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He froze, mesmerized by what he saw

"Tell me," Karl said, behind him

Skyler searched for words, and found none The elevator made landfall in the middle of as once some sort of business park, or school The area around the cord had been leveled by the elevator’s arrival, but it wasn’t e out of that land, at perfectly spaced intervals, were buildings Alien buildings

"There’s a … city," Skyler finally ?"

"Not Belém," Skyler said "The Builders"

The surface of the h above Skyler realized they s at all He saw no entrances or s Just solid ed in concentric squares around the cord of the Elevator The ones near the outer edge were ten meters tall, and toward the center, at least thirty h the shapes were sih that Skyler sensed they all had a shared purpose

At the base of the cord itself, where a crater should be, Skyler saw a huge black disk with notches all around its edge It looked like a big gear, lying on its side

Karlto look over his shoulder His breathing came in loud, excited bursts "Do you see any … any of them?"

Skyler shook his head Other than birds, and swarns of life "Let’s drop the ladder and have a look"

For fifteenthe alien structures The ht of it as an outpost rather than a city

It consisted of perhaps two hundred structures More than the number of "pods" that had raced down the cord fron of the Builders," he said, to himself as much as Karl

"Automated construction," the other man said "Like the Elevator"

For what purpose, Skyler could not iine He stepped close to one and studied the eoles in a chaotic rooves varied in depth from the barest hint to as htcliff "I can’t wait until Tania sees this"

Karl ed a chuckle "Not just her, the whole lot of the over each other to study this"

They surveyed the entire area With each step, Skyler felt his sense of wonder fade He reminded himself of the work to be done Because of the alien structures, there would be no roo construction of a climber port tricky

The hurown fruit tree, Skyler thought, just begging to be exploited Supplies could be harvested fro to explore farther out And even then, the Americas holly untapped since the disease had struck the world None of the scavengers in Darwin could range this far Histo be busy," Karl said

"I feel," Skyler said, "like a colonist"

The other e of Belém more closely He’d seen a hundred cities like it in his forays into the Clear and found hiht provide valuable resources, and which could be inhabited Hospitals, hotels, and warehouses topped his list He wondered belatedly if there were any airports close by

A good portion of the city fell within the Elevator’s protection, assuht reminded Skyler of why they had come

"I think it’s tiave a terse nod

Skyler slung his rifle and came to stand in front of the hts, you need to tell ht back up"

"If it’s bad," Karl said, "you shoot rasped the clamps that held Karl’s face mask in place "Ever s like it," Skyler said

He pulled the helmet from Karl’s head and held it between them, ready to reattach it

A minute passed, then two Karl just stared at Skyler, his breathing fast at first Gradually he got it under control, and relaxed He inhaled deeply, once, his eyes closed Skyler could see his nostrils flare, his eyes twitch The man’s expression turned to pleasure

"Wonderful," he said "The aromas …"

"Told you"

"It’s like the first tiood wine"

After ten uneventful minutes, Skyler sat down and beckoned Karl to do the saured an hour of exposure would do, so they killed the ti life stories

The hour passed Karl showed no sign of infection

"I think we should head back," Skyler said A comm capable of tay communication with orbit had not been set up yet, and he desperately wanted to share their discovery with Tania and the others

Karl nodded agreement and took the lead back to their ladder

As they walked Skyler found hi the pillar-like shapes of the Builders’ outpost pass by It brought a childhooda tree-lined avenue, his head tilted up to watch the branches overhead--

Skyler tripped

A bare tree root caught his toes and sent hi He reached out to brace his fall, without thinking, and placed his hand upon one of the Builders’ towers

The object gave way Itsound co from the base

Skyler watched from one knee Karl stopped, too, his face blank

The black tower, three h, drifted over the round as if it were in zero-G Itpace

He stared, watched it go So down, and that the shape of its base constantly shifted to ," Karl said "Skyler! It’s not stopping!"

The structure’s path would take it straight into another of the massive shapes Skyler felt his heart drop into his stomach What have I started?