She was in one of the most remarkable trees she had ever seen. The limb she stood on was half a meter thick, and fifty meters from the ground. The bark was worn smooth from the passage of many feet, and its sides were bearded with ferns and moss. The trunk was at least a dozen meters in diameter, rising from thick, buttressed roots. The trunk split into a many-branched crotch about forty-five meters from the ground, forming a great bowl a dozen meters across. In the center of the crotch was a round hole big enough to drop a piano through. The edges of the hole were worn smooth with use. As she watched, an alien emerged from the trunk of the tree, joining several other aliens seated beside the hole, busy weaving baskets. They stopped and stared at Juna as she approached. She felt naked under their unreadable gaze.

Excitement broke through the wall of her fatigue. No wonder the Survey team hadn’t seen these people. Their villages were indistinguishable from the surrounding forest.

Ignoring the stares of the other aliens, her guide beckoned her toward a series of steep steps leading down into the gaping hole. Clouds of bees filled the air. The tree vibrated with their humming. At last her guide helped her onto a platform about two meters wide.

She turned and looked down into the heart of the hollow tree. It reminded her of a gigantic seashell. Four steep ramps spiraled down the inside of the tree. Arched doorways branched off it at regular intervals. Aliens climbed up and down the ramps on mysterious errands; others clustered in doorways eating and socializing. The walls glowed with a soft blue radiance that illuminated the tree’s interior. The glow came from a fungus growing on the walls. She touched its soft, velvety surface, wondering what form of bioluminescence caused the glow. Her fingers came away powdered with faintly glowing blue.