| Ghona stood upon the stained concrete of an abandoned parking garage. The silence was almost tangible. The air was stuffy and dank, smelling of old dust. The steady overcast was a uniform gray, showing no evidence of a sun or moon. No wind had blown here in ages. Even the ocean was still.
In the far distance, he could see the only artificial lights on the entire world. Whoever had built the breeder reactor had built it to last - it was still working long after the hand that designed it had crumbled into dust.
The foot-long robotic dragonfly that was his support unit buzzed quietly as it circled, scanning the dead world. Catching the transmitted data on an internal antennae, he nodded to himself. The reactor hadn't been particularly unusual, and the area was a little depressing.
He almost left then, but Ellor's sensors picked up an energy flare, and then a steady signal. Curious, Ghona drew his pistols and walked to the edge of the upper deck, looking for the anomaly in the quiet streets below. |