gaia’s, and none put much stock in the creepy, worshipful obsession that the Gaians have toward the dead aliens. Scientists theorize that this was the Primus home-world, which Gaians consider a source of pride. To me, it seems like living in a home whose previous owners disappeared under unknown circumstances is a pretty terrible idea.

I clamber out of the clunker, refusing to look directly at the statue and risk having my reaction show on my face. When I turn to my siblings, I find both twins smirking and Lyre hiding a small smile behind her hand.