The EX-1 drifted motionless in orbit around the third planet of the Khepri System, whose immense jungle continents stretched beneath the cloud layers like endless green oceans. Massive storm systems rolled slowly across the atmosphere, illuminated from within by bright electrical discharges that were visible even from orbit. Between the continents lay warm blue seas, shimmering in the light of the local sun.

Inside the command center, a concentrated calm prevailed.

Katwin da Ariga moved her fingers across the controls of her sensor station while several holographic projections floated before her. The half-Arkonide appeared as composed as ever, yet Ethan McBoyd knew her well enough by now to notice that something had caught her attention.

“The signal is back,” she finally said. “Very weak, but definitely artificial.”

The main screen zoomed in on a densely overgrown region near a mountain range. Beneath the thick vegetation, faint geometric structures could be seen.

“Those aren’t natural formations,” Bernd Avetay added from beside the sensor station, his arms folded across his chest. “The angles are too regular.”

McBoyd studied the projection in silence. The EX-1 had entered the system only three days earlier during a routine exploratory mission, but the recurring energy readings had quickly attracted the scientists’ interest.

“Any signs of an active civilization?”

Katwin slowly shook her head. “No cities. No spaceflight activity. No artificial emissions. If someone once lived down there, it was a very long time ago.”

“Or they’re better at hiding than we are,” Jody Margla remarked dryly.

A faint smile crossed McBoyd’s face.

“Let’s find out.”

 
A little more than an hour later, the shuttle Hopper pierced through the dense cloud layers of Khepri-3. Rain hammered against the hull while Bryce West guided the craft through violent turbulence that pushed even the stabilizers to their limits.

Below them stretched an endless jungle.

Gigantic trees towered hundreds of meters high, their crowns forming an almost unbroken canopy of green through which only scattered rays of sunlight reached the lower levels. Mist drifted between the treetops while wide rivers cut silver lines through the wilderness.

“I think this planet is actively trying to overgrow everything,” West muttered as he brought the shuttle lower.

“And probably succeeding,” Margla replied.

The target region lay on a small plateau deep within the jungle. Only from low altitude did it become clear that the vegetation there had been interrupted unnaturally.

Straight lines emerged between the trees.

Walls.

Or what remained of them.

West carefully set the Hopper down in a clearing surrounded by towering ferns and moss-covered stone structures. The moment the engines powered down, the jungle’s sounds flooded around the shuttle — an endless chorus of chirping, distant cries, and rustling leaves that made the entire planet seem alive.

“Atmosphere is breathable,” Avetay reported after checking his scanner.

“Then let’s see who once lived here,” McBoyd said.

 
The trek through the jungle proved more difficult than expected. Thick roots twisted across the ground, giant plants blocked their path, and the air was warm and heavy with moisture.

The farther they advanced, the clearer the ruins became.

Massive stone structures rose between the trees, half-consumed by moss and climbing vegetation. Some walls had collapsed long ago, while others still towered several stories high.

“This must have been a city once,” Margla said quietly.

“And not a primitive one,” Avetay added as he examined one of the walls.

The stone surface was unnaturally smooth. Beneath the moss, fine lines and geometric patterns could still be seen.

McBoyd looked up toward the overgrown towers rising from the jungle canopy.

“How old?”

“Thousands of years at least,” Avetay answered. “Possibly much older.”

As they moved deeper into the ruins, McBoyd increasingly noticed how strangely silent certain areas felt. The jungle was alive everywhere around them — and yet some places seemed untouched by its sounds, as though even nature itself kept its distance.

Eventually they reached an open plaza at the center of the ruins.

Something stood there.

A single object.

Cylindrical.

Roughly two meters high.

Partially overgrown, but clearly not made of stone.

Avetay stopped abruptly.

“That…” he murmured slowly, “isn’t native.”

McBoyd stepped closer.

The surface was made of a dark metal that showed no signs of corrosion despite the humid climate. Fine engraved lines ran across it, faintly shimmering in the filtered sunlight.

Suddenly Katwin’s voice came through the comm system from the EX-1.

“Major, we’re detecting a weak hyper-resonance from your location.”

McBoyd exchanged a quick glance with Margla.

“Hypertechnology?”

“Possibly,” Katwin replied. “But very old.”

Avetay had already knelt beside the object, carefully running a hand across its surface.

“Whoever built this,” he said quietly, “was far more advanced than anything we’ve found on this planet.”

McBoyd let his gaze wander across the overgrown ruins.

A forgotten city.

A vanished civilization.

And at its center, an artifact that did not belong there.

For a moment he had the strange feeling that the jungle had waited all those millennia for someone to return.

 
Several hours later, the Hopper lifted once more from the ancient ruins, rising slowly through the heavy jungle air while the storm clouds above flickered with distant lightning. Beneath them, the forgotten city disappeared once again beneath the endless green canopy, swallowed by the wilderness as though it had never existed at all.

Inside the shuttle, the recovered artifact had been secured in a containment field while Avetay continuously monitored its weak hyperphysical emissions.

“No active response so far,” he said, still unable to completely hide his fascination. “But I’m certain this object wasn’t built here.”

McBoyd looked out through the forward viewport as the Hopper climbed toward orbit.

“Then someone came here long before us.”

Neither Margla nor Avetay answered.

They were all thinking the same thing.

If an advanced civilization had once reached Khepri-3, then the galaxy was far older — and far less empty — than humanity had believed.

High above the planet, the EX-1 awaited them in silent orbit.

The docking maneuver was completed without incident, and only minutes later the great explorer ship slowly turned away from Khepri-3. Its engines ignited with restrained power, pushing the vessel out of orbit while the jungle world receded into the darkness behind them.

On the main screen of the command center, the green planet slowly diminished until it became little more than a distant sphere among the stars.

McBoyd remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.

“Set course for the outer system.”

Katwin nodded at her station.

“The artifact will keep the science division busy for months,” she remarked.

“Good,” McBoyd answered quietly while watching Khepri-3 disappear into the void. “Because I have a feeling this won’t be the last trace we find.”

And slowly, almost imperceptibly, the EX-1 vanished into the darkness between the stars.