I slowed my fall and barked out orders. I knew my people would be able to supervise the evacuation of the main township without me; it was a simple mission. Then I redirected my own descent, down towards the smaller community. I’d go get Tilo out of there myself.

It was only after I had committed myself that I saw one of my troop had followed me: the kid, Lian.

No time to think about that now. A Yukawa suit is good for one drop, one way. You can’t go back and change your mind. Anyhow I was already close. I glimpsed a few ramshackle buildings, upturned faces shining like coins.

Then the ground raced up to meet me. Feet together, knees bent, back straight, roll when you hit - and then a lung-emptying impact on hard rock.

I allowed myself three full breaths, lying there on the cold ground, as I checked I was still in one piece.

Then I stood and pulled off my visor. The air was breathable, but thick with the smell of burning, and of sulphur. But the ground quivered under my feet, over and over. I wasn’t too troubled by that - until I reminded myself that I wasn’t on a ship any more, that planets were supposed to be stable.

Lