AS THE YEARS PASSED, the Scythian probe observed and reported the spread of the colony. The probe counted growing numbers of humans. Many were juveniles. These emerged from the underground settlement for an average of sixteen percent of a single revolution of the planet, always returning underground well before darkness fell on the surface. These small humans rarely traveled to the plant growing areas.
Then, the humans expanded out of their underground settlement. They did not travel far at first. They only moved above the ground and into the trees of the forest. The probe registered the infrared of their body heat beneath the canopy. Tens and then hundreds of humans lived in the trees and continued to travel to the place where they grew their plants whenever the light of the planet’s sta
