" The gravity, Nickolai noted, was a lot less." The gravity, Nickolai noted, was a lot less. He had trouble maneuvering for a few moments, and he noticed Furry having a similar problem. Shardik seemed acclimated to the reduced gravity, but was patient and waited for them to catch up. "Here," he said, "Put these on." "Pressure suits?" Nickolai asked. "Yeah. I want to show you something." He helped them both into the suits he had held out for them. The suits fit them each perfectly, a fact which no longer suprised Nickolai. After pressurization tests and confirmations from Halloran, he led them into an elevator. "Ready for a hike?" "Where are we going?" "I hope you don't mind, but it's someplace depressing." Nickolai looked at Furry, who merely shook her head in response. The elevator drove horizontally for a distance before rising. There was a stop. "Depressurize, Hal." The hiss of depressurization was joined by a stiffness in the joints of the suits. The doors opened. "It's over here," Shardik said. "Just behind this hill." As they stepped out from behind the hill, Nickolai gasped. Although there were few places like the one he was seeing here left on Earth anymore, he knew what a cemetery looked like. Rigid, upright blocks of stone marked grave after grave in unending precision under the hot light of a sun undimmed by atmosphere. "What... what is this?" Nickolai asked. "Reality," Shardik replied. "A testament to failure, Nickolai. |