<Hey, check this out. – Kira> And she forwarded the readings to Alan.

Less than a minute later: <The hell! You sure your equipment is? – Alan>

<Pretty sure. What do you think it is? – Kira>

<Dunno. Might be a lava extrusion … Can you get a scan of it? Maybe pick up a few samples? Dirt, rock, whatever is convenient. – Alan>

<If you really want. It’s a bit of a hike, though. – Kira>

<I’ll make it worth your while. – Alan>

<Mmm. I like the sound of that, babe. – Kira>

<Hey now. – Alan>

She smirked and swapped out of the infrared as she started down the hill. “Neghar, do you read?”

A crackle of static and then: *What’s up?*

“I’m going to be another half hour or so. Sorry.”

*Dammit! Those rolls aren’t going to last more than—*

“I know. There’s something I have to investigate for Alan.”

*What?*

“Some rocks, farther inland.”

*You’re gonna give up Yugo’s cinnamon rolls for THAT?*

“Sorry, you know how it is. Besides, haven’t seen anything quite like this before.”

A moment of silence. *Fine. But you better haul ass, you hear me?*

“Roger that, hauling ass,” said Kira. She chuckled and quickened her pace.

Where the uneven ground allowed, she jogged, and ten minutes later, she arrived at the tilted outcropping. It was bigger than she’d realized.

The highest point was a full seven meters overhead, and the base of the formation was over twenty meters across: wider even than the shuttle was long. The broken cluster of columns, black and faceted, reminded her of basalt, but their surface had an oily sheen similar to that of coal or graphite.

There was something about the appearance of the rocks that Kira found off-putting. They were too dark, too stark and sharp-edged, too different from the rest of the landscape—a ruined spire alone amid the granite wasteland. And though she knew it was her imagination, an uneasy air seemed to surround the outcropping, like a low vibration just strong enough to annoy. Were she a cat, Kira felt sure her hair would be standing on end.

She frowned and scratched her forearms.

It sure didn’t look like there’d been a volcanic eruption in the area. Okay then, a meteor strike instead? But that didn’t make sense either. No blast wall or crater.

She walked around the base, scanning. Near the back, she spotted the remnants of the drone: a long strip of broken and melted components dashed against the ground.

Hell of a lightning strike, Kira thought. The drone must have been going pretty fast to spread it out like that.

She shifted in her suit, still feeling uneasy. Whatever the formation was, she decided she’d leave the mystery for Alan to figure out. It would give him something to do on the flight out of the system.

She took a soil sample and then searched until she found a small piece of the black rock that had flaked off. She held it up to the sun. It had a distinct crystalline structure: a fish-scale-like pattern that reminded her of woven carbon fiber. Impact crystals? Whatever it was, it was unusual.