Spreading out before the nearly unbelieving eyes of the investigators, the city stretched as far as they could see. It was very large, very quiet, and impossibly ancient. Bits of fog slid around in the sky, and the stars were even visible within the shadows. The city itself was bisected by an enormous river; much larger than the Mississippi. It seemed to leave from the mountains at around 14,000 feet, and wound through the city for a distance before moving underground.

The city was submerged in a vast sheet of ice, with only the upper floors of buildings rising through it. The continuation of buildings were visible beneath the ice as well. After flying low and sketching for some time, the planes decided to land in a vast plaza. Though the ice seemed smooth from a distance, the landing was challenging and passengers of the Weddell were treated to the screeching sound of bending, twisting metal as the skis were damaged during the landing.

The plaza, at 20,000 feet, was bitterly cold. The apparent temperature was a malicious -57 degrees. Breathing out of the oxygen tanks, the party unloaded the planes and found a defensible campsite inside one of the buildings surrounding the plaza. Catherine and Moore, a bit dumb-struck, immediately noticed that the buildings were primarily constructed from Cretaceous period sandstone and marble. After a rallying speech from Starkweather, the conversation turned more somber as the group discussed ways to get back to Lake's camp, given the fierce head-wind they would have to battle. With only 4 days of oxygen (and most of that foul, though breathable), the most likely option seemed to be to wait for 3 days, and then fly back the way they'd came (if the wind changed) or down to the coast and then back up to Lake's camp.

After base camp was set up, Starkweather grabbed Miles and Shaftoe for some exploration of the city. After they were gone, Moore asked the remaining heroes to try and verify some of the details of Dyer's account.

Starkweather's gang set about exploring buildings in the city. In the first one they explored (a 5-sided chamber with 2 doorways), they noticed that every wall was lined with three bands of sculpture (punctuated by the Pentaform writing). Shaftoe studied it for a bit before he and Starkweather destroyed it for souvenirs. It showed thousands and millions of the Pentaforms arriving on a large plain, and then constructing a huge city. He noticed that the perspective of the sculpture was a bit odd; almost like seeing two things at once. Eventually, he realized that the plain and city were both completely underwater. Moving deeper into the buildings, joyously plundering at every step of the way, the men found more stories on the murals (which basically covered every available inch of space in all of the rooms):

• Wars between the Pentaforms and strange creatures with octopus-like heads, squat bodies, and wings. The Pentaforms were smaller than these other creatures, and the larger seemed more powerful (though they were fewer in number). The octopus-creatures were shown with rays or rings emanating from their heads; large numbers of Pentaforms were depicted dying. When dying, many of the Pentaforms were holding their tentacles in a certain way. Occasionally, one of the larger creatures was depicted dying; always, the Pentaforms had boxes from which emanated rays (the apparent cause of the death).

• A zoo or laboratory of some kind was portrayed. The Pentaforms seemed very interested in a variety of animals; some were recognizable, some were not.

• Many other wars were portrayed as well, including some between large creatures with ant bodies, and really disgusting heads. The "ants" were depicted in large numbers, but the Pentaforms had their ray boxes and usually prevailed.

• In the middle of some of the battle scenes, there was a curious blank panel. Before the blank panel, there were battles with the ant-creatures; things weren't looking very good for the Pentaforms. In the panel immediately after the blank panel, the Pentaforms were *only* shown dying.

At the bottom of the shaft, the ramp had curious "speed bumps" and five enormous archways that seemed to have been filled in at some point. (The manner in which this was done made the room seem almost pentagonal.) One of them seemed to have been demolished recently. Going through it, they found a room (oddly) free from murals, and in fact totally featureless but for a number of hooks and shelves built into the wall for no apparent reason. On the floor, however, were wedge-shaped footprints. Starkweather dismissed them as caused by the wind, and suggested that they meander back to base camp. On the way, Shaftoe noticed two curious things. One was a room utterly free of all decoration ("Nothing to take here!", quoth Starkweather...). The other was a hastily scratched mural (as opposed to the more careful bas-reliefs that they had seem so far) of the Pentaforms leaving their huge city, taking things with them. It was clearly an evacuation.

While Starkweather, Shaftoe, and Miles were plundering, the rest of the investigator gang headed toward the tower to try and confirm Dyer's details. The tower was about 65 yards across, and there was approximately 20 yards of height before the "floor" of ice. The ramp around the inside of the tower was held up by impossibly thin and sparse columns; a mural followed the spiral of the ramp going down. It seemed to culminate at the top, so that the investigators were "reading" it backwards. It portrayed a view of the land outside in a long-ago time period. There were creatures flying and mingling around, and (most strangely) the city was rising out of a vast forest of tall, frond-like trees. Catherine noted that they looked like primitive palms, but that there was no way anything could have grown at this altitude.

Going down the ramp, the mountains were depicted at a much shorter, more "normal" height; the Pentaforms were shown *building* the higher reaches of the mountain range. They were also shown, in other parts, actually growing the forest in vats and then transplanting it to the city and surrounding plain.

