ALUN PRESSED GENTLY on the accelerator, and the survey vehicle moved slowly forward. Cherry leaned closer to the windscreen, trying to make out what lay ahead. The headlight beams revealed a black floor, free from the dust that covered everything outside the building. The floor appeared to be hard, solid, and made from a different substance than the walls.
“The air’s breathable,” said Alun, peering at the display on the dashboard. “Want to get out?”
“No, not yet.” If anything happened to them, they would be safer in the car. Would the Scythians have booby trapped their abandoned city? Cherry didn’t think so. She doubted they would have thought that far ahead. When the time came they were forced to flee their planet, they would have been filled with fear for the future of their species, s
