“What is it?” He searched where she was looking, but didn’t see anything.
“I thought I saw movement.”
He frowned and checked his Sync. “The other teams are nowhere near us.”
“It was…furtive movement. Like someone was hiding, and watching us.”
“Nothing on scans, although once you get over seven meters out, the radiation makes them unreliable. No one could have survived here. Seeing shadows?”
Her mouth flattened. “No. I saw something.”
If she did, he believed her. “Okay. What could it be then? No wildlife survived in this part of the planet. The jungles to the south contain…things.” Mutated things. He figured they really didn’t want to run into whatever had managed to survive Earth’s destruction.
Finally, she shook her head. “Let’s check out the last part of this sector and get back to the ship.”
They walked to the end of the street and the final structure. Nik frowned. Here, the black sand looked like it had been subjected to intense heat. It formed a solid sheet of what looked like black glass.
Nera tapped it with her boot. Parts of it broke off. “It’s gone brittle.”
“It could be covering something.” He looked back at the other buildings. “Probably another shop.”
“Wonder what caused this?”
“Some sort of localized blast, maybe? Who knows?” And they’d never know. It was the frustration of his passion for the past. For every one of history’s secrets he revealed, he uncovered several more that would always be a mystery. It took him a long time, but he’d learned to celebrate what he could and not let the rest drive him crazy.
He pulled his multi-tool off his belt and dialed up the hammer. He hit the black glass and it chipped away.
He worked for a bit, just to see how thick the layer was.
Suddenly, a portion the size of a dinner plate gave way, leaving a gaping hole.
Nera crouched and flicked on her ion light. She shone it into the hole, but all they could see was impenetrable darkness.
“It appears there’s a space under there,” she said. “Want to take a look around?”
“We should maybe send a probe in first. And we don’t have much time left?—”
She stood and kicked the edge of the hole with her boot.
A huge slab broke off, leaving a hole large enough for a person to crawl through.
“Nera…”
She shone the light again. This time, it gleamed off…something.
His pulse tripped. Damn, now he wanted to know what the hell was in there.
“Come, Dr. Phoenix. Live a little.” She leaped into the hole.
“Nera!”Dammit to hell, they had fifteen minutes left.
Grinding his teeth, he followed her in.
The drop was only a few meters, and his feet hit concrete. Smooth, well-preserved concrete.
Nera appeared out of the darkness and shone her light in his face. “Come take a look.” She swung the light away from him.
It illuminated a… He took a deep breath, his eyes widening. “Oh my God.”
