Parker Interstellar Travels 6: The Celaran Ruins by Michael McCloskey

and stores food. A lot of food. So we think this
is a farm. At the very least, it was probably used to ship the product out. It
may have been used for the gathering of other raw materials as well.”
    “It’s
pretty remote,” Imanol said, but for once he did not sound like he was
disagreeing. “As I said, we caught a few creatures.”
    “I’ll
check what they have inside their... guts, I guess I’ll call it. If these
things have food inside, then we can see if it’s remotely related to these
molecules.”
    “I
guess that makes sense. But it could be like looking inside an eel to see what
people eat.”
    “And
that could be confusing, since carnivores have to make glucose from protein
sources,” Cilreth said.
    “I
thought Maxsym was our bio guy,” Imanol said.
    “I
don’t see him here,” Cilreth said.
    “I
mean you sound very knowledgeable about these things.”
    “I’m
not,” Cilreth said. “But we should be able to find what we need using our tools
and we’ll study the rest from New Iridar ’s net cache. We might get
lucky, and these things’ diet might match up to what’s in this building.”
    Jason
held up a black bag. Something wriggled inside. “Well this bugger eats vine
sap,” said Jason. “I saw it sucking juice out of a thick vine stem.”
    “That’s
perfect! Well done!” Telisa said. “Did you—”
    “Yes,
I got a sample of the sap,” Imanol said.
    “Both
of you, then,” Telisa said.
    “We’d
better head back. Our time is running out,” Cilreth said.
    “It’s
getting dark already?” Siobhan asked, looking at the sky. It was clear, but
noticeably dimmer than she remembered.
    “The
days here are short,” Cilreth said.
    “We
have time to get back, if we hurry,” Imanol said.
    “We
stay here,” Telisa said.
    “Really?”
Imanol asked.
    “Yes.
This place looks intact. I don’t think wild creatures have been tearing through
here. I’d like to get to know the place a little.”
    Siobhan
did not like the idea much. She did not mind taking risks when there was fun to
be had, but hiding in the alien building all night did not sound exciting. She
traded looks with Caden. He just shrugged. But Cilreth voiced the doubts
Siobhan felt.
    “We
don’t know much about this place. Why risk it?”
    “Small
risk. We can get started earlier tomorrow morning. Then tomorrow afternoon we
can make it back to the New Iridar and head over to the next ruins
site,” Telisa said. Everyone accepted Telisa’s decision, but she continued.
“Even on Earth, a lot happens at night,” she said.
    I
wonder what she means by that. It sounds so ominous.
    The
team moved their packs from the roof down into the processing building. They
settled in just below the doors Telisa and Caden had originally entered
through. Everyone cooperated to move the boxes around to create a larger
sleeping space. The ambient light in the building started to wane. As the light
from the windows dropped, a gentle violet light started to emanate from the
ceilings in the building. It was just enough for Siobhan to see by, though it
altered the perceived colors of her clothes and equipment.
    “We
place scout machines just outside over our doors,” Telisa ordered. Once the
scouts were on guard and the attendants on patrol, everyone relaxed a notch.
    “If
I roll over in my sleep, I’ll take out a whole wall,” Imanol said, looking at
the stacked boxes.
    Siobhan
settled with Caden at her side and a partially emptied pack under her head.
They shared a look of satisfaction. Exploring an alien planet could be hard, but
things had been easy so far. She peeked at Telisa. Their leader looked
troubled.
    If
Magnus was here, we’d all be happy.
    Everyone
quieted down and sought sleep. Siobhan found her head filled with thoughts
about the planet that died down slowly across the next half hour. She had just
started to nod off when a long squealing howl came from outside. Then another.
    “What
the hell?” Siobhan whispered. Somehow