"Well--I'm Paula Trent, archaeologist. Not that it matters. For months
Carver and I have been waiting our chance to fit out an expedition and
come on here. We didn't have the money, at first, and when we did get
it, the government refused us permission. We had no proof, they said,
and the Black Forest is impenetrable. So we waited. A month ago we got
wind of a research ship, the _Hunter_, coming on here to investigate
Chahnn. The same old stuff--digging around in the ruins, trying to find
out what made the machines and robots tick, trying to make sense out of
the inscriptions. Trying to find a cure for the Silver Plague."