“It’s a ship,” I murmur. Despite my unease, excitement also prickles in my nerves. Humans have always known that the aliens must have traveled between the planets somehow, but to my knowledge, a ship has never been uncovered, not even on Gaia. And to think one was waiting on Titan, of all places. This craft is on the smaller side, not much bigger than Fortuna and built much more slimly and delicately. Though perhaps delicate is the wrong word, since the whole thing is made of indestructible alien material.

I instruct the others to work at the sides of the ship, and then the front, searching for a way into the vessel. They work in silence, though the comms occasionally pick up labored breathing. Once a large enough portion of the ship is revealed, I search for any sign of a hatch or opening. Finding none, I search again by running the hands of my suit over the smooth surface and knocking to search for hollow areas. My team stands back and watches in discomfited silence. Eventually, one of my fingers finds a subtle indent in the material.

“Help me pry this open,” I order. They won’t be happy about it, but we don’t have any time to waste. After a brief hesitation, Ivennie is the first to step forward. Sverre is soon to follow, and lastly a reluctant Magda. Together, we dig our fingers into the barely noticeable edges of the hatch and pry it open. A wave of stale air leaves the ship, warm enough that it creates a fog around us for a moment before dispersing.

We all stand outside, scrutinizing the narrow entrance. The interior is dark and appears unfrozen. It’s barely large enough to allow one exosuit to squeeze through. Normally, my team would be tripping over one another in their excitement to be the first to reach an objective, but now they’re silent. As we wait, the ship pulses again with a faint glow, the light shining brighter out the open hatch. Sverre curses quietly over the comms, and Magda takes a step back. They’re doing their best to hide it, but they’re frightened. Perhaps it’s for the best; Altair told me not to let anyone see the objective.

“Wait for me here,” I say.

“Sarge…” Magda starts, but stops herself.

“Spread out. Form a perimeter. Don’t let your guard down.”

Without further delay, I lower myself into the opening and drop down. Rather than thud heavily against the floor, my boots hit something soft and sink down a few inches. I scramble to turn on my light, and my visor illuminates a swathe of the darkness in front of me.

“Are you okay? What do you see down there?” Magda’s voice crackles with static, although she’s only a couple of yards away. I frown, tapping the side of my helmet with one hand.