Last expedition to 58 Crs b brought back quite astonishing news. Currently uninhabited, the planet contains clear traces of life. And not just life! There is a possibility that a whole ancient civilization is buried under a huge layer of dust and sand. A few buildings carcasses were uncovered from beneath the surface. And what is most important, rooms contained all kinds of different materials, clearly processed unnaturally. Metal vessels and jewellery. The central room of the biggest building was said to contain a mural with some kind of a circular scheme! Possibly a star map? The expedition team has left most of the findings untouched, updating our facility on the current progress first. I’ve been waiting for a moment like this for ages! I plan to lead the next expedition personally. There are many theories I would like to test, and people I can trust with this are too few. Besides, I cannot stand idly by while the others experience such a tremendous scientific breakthrough first-hand. I simply must be there. I have to see it all for myself. Preparations will begin tomorrow morning. What kinds of secrets will 58 Crs b unravel? It is my duty to find out what has become of it. 

***

We finally arrived. I couldn’t wait any longer, and thankfully, my crew didn’t mind heading out to the excavation site on the same day. Besides, our current base was very close to it, and the walk there only took 5 minutes. 

The schemes that the last expedition brought back were exciting to look at, no doubt, but to see it with my own eyes… That’s a whole different story. The intensity of emotions can compare to those rare moments in my childhood when I saw the world as it is for the first time, not taking it for granted yet. The floating dust particles in the beam of the sun, the bottomless sea of stars in the middle of the night, the surface of the soap bubble… I could feel the mystery, looking at me from the dark corners of the ruins, and it didn’t seem hostile at all. Quite the opposite, it almost seemed like a person that couldn’t wait for me to finally get to know them better.

Eager to proceed, I gave the instructions to my crew. Two people stayed outside in case of any unexpected events, while the others headed straight inside. The building was probably the size of a two-storey house (with parts of the roof missing), preserved surprisingly well, considering the planet stayed uninhabited for at least a thousand years, if our research is to be trusted. Most curious of all the surroundings was the mural, of course. As soon as I got inside the building ruins, I almost rushed towards the ancient wall, disregarding my own safety. How unbecoming of an experienced researcher. Completely unaware and oblivious of the slightly puzzled looks of my colleagues, I carefully touched the surface of the mural, as if making sure it was real. It was firm and indeed, very much real.

There were scratches and cracks all over the surface, but one could still make out a big circle, divided into four sectors. Each sector had three smaller sectors with symbols on it, not unlike the clock dial. Except… there were no hands. Furthermore, the center of the mural had dull colours for each sector, and there were runes of some sort. This could even be the language! I carefully copied it all to have a look at it later. I suspect the outer circle was covered in runes too, but time wasn’t kind to it. I should be thankful I can at least see some parts clearly. 

Yet another item soon grabbed my attention – a cube, appearing to be made of wood. The cube and a few metal vessels seemed sturdy enough to be taken back to the base for further study. We spent another good hour inside, studying the surroundings, then left. 

I spent the rest of the evening making sense of what we had found. There was something strange about that wooden cube. Normally, a wooden brick would have some pattern on it. Upon closer observation of the object we had found though, I could find nothing of the sort. It was too perfect. The vessels didn’t seem unusual at all, but we could not determine the metal in the field, without our equipment. All of the detailed tests were set aside for later, when we will return from our expedition. 

***

Over the next few days our crew worked on the excavation. As our expedition was coming to an end, we uncovered a few more items for further research, and found another mural that was preserved better and had different runes on it. We also found a whole wall covered in similar runes, which I, of course, carefully copied. If this is indeed the language, then I have a whole lot of work ahead of me! 

As we were heading back, I was still filled with the joy and excitement like that of a child. I can’t wait to share these discoveries with the rest of the world.