''They look man made,'' one of the sailors said.
''At least intelligently made,'' Kris agreed.
Underfoot was more of the paving. It showed different textures and hints of different colors. Here and there it was broken by growth, but the handiwork of some engineer was fighting a long, slow retreat. Kris considered what on Wardhaven might still show that humans had been there in, say, a million years. She doubted anything would be left in a hundred thousand.
''Chief, are we still headed for the source of the signal?''
''Yes, Lieutenant. It looks to be coming from that tower. Don't know if the signal is originating from way up there or from someplace down around its base.''
''That's what we are here to find out.''
That turned out to be no easy walk. Rocks and muck were bouncing off them regularly now. That didn't impede them, but the work of the builders here did not always hold up as well. They had to cut their way through a thousand yards of grass, that or take a long walk around. There were also some pretty tall trees rising above the grass, and some nasty thorn bushes.
''Now aren't you glad we're in this armor,'' Jack said.
''You don't remember getting an argument from me, do you?''
''She was kind of unusually pliant, as I recall,'' Abby said.
Jack might have shrugged, but the battle suit absorbed most of it. Kris decided to credit him with a shrug, because he said nothing to Abby's defense of her.
There were more of the critters here in the trees. Kris spotted what might be a family or clan. Anyway it had several of the triple segments, as well as several double segments and a few singles running around under what Kris took for close supervision. The rocks, sticks, and muck came mostly from the triples. A few of the doubles did try their ''hands'' at throwing, but theirs seemed almost comical in their poor aim. Were they teenagers imitating their elders?
''Would be nice to take a sample of those home with me,'' the sailor Captain Drago had identified as Doc said.
''Crew, if we don't have to kill anything here, I sure would like to leave here with no blood on my hands.''
''You assume they have blood,'' Beni said.
''Let's give these things the full benefit of the doubt.''
''And if they start throwing hand grenades?'' Abby said.
''Then you can give them the full benefit of your rifle.''
''Amen to that'' came from somewhere in the rear.
They were still a good thousand meters away when they got their first partial view of the structure at the foot of the spire. ''That place looks huge,'' Beni said.
The satellite pictures and feedback from the scouts had not prepared Kris for what she saw. The building, she mentally tagged it ''noise central,'' was already too big for them to get a full view of it. What she could see showed multiple sides, a slight corner every hundred meters, no telling how many sides there was to this one.
Beside Kris, the city, if she dare call it that, was in less ruin. No way to tell if that was because it was better built or just protected by its surroundings. Still, while most of the roof might be intact, there would be some holes, made evident by a tree poking its leafy head through. Or a wall would be cracked, letting grass and shrubs into the shadows.
Kris called a pause to let suit radiators catch up with the heat. They were only edging into the yellow, but Kris didn't intend to get into anything today without plenty of reserves. Abby and one of the sailors, claiming that their suits were already in the green, took it upon themselves to laser down some shrubs and take a good look inside one of the buildings. The Doc provided a lookout or, in their case a look in, at the hole in the wall while they did some rummaging around inside.
And returned empty handed.
''It don't look any different inside than it does outside,'' Abby said, the helmet on her suit turning back and forth in as much of a rueful shake as it could.
Satisfied with the color showing on her team's readouts, Kris ordered them forward. The wind had been blowing softly as they made their way through the city. It fell calm as they reached the base of the spire. The jungle sounds also went suddenly missing. No rocks were tossed their way.
Kris eyed the base of the silvery spire. No cracks in this wall; no grass grew on its smooth sides. There was hardly any pitting in the shiny blue-black façade it presented her.
''About this time in all the vids don't the intrepid explorers decide to split up?'' Abby muttered.
''And half of them vanish,'' Jack added dryly, ''into something truly vile and revolting. No thanks.''
''The photos say,'' Nelly said, ''there are three identical indentations in the building that might be entrances. They are equally spaced around it. The nearest is about five hundred meters away to your left, Kris.''
''Thank you, Nelly,'' Kris said. ''What say we skip the vile and stupid mistakes some fiction weavers resort to and do this smart.'' Kris turned to the left and took a step.
Her second step sank deep into goo.
''Where'd that come from?'' Kris muttered. ''Folks, watch your footing. Some of this paving didn't wear as long as the contractor promised.''
That got a laugh. But Jack noticed Kris's limp. ''How bad?''
''More embarrassing than hurt. I think I can walk it off.''
And even if she couldn't, she wasn't going to admit it. It was hard to tell in armor, but the shape of Jack's shoulders seemed to say he didn't buy her claim. She kept walking.
''Whoever built this took pride in his or her… or its… workmanship. Look at how this shines after all these years,'' Beni said after a few minutes of walking around the wall.
Maybe it was the armored suit, or the familiar canned air, but Kris didn't feel any of the shivers that she did around the old houses on Wardhaven, or some of the really ancient sites—three or four thousand years old—that she'd seen her one trip to Earth.
Or maybe it was just that it looked too good. She'd marveled at Stonehenge on Earth. It ''felt'' old. This… just seemed too modern.
Or maybe too alien.
They arrived at what might be a door… or not. Here was a longer side some two hundred meters between turns. Only this one had an alcove cut two hundred meters into it.
''Looks like a murder hole,'' Abby said, then had to explain. ''Ancient castles or forts let you get at their gates, but only by walking into a space like this where they could shoot at you from all sides. You see any gun ports along there?''
A search of the walls showed no holes for guns, arrows, or fire of any sort. From the ground to as far as they could see, the wall was just blue-black, seamless, and shiny.
But then, in front of them there also was no evidence of a door, gate, portal, or any other way in.
''Maybe it's not a murder hole,'' Kris said. ''Maybe it's just a place to sit and smell the flowers.''
''I don't see no flower,'' Beni observed. ''And I don't see anyplace to sit.''
''In a million years, those things could get lost,'' Kris said. ''Nelly, could you modify our nano-scouts to go over this place with a fine-tooth comb, see if they can find any cracks that we can't.''
''Doing it, Kris,'' Nelly said. ''Done.''
''Have them start there,'' Kris said, pointing at the middle wall where a human architect would have put a door.
Ten minutes later Nelly reported, ''No luck. That wall is solid down to the quantum level. Very solid.''
''Maybe that's not where these folks would put a door?'' Jack said.
''Yeah, maybe the door has to face east or west,'' Beni said. ''Aren't there some ancient cultures that were like that?''
''Yes,'' Abby agreed. ''But they usually oriented the entire building that way.''
''But this building is just one big, round half sphere. If these people were made in six or seven segments, and could bend themselves around?'' Kris said slowly, not at all sure where she was going with this thought.
''Or are we bending our logic into a pretzel?'' Abby asked.