But his joy was immediately dashed as Song shook his head.

“They have become much more accomplished at repairing the damage that these attacks do, even if they are unable to prevent them. My analysis of what they have prepared gives us no more than an hour before they recover. But I cannot be sure—we must hurry.”

Cade’s heart fell. “So what do we do now?” he asked.

“We have one more of these, hidden elsewhere on the planet. Just one,” Song said. “The next time it is used, we must have a weapon capable of destroying them for good.”

“And?” Cade demanded. “Do you have one?”

“No,” Song said. “But you do.”

Cade scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

Song stared at him. “So you know, then?”

Cade paused, confused, then realized that the Gray had not understood his sarcasm.

“No, sorry. Tell me.”

Song pointed at one of the screens, one of the larger ones that lined the walls of the antechamber.

It depicted something that Cade instantly recognized: a satellite image of the caldera, seen from far, far above. Earth’s region.

“Your race is one of violence. The tragedies you have inflicted upon your own people are as cruel as any species I have encountered. And I have seen many through the pantheon’s Codexes. In that, you have an advantage.”

He moved his hands, and the image zoomed closer.

“Here. You are already aware of this remnant. An A-4E Skyhawk attack aircraft loaded with a B43 nuclear weapon. It is this that you will use to destroy the pantheon.”

Cade looked on, amazed. He was looking at a clearing in the midst of the jungles. There was a plane at its center, surrounded by long grass.

“You want me to fly a … crashed fighter jet? I can’t even drive a car!”

The Gray seemed to laugh again, the trill setting Cade’s teeth on edge.

“I do not need you to fly such a thing. I want you to fly this.”

The picture blurred as the satellite image swept across the jungles before settling above a pool of water.

Cade squinted. “Hey … that’s the waterfall outside our keep.”

Song laughed some more, and then gestured with his hands again.

The screen flickered, and the image changed to black and white. It almost looked like an X-ray. Now, he could see something beneath the water. An oblong shape, all in white.

“Fifty years ago, a battle took place between one of our ships and six of your planes. I believe the planes were called Flight 19, taken from your planet in Earth’s year of 1945.”

Cade raised his brows.

“During the battle, our pilot was killed by a bullet through his windshield. The autopilot brought the ship down to the nearest safe landing zone—the plunge pool of the waterfall. It has remained there ever since, hidden beneath the boulders that the pantheon placed above it.”

“Why would they keep it there?” Cade asked.

Song waggled his head, which Cade guessed was the Gray equivalent of a shrug.