Free The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict by Jeff Sims Page B

a thick layer of rock just below the surface. 
    After landing, they put on flight suits.  These suits had thick material and contained a separate oxygen reserve.  The suits should protect them from any airborne pathogens and any fauna or flora.  Actually, Carank wasn’t entirely sure about the fauna part – he supposed a particularly nasty wild animal could bite through the suit.  At the last moment, Carank grabbed a beam weapon and handed one to Lorano. 
    They decided to exit via the connector tube so that they could keep the air in their ship separate from the air on the surface.  Normally, the connector tube is used to connect one ship to another.  When not in use, the tube is stored in a sealed room connecting the inner hull to the outer hull.
    Therefore, when two ships want to connect, they both open their outer hull ports.  Then one ship extends its connector tube.  When a solid connection has been established, both ships open their inner hull ports and beings are free to crawl from one ship to the other.
    For this landing however, Carank and Lorano left the outer hull closed and opened the inner hull.  They entered the passageway between the hulls and then closed the inner hull.  Then, they opened the outer hull and extended the tube down to the surface.
    Carank crawled down through the connector tube and to the surface.  Lorano followed Carank down the passage.  Lorano ordered the ship to retract the tube and seal the outer hull.  He reasoned that he didn’t want anyone or anything climbing up the tube and surprising them when they returned.
    Once out, Carank closely inspected the landing area.  Well, he kicked the soil with his boot a few times.  However, the 3 rd kick revealed a cleanly cut and polished stone just below the surface.  Carank continued kicking the soil until he had cleared an area about the size of his foot. 
    Lorano joined Carank.  They both looked at the smooth polished stone.  Lorano jumped up and down a few times, but every spot felt the same to him.
    Carank concluded, “The soil is only a few inches deep here and it is covering a large stone base.  The dirt here is newer than the surrounding area.  Clearly, at one time this was either a landing pad or a base for another pyramid.”
    Lorano had reached the same conclusion.  He replied, “You assessment appears to be mildly correct.  Take a soil sample here.  However, please note that the soil is technically the same age as the soil in the surrounding area, it has simply been moved by the wind.”
    Carank thought of several comebacks, but instead bent down and gathered a sample.  He was careful to collect soil that hadn’t been disturbed by his boot.
    Carank said, “How far?  It looks like we are almost standing beside the pyramid.”
    Lorano replied, “It’s about ¾ of a kilometer (½ mile) away.  Let’s go.”
    They walked in silence until they reached a grove of trees.  They stopped to examine them in detail.  The trees were brown with large green leaves.  They were roughly 5.5 – 7.6 meters (18 – 25’) tall and looked deciduous.  These trees would like right at home in a forest in Advranki 2, Altian 1, or even Earth.
    Unfortunately, neither scientist had any formal education in botany.  As a result, they were unable to ascertain any useful information by looking at them; other than the aforementioned fact that they looked like green-leafed trees. 
    Carank said, “These trees look exactly like those on Altian 1.  I believe that this entire area must have been terraformed by the Altians thousands of years ago.”
    Lorano responded, “All trees have brown bark and green leaves, except those that don’t.  These are no different.”
    Carank reluctantly agreed with that assessment.
    There were no obstacles of any kind in their path.  Carank thought he saw a hint of stone a few times and imagined that they were walking on an overgrown street.  Either way, they were able to easily walk to the