My entire plan was crashing and burning. I had to save this. I was about to jump in with a fun fact about ancient aliens when Nina, my glorious, wonderful pillar, did it for me.
"I don't know," she said, leaning forward and turning to Jake with a curious smile. "What do you think they are? I heard some people think they were, like, landing strips for alien spaceships or something."
She had just served him the perfect conversational volleyball, a direct question that gave him an easy way in. I saw the gratitude in Jake's eyes, the sheer relief of being thrown a lifeline.
"Well," he started, clearing his throat and sitting up a little straighter, his voice finally dropping back to its normal pitch. "The alien theory is popular, but a lot of archaeologists think they were probably ceremonial pathways for religious rituals, connected to water and fertility worship."