The floor of the tower was covered in smooth ice, with arch-ways leading off in a dozen directions. (The ice in the tower was around 40 or 50 feet lower than that outside.) In one of the doorways was a twisted piece of paper, corroborating part of Dyer's account. Another seemed to have been recently cleared. Under the ramp there was a large starfish-shaped hummock of snow, capped by a green soapstone star. Just past the snow, the investigators found the remnants of three sleds, half-covered with snow. Examining the sleds, they discovered that the runners and harnesses had been removed. Nothing of the supplies was left except a few scraps of paper and an empty cardboard box, lending credence to Dyer's theory that some of the Pentaforms were still alive.

As Betsy began excavating the hummock, they felt all of a sudden as though they were passing through a membrane of some kind; starting at their heads, the feeling washed down their bodies. The star clattered to the ground. As she continued digging, they saw a familiar looking cylinder, and at the bottom something wrapped in a tarp. Pretty sure at this point it was Gedney's body, Rachel jumped into the pit and attempted to pass it up to Wallace. After the body fell out of the tarp onto her, she managed to get it passed up. The body was nude, and the gang lightly buried it, placing the soapstone back on top, for later retrieval.

Deciding to further trace the steps of Dyer and Danforth, the group followed the recently-cleared path out of the tower chamber. Several of the passageways were covered in murals; they seemed to depict a re-telling of Genesis ("the earth was void, and then the Pentaforms arrived") and the first efforts of the Pentaforms to inhabit the earth. They were pictured as just arriving, with no protection or vehicle. Efforts to inhabit occurred on land and underwater. They began to build cities.

As was by now expected, the passageways ended in the large hemispherical chamber that Dyer had described. It possessed many low, broad archways. The group saw a flit of movement from one; then it was gone. Nervous at this point about unwanted visitors, and influenced by Catherine's worsening headache and nausea, the group decided to head back to base camp. As they made their way out, all of the group heard a pitter-patter of feet, and Betsy heard breathing (like that of a small animal).

Back at base camp, it was discovered that several members of the expedition were suffering from mild headaches and nausea; Catherine's had steadily gotten worse. Dr. Green announced that it was altitude sickness, and that Cathy's condition required she be moved down in altitude immediately to prevent death. Starkweather relayed news of the shaft he had found; Wallace also mentioned the manuscript as a reason not to explore the lower areas the investigator gang had explored.

Clearly ignorant of the manuscript, Starkweather blustered a question or three at Moore, who insisted that all but he and Starkweather take Catherine down to the shaft Starkweather's party had found immediately. He did not look excited at the prospect of explaining himself to Starkweather, and the base camp evacuated quickly.

Shaftoe and Rachel explored the passageway marked with paper the group had earlier ignored, and (with the help of murals, the manuscript, and more paper) traced Dyer's steps. They found the locations of all shafts mentioned in the manuscript, and went back to the base camp to share the news. As they moved back towards base camp, they both suffered a hallucination that all of the murals disappeared and were blank, for a split second. (The murals at that point depicted the coming of the ice.)

Dr. Green, Betsy, Wallace and Driscoll carried Catherine (and an oxygen tent, and good oxygen, etc.) down to the mural-less room off the large shaft Starkweather and Shaftoe had discovered; Betsy and Wallace then went in search of lower places while Driscoll and Catherine recovered in the oxygen tent. Murals on the walls depicted various animal studies--some of the animals were recognizable, some weren't. Near the end of the section, even some dinosaurs were sculpted. Excited, Betsy darted through the nearest door into a (surprisingly) rectangular room with around 2 dozen tables of rock built into the floor. They were about neck-high, and on top there were depressions carved. They were slightly tilted, with grooves through which fluid could run and then drop into a hole carved into the floor. Around the walls of the room, there were vivid bas-reliefs of various animal anatomy. Small crustaceans and fish led to dinosaurs and eventually to humans. Each animal had several perspectives; most of the animals were clearly not "finished" due to space left on the walls.

Excited, Betsy started sketching the dinosaur anatomy while Wallace further explored the back exit from the room. A bit out of the room, Wallace thought he saw a flash of light for an instant; then it was gone. Exploring where he thought he had seen the light, Wallace discovered the tunnel opened up into a large, deep shaft. It had a ramp, but also platforms randomly stuck on the wall; some had arches leading presumably to other parts of the city, some didn't. Yelling for Betsy, she walked to join him and then herself suffered from hallucinations of flashes of light.

They discovered that the ramp had "speed-bumps" periodically, and it was worn in the middle. There were approximately three stories between one complete circle on the ramp; after descending approximately 11 circles their flashlights glinted off of something. Moving in closer, they saw it was a tin can of preserved beef, unopened. They marked the place, grabbed the can, and went back to fetch Catherine. They noticed a complete absence of murals in the shaft.

They told Dr. Green about the shaft, and the party then moved down 16 circles where they found an appropriate room to locate the oxygen tent. It was a pentagonal room with only the one door off of the shaft. The Doctor and Driscoll went back to let the rest of the party know what was going on, and Wallace, Catherine, and Betsy shared the oxygen tent to try and alleviate their own altitude sickness.

