Terra was not our First Cradle
Continued from a previous story.
The tomb stood above the ground, defying the unyielding march of time. The stone edifice stood resolute in the dusty landscape, its stone walls pockmarked and worn, but still protecting its secrets.
Overhead the bloated, red light of H258B hung in the sky, the red dwarf expanding, burning off its stores of gas. Its light cast a reddish hue down on the world, killing and verdant plant life long before its current visitors ever set foot on the planet.
Excavation machines roared around the tomb, clearing soil that once bore life, now good for only the occasional dust storm and revealing the bleak walls of the project. The soil would be used for other projects, revitalizing nutrient poor worlds and enriching colonies.
T'Thara, liaison between Echo Seven Salvage and the Galactic Archeological Society examined the interior of the tomb they had discovered. Her small frame, built more for the confines of the interstellar travel her people used than the terrestrial spaces most other species favored, shivered in excitement as she examined the murals on the walls. The intervening millennia hadn't been kind to it, fading the paint and chipping it in places. In others, plant life had once invaded, cracking the walls and destroying valuable insights both into the culture of the previous inhabitants and humanity's mysterious past.
Beside her stood Dr. L'zana, the squat creature resembling a cross between a fish and a frog with the head of an axolotl. She looked up at L'Zana, data pad clutched in hand.
"The data is simply fascinating. This tomb predates the pyramids on Terra." The H'Golian commented, her high voice warbling with excitement, "Centuries older, in fact. Possibly Millennia. The simple fact that there are traces left of this civilization is nothing short of miraculous."
"Trust a H'Golian to be excited just because something is old." T'Thara commented dryly, "The simple concept is impossible. This mural alone redefines what we know of humanity's past."
"Yes. The paint used seems closer to something Renaissance painters at the latest used. Chemical composition also could be closer to what the ancient Roman civilization used, though there are significant differences." Dr. L'Zana replied.
"Yes, but what about what it depicts?" T'Thara replied, clacking her beak and ruffling her feathers in annoyance.
"Hm? Oh, right. Let's see here. Yep. Humans." Dr. L'Zana replied, "They seem engaged in some form of... recreational activity?"
"Doctor, which came first, the moon landing or the pyramids?" T'Thara bluntly asked.
A frown appeared on Dr. L'Zana's face as her brown scrunched in thought, "The pyramids, of course. By a few millennia, if I remember correctly. Why?"
"You said this place was older than the pyramids." T'Thara commented.
"Yes." Dr. L'Zana replied, "That is what the weathering patterns considering the local climate states."
"So, if this mural depicts humans here before they fully achieved space flight on the nearest celestial body, let alone FTL travel, what does that mean?" T'Thara questioned.
The H'Golian blinked up at her, "Look, T'Thara, I'm here to date things and document. It's your job to make sense of this all and figure things out. I leave history to you and the other Anthropologist. I'll take the scientific study and do my thing. But any way I look at this, this is quite impossible. Something doesn't add up. Do you think this is some sort of mistake?"
"No, I think there's a bigger picture we're not understanding, and this is only the beginning." T'Thara replied, folding her arms and staring at the mural again.
If humanity had been here before they had reached the stars, where did they come from?