e strode off down the corridor, dignified and expressionless. They
watched him disappear into the control room.

As the Captain closed the door the young woman turned. "What did the
telescope show? Good or bad?"

"Bad. No life could possibly exist. Atmosphere poisoned, water
vaporized, all the land fused."

"Could they have gone underground?"

The Captain slid back the port window so that the surface of the planet
under them was visible. The two of them stared down, silent and
disturbed. Mile after mile of unbroken ruin stretched out, blackened
slag, pitted and scarred, and occasional heaps of rock.

Suddenly Nasha jumped. "Look! Over there, at the edge. Do you see it?"

They stared. Something rose up, not rock, not an accidental formation.
It was round, a circle of dots, white pellets on the dead skin of the
planet. A city? Buildings of some kind?

"Please turn the ship," Nasha said excitedly. She pushed her dark hair
from her face. "Turn the ship and let's see what it is!"

The ship turned, changing its course. As they came over the white dots
the Captain lowered the ship, dropping it down as much as he dared.
"Piers," he said. "Piers of some sort of stone. Perhaps poured
artificial stone. The remains of a city."

"Oh, dear," Nasha murmured. "How awful." She watched the ruins disappear
behind them. In a half-circle the white squares jutted from the slag,
chipped and cracked, like broken teeth.

"There's nothing alive," the Captain said at last. "I think we'll go
right back; I know most of the crew want to. Get the Government
Receiving Station on the sender and tell them what we found, and that
we--"

[Illustration]

* * * * *

He staggered.

The first atomic shell had struck the ship, spinning it around. The
Captain fell to the floor, crashing into the control table. Papers and
instruments rained down on him. As he started to his feet the second
shell struck. The ceiling cracked open, struts and girders twisted and
bent. The ship shuddered, falling suddenly down, then righting itself as
automatic controls took over.

The Captain lay on the floor by the smashed control board. In the corner
Nasha struggled to free herself from the debris.

Outside the men were already sealing the gaping leaks in the side of the
ship, through which the precious air was rushing, dissipating into the
void beyond. "Help me!" Dorle was shouting. "Fire over here, wiring
ignited." Two men cam