When Rachel and Shaftoe arrived back at base camp (which had been moved to a more sheltered location), Moore instructed them to go to where Catherine was and instruct the Doctor about the deeper shafts. On they way down, they suffered even more hallucinations--one, shared by both, was of an overwhelming stench of saltwater and marine life in one room. Later, Shaftoe saw a Pentaform directly behind Rachel. He had a gun drawn and pointed at it (her) by the time it disappeared, much to Rachel's discomfort. A bit later, they met with Driscoll and the Doctor. Since Catherine had already been moved down a shaft, the Doctor decided she should be left there. Green and Rachel decided to go back down to where Catherine was, while Driscoll and Shaftoe went to relay the news to Moore.

Once Driscoll and Shaftoe arrived at base camp, sleep shifts and possible camp relocation (to the shaft) was discussed (and dismissed). Moore, still enchanted by the petrified wood (which he said had been a soft wood) was distracted, but eventually decided to go down to check on Catherine with Driscoll. Shaftoe was to stay at base camp and possibly sleep.

Betsy, Catherine, Rachel, and Wallace all wanted to talk with Moore; Green and Driscoll offered to go up to the dissection room so that Green could study the anatomical charts. After some sketching, Green asked Driscoll to shine his flashlight on a particular drawing. Attempting to climb up on a table to get a better illumination point, Driscoll collapsed the moment he touched it. Completely paralyzed and yet not unconscious, Driscoll felt his bladder let go, and watched the ceiling helplessly. Green immediately went off for help.

After one long minute, Driscoll was able to breathe again. After another couple of minutes, he could move his eyes. .....And then his fingers ....and then his toes ...and then he had enough sensation to feel the warmth on his legs turn very cold. Green reappeared with Moore, Wallace, and Rachel (who had all ran as fast as they could up to fetch him). They took Driscoll back to the oxygen tents; eventually Driscoll persuaded them to allow him to change his underclothes en route (dropping the soiled pair into the shaft). This delay hastened the hypothermia of the others, and they were all shivering by the time they reached the tent.

(An important aside: while Driscoll was changing, Wallace took a rock and threw it into the shaft. It took ten full seconds to hit the bottom.)

Once inside the oxygen tent, they stripped and, shivering, queried Driscoll about what happened. A new rule was announced: Don't Touch Anything. Discussion ensued; during that discussion, a cacophony of fluting and piping sounds were heard for a brief second; then were gone. Feeling better by this time, Driscoll and Wallace went to look for the source. While they were out, Rachel proposed that the group write a note to the Pentaforms, on the assumption that beings as smart as they should surely have figured out our language by now. Not wishing to argue with Rachel, the bemused scientists went along with the idea. After they were done, they folded the note into a star-shape and dropped it down the shaft. Driscoll and Wallace went back to the base camp for food and other supplies, since Catherine in particular needed to remain at the lower altitude for some hours. In both places, sleeping shifts started.

Meanwhile, back at base camp Shaftoe (insomnia-gripped as usual) was wandering around the plaza, and had a brief vision of the plaza filled with trees and millions of Pentaforms. He freaked out and went back to base camp, where Starkweather dismissed it as a lunatic vision and suggested that Shaftoe get some rest.

The next 6 hours passed uneventfully.

During the last sleep shift, Shaftoe and the pilots went to go investigate the city some more. Above where another shaft should be, they saw a star-shaped fort. The murals were more sparse and carved out of a different kind of rock than others he'd seen; Shaftoe offered brilliant critique of the style. They depicted the construction of the building, and an even bigger city. A disaster happened, and the city fell. The panels to the west were blank, and flanked with panels depicting preparation, celebration, rebuilding, and military victories (particularly against the ant creatures). On the other side, utter devastation. The building of the current structure post-dated the desolation and devastation scenes.

Studying the blank panels, Shaftoe perceptively surmised that they were there for a variety of reasons, the most predominant being akin to the human emotion of fear. While Shaftoe was critiquing, the pilots fumbled around and found a pile of star-shaped greenish soapstone discs (approximately coaster-sized). They filled their pockets, and moved on to another building.

A large black squat pyramid (actually a ziggurat) particularly caught their eye; made out of weathered black stone, they found it quite easy to climb. At the top, they saw large doors of petrified wood carved with amber knot-like sigils. They tried to brute-force their way in with an ice-axe and utterly failed.

After a while, they gave up. After more exploring (including the discovery of a large glass wall, which they of course smashed and looted), they headed back to camp.

Down in the shaft, Green declared the group officially cured of altitude-sickness, and encouraged them all to head back to base camp. They brought all equipment with them.

Starkweather planned to explore the statues near the river he had seen; Miles and Shaftoe signed up to go with him. Moore wanted to do cartographic work; Lehey offered to accompany him and investigate murals. Driscoll remained at base camp, taking meteorological measurements.

They decided to separate for the next 6 hours to accomplish individual research.