The Skipper approaches a grey-brown Earth-like world while remaining cautious because detectable signals suggest inhabitants may already be present. Kern has sent a remote eye ahead, and the entire crew wakes from cold sleep to interpret planetary data, intercepted communications, and the risks of being seen. Miranda takes responsibility for watching Gothi and Gethli, the corvid pair, and gives them raw signal data, which absorbs them immediately.

Fabian detects a human-built ship in orbit: an ancient ark, scarred but maintaining a precise orbit. Kern identifies it as the Enkidu, one of the sister ships of the Gilgamesh. The discovery is momentous because previous searches for old human ark survivors had found terraformed worlds but no surviving ark vessels, raising the possibility that humans reached this planet and lived.

Bianca gathers the crew and argues for caution. Any people below would be pre-contact humans, not members of the later interspecies Human civilization, and an abrupt appearance by spiders, octopuses, and post-human minds could terrify or destabilize them. Miranda agrees they cannot simply descend, but insists the purpose of the voyage is to meet such people, so the crew hides the Skipper behind the moon while investigating discreetly.

Fabian launches tiny remotes to collect more signals, but the data proves sparse and puzzling. Jodry suggests the civilization may use more sophisticated hidden communications, but Gethli interrupts and presents a map of signal origins. The corvid's analysis reveals that the transmissions are not global: they all come from one region, perhaps one settlement or a small cluster, while the rest of the planet is silent.

After two days of parsing, the crew learns little beyond ordinary local exchanges in a recognizable Earth-descended language. With no satellites, no broadcast media, and no obvious planet-wide infrastructure, the settlement remains culturally opaque. Fabian pushes for action, first suggesting satellites or surface drones and then proposing a personal mission to the apparently dead Enkidu, using its bulk to hide the approach from the planet; Bianca accepts, and Kern begins preparing a launch for Fabian, Portia, and Miranda.