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At the top of the hill, Abra could see why the river in the valley behind hiation da of the river was really a pond behind the dah, and certain sluices were permanently open so that the river flowed perinal riverbed, and the other two carried water through slightly higher canals skirting the north side of the valley Here on the south side of the river, the canals were permanently empty, and so Abra could easily see the difference that the irrigation made Both sides of the lower valley were lush with life, but on the wet side, trees were growing, and on the drier side, it was grass and low shrubs

But as he gazed at the south side--the grassy side--he realized that there was so a smooth flood plain, like the upper valley behind him where Ender was, there were severalnatural about the way they were laid out

The formics had to have built them But ere they for?

And now that he looked closely, he could see that there were even- structures here and there They didn't look like nor new and strange, and even though they were overgroith grass and vines, they were still plainly visible

Abra scraround, and the last thing he wanted was to sprain an ankle and becoest of the artificialit wasn't very hard He reached the top and realized that it was hollow inside, and there ater gathered in it

Abra walked the ridge line and found that at one end, two ridges extended out like legs,vale between them And when he turned around, he realized that there were also low ridges that could be arlistened in the sunlight, looking for all the world like a skull

It was shaped like a man Not like a formic--a man

He felt a thrill go through him--of fear, of dread, of excitement Such a place as this could not exist And yet it did

He heard a voice calling his name He looked up and saw that Ender had driven the ski for him Abra waved and called out, "Ho, Ender!"

Ender saw him and skimmed over to the base of the steep hill where Abra had climbed "Come up," said Abra

When Ender had scra a few turves in the process, since he was bigger than Abra and weighed estured to the body-like structure of the artificial hills "Can you believe this?"

Apparently Ender didn't see it the way Abra did He si

"It's like a giant died here," said Abra, "and the earth grew up to cover his carcass"

Abra heard a sharp intake of breath from Ender, so he kne that he had seen

Ender looked around and pointed wordlessly at some of the smaller, vine-covered structures He pulled out his binoculars and looked for a long time "Impossible," he muttered