The LED lamps on their helmets cut through the dark vessel, revealing it in swaths. Frozen, dead bodies lay on the deck. Others had died in their bunks, a book by their side, covers pulled over them.

In the labs, they found some more recently deceased bodies: members of the Rubicon team that had found the Beagle. They had starved. Conner had sunk the Healy, stranding the team here, to preserve Citium secrets. Peyton wanted to know what was so valuable that it was worth taking the lives of these brave souls.

Rows of doors lined the wall of the lab. They reminded Peyton of cold chambers in a morgue, except these doors each had a small peephole that could be uncovered.

Peyton’s mother moved to a safe on the wall and turned the dial. It clicked open, and she withdrew a set of keys. She turned to the two research assistants, who had brought with them several airtight containers.

“When I place the specimens inside, seal them quickly.”

They acknowledged her orders, and Lin moved to the closest door, opened it, and slid the drawer out, revealing a set of bones. They were human. No—the skull was different, and so was the pelvis.

Lin gently took hold of the skull and placed it in the first container. To the two team members, she said, “Quickly now.”

When the drawer was empty, Lin closed it and used the key to open another.

More bones. Human, but not that of a Homo sapiens sapiens. A prehistoric ancestor, forgotten until now.

The team Lin had brought with her made trip after trip, returning with empty containers, filling them, then leaving to return the specimens to the ship waiting at the surface. Peyton watched in amazement as the chambers were emptied. She counted five different human species in total. The other chambers held other animal species: a large feline, a seal, a porpoise, and many more.

Peyton activated her comm. “Mom, what is this?”

“Let’s speak when we’re done. We have to preserve the samples.”

When the last cold chamber was empty, Lin told the research assistants to wait at the submersible. Then she gestured for Peyton to follow.

They snaked through the dark passageways to a series of cramped offices. Lin pulled open a drawer and rifled through the files. She opened one that was scribbled with German handwriting, then began to read the pages to herself.

“Mom.”

Lin looked up as if she had forgotten her daughter was still there. She seemed almost possessed.

“Whose research is this?” Peyton asked.

Lin said nothing.

“It’s yours, isn’t it? You collected those bones. Why?”

Lin took the folders out of the drawer and piled them on the desk. Finally, she faced Peyton. “Switch to channel seven.”

When they were alone on the comm channel, Lin spoke again.

“Our Citium cell was the original. Committed to the core belief. The founding question, we called it.”

“What question?”