“The cliffs incline forward as if on purpose, to protect the valley and keep it hidden,” Bradwick said. “But more than that, the ancient drawings and signs on the cliff walls are in excellent condition, which is amazing when you realize that this place isn’t underground. The later ruins at the other dig are in far worse shape. I found records stored on blocks of stone here, thousands of them, in inner rooms. Who knows what they say, or if we’ll be able to decipher them.”

The camera took a closeup shot of one cliff section, and involuntarily Proteus yelled out.

“What is it?” Window asked.

“I don’t know. Can you hold that shot?”

“Of course.”

Proteus stared. A small section of the wall held his eye. On it the following appeared:

Window said again, “Proteus, what is it?”

“I just don’t know,” Proteus answered. “My pulses are really racing, I’m so excited. Yet I can’t tell you exactly what it is, because I don’t know. But I had the wildest dream of my life last night, and the dream has something to do with those symbols. I only remember a little. There was a girl in it, a black girl. It struck me as odd, since Story spoke about a black girl and then you ‘saw’ a beautiful girl with black skin the day that the symbol appeared on that tile. And in the dream someone was giving translations of ancient verse. When I saw those symbols just now, I thought that—” Proteus broke off, embarrassed. Then he continued, almost despite himself. “Well, I thought that I knew what the symbols meant; or rather, I thought I saw them translated into words of a sort, but in a different language. Yet I’ve seen symbols like that on the cliff walls here and never felt anything like that.”

“Maybe you tuned into some kind of unconscious knowledge in your dream,” Window said. “That’s quite possible, you know.”

“No. I really think that I just had the dream because that stupid symbol on the tile bothered me so. The dream might have been an imaginative solution to the questions I had or something—”

“Do you want me to go on with the tape?” Window asked.

Proteus nodded. “Yes, go ahead with it.”

“Words can’t describe this place,” Bradwick said. The camera showed the entrance to the courtyard and played over the tiles. “How this place remained undiscovered through the centuries … I just don’t understand it.” Bradwick shook his head. “Until the end of the twenty-first century, this planet was literally covered with people. Yet no records mention this place. The ruins are obviously ancient, yet they’re right here—out in plain sight—with no later ruins on top. It just doesn’t make sense.” Bradwick’s voice was so filled with amazement that it was shaking.