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at first, as if it were somehow absorbing the beam. Each step brought more clarity, and Skyler was up to his knees in water when he finally had a clear view.
    A shell ship, just as he thought. Perhaps ten meters long, miniature compared to those above Belém and Darwin. It rested on the bottom of the tunnel, a portion of it submerged in the pool of runoff. How the Builders’ vessel had forged this cave so much wider than its own girth, Skyler had no idea.
    The tapered end wasn’t quite circular, he realized, but ovoid. The very tip of it folded inward on itself in a sharp beveled edge, not unlike the corners of the aura towers. He stepped to one side, staying behind the hulking black form, to study the length of it. Much of the fuselage lay submerged in the rainwater, obscured by steam where the cold pool met balmy air.
    His beam caught a gap in the center of the vessel, as if part of the shell had torn off. The gap spanned three meters left to right and went clear over the top of the vessel.
    Knee-high in cold water, Skyler froze up. He dared not draw a breath.
    Something lurked within.

Belém, Brazil
    27.APR.2283
    D ESPITE THE INTENSE heat, Skyler shook all over. It took a conscious effort to suck in a breath. His heart raced unchecked.
    Contact. My God, like this. Contact .
    After a time the shiver abated. His breathing returned to something akin to normal, his hammering heart slowed.
    Skyler swallowed. “Hello?” he said. It came out in a croak, and he coughed. “Hello?” he repeated. No response from within the vessel. No movement, either. Yet he thought he heard something. Breathing.
    Yes, breathing.
    Fighting every instinct he had, Skyler waded forward toward the hole in the ship. He kept to the edge of the tunnel as best he could. The deeper he went into the water, the more the humid mist clinging to its surface obscured his view. Yet he found he couldn’t move any closer to the fuselage of the ship.
    The water came halfway up his abdomen before he finally got a clear view inside the hole. A hexagonal pillar rested in the center, perhaps a half-meter high, topped with a myriad of irregular protrusions, the tallest no longer than Skyler’s hand.
    The surface of the object resembled the aura towers: matte black with geometric indents layered across. As he took in the sight, the barest hint of red light pulsed within those patterns, tracing impossibly thin lines in a wave across the surface.
    Movement caught Skyler’s eye.
    At the base of the pillar, something stirred. He took a step back on reflex, and in that small movement lost what little clarity he’d gained by approaching the ship. Mouth dry, eyes itching from the strain, Skyler leaned in toward the ship even as he backed away.
    Hands gripped the base of the pillar. Human hands, if only in shape. The skin had been replaced, or covered, in that same black material.
    Frozen with pure fear, able only to move his eyes, Skyler glanced along the being’s arms. Near the shoulder the black material became fractured, like broken glass tattooed onto pale skin.
    On the neck he saw the subhuman rash.
    The creature was on its knees, legs bent all the way, perfectly still. It was naked, most of the body still exposed, pale where grime and bruises didn’t mar the skin. A woman, he realized.
    Her face, though, had become partially enveloped by the Builder material. Even as Skyler watched, one of the sub’s ears vanished underneath the material. In the span of ten seconds the other patches of skin still visible on its head were obscured.
    The sound of breathing stopped, then.
    Skyler stepped back, unable to quell his instincts any longer. His foot slipped on debris hidden below the water’s surface, and he stumbled before righting himself.
    The splash he made broke the intense silence.
    He heard an alien noise. Like breathing, but coming in sharp bursts. Glancing back to the cavity in the ship, he saw the woman again.
    Her head turned, until she faced him. That same