A book! That nobody can read. Yeah, that’s never a problem in these kinds of stories.
“What happened here?” asked Reithner. No, Tobias decided on the spot. She’s not asking a question. She’s trying not to think about the answer.
Buckley wasn’t as patient. He peered at the rough walls, pointing out the scratches — and faint brown stains. “All waist height,” he noted, then traced the furrows in the crushed-rock lunar floor with one foot. “You either walked out of this room, or you got dragged.”
“Hold on,” Tobias said, pointing at a wider-than-normal crack in the wall. “There’s something in there — oh, wow.”
Reithner had been staring at the room; she started at his exclamation, then relaxed. “What is it?”
“A book.” He pulled it out. “An old one, made out of paper and everything.”
“How old?” asked Buckley. “Like, you know, an illustrated folio?” He meeped laughter at Tobias’s look. “Hey, I read history.”