Part Three: Beta Pac: Chapters 23 and 24 Summary

Truscott gives them a shuttle, a pilot, and thirty-six hours to examine Beta Pacifica III. They fly over, seeing ruins and select an inland site to set down. The atmosphere allows exploration without Flickinger belts. Carson tells Jake to remain inside. George begins a map using a lightpad. Nothing they find is high tech. Preoccupied, Maggie doesn't hear the sound resembling castanets but the others do. A small creature pulls back out of sight. They check in with Jake, and are told all is quiet. They find walls and stairways that rise up to nowhere. They stop for lunch, speculating as to what might have happened, and what the place may have looked like in its prime. They find a concrete structure reinforced with iron that goes eight feet down. They try to...