None wore synth armor. Kira assumed that meant they weren’t warriors.
Instead, the Luathans they passed were clad in garments that at first glance appeared almost simple. When Kira looked closer, she saw details she'd missed the first time. Some wore dresses with intricately braided material. Others were pieced together, panels creating a subtle three-dimensional pattern.
The style the men wore was similar, buttons with some type of intricate detail to draw the eye. The longer you looked, the more you noticed, as if only by studying each person could you take in the full effect of them.
Kira looked at those they passed with the same interest aimed her way. The Luathans, she noticed, were more individualized than she'd first assumed. There was more variation in hair and eye color, though blond hair and purple eyes seemed to dominate.
"It's like some scene out of a holovid,” Raider said. “It’s creepy.”
Blue rolled her eyes. "You're always so grumpy. I think it's nice. They seem happy."
"You think everything is nice."
Blue wasn't listening. She darted to a doorway that led into a sun-drenched room. She paused on the threshold, not entering, as she examined the pattern etched into the doorframe.
"See something?" Kira asked.
Blue hummed.
Kira waited, drifting closer to see what had so fascinated Blue.
"I was right," Blue said, bouncing up and down, nearly vibrating with excitement.
"About what?" Kira asked.
"See these." Blue pointed to several points on the pattern. "They bear a startling resemblance to Elder Futhark runes dating from the second to eighth centuries in parts of old Europe."
Kira’s forehead wrinkled in thought.
"And here. These look like they derive from the Phoenician alphabet which would have originated somewhere around the Mediterranean."
Blue stepped back, peering up at the doorway with something approaching awe.
Kira and Raider watched her, Finn a disinterested presence behind them.
"I've seen similar runes all over the parts of the Citadel I've seen,” Blue said. “Admittedly I haven't seen much."
Raider scratched his neck. "So? Why is that important?"
Blue's gaze darted to Finn before she stepped closer to the two of them and lowered her voice. "Because it means at some point in Earth's past the Tuann visited, saw the runes, and then etched them into this place."
Kira drew back.
Blue gestured to the runes again. "These are old. This whole place is ancient as far as I can tell."
"Graydon did say it was nearly five thousand years old," Kira admitted.
"These weren't put here recently," Blue said. "Do you know how momentous it would be if they visited Earth at some point? I mean, this places their advance to space flight thousands of years before our own. No wonder we can't understand their technology."
By now Blue was babbling, her brain working overtime as she worked through all the possibilities. Kira could see the scientist inside taking hold.
Blue was the technician’s specialist for the Curs, but she was also more than that. Jin had pulled her records—all their records—while still near O’Reilly’s orbit. Blue had several degrees and PhDs in fields Kira had never even heard of before. The level of her intelligence was awe-inspiring, more so since she had elected to take a position in the military—a path not many with her capabilities would have embarked upon.
Raider stared at the doorway, one side of his mouth pulling in skepticism. "Couldn't it be coincidence? There are only so many ways you can make a squiggle. Maybe it seems similar, but they aren’t related."
Blue fixed him with a glower. "Do you know the odds of that?"
"No, but I bet you do," he muttered.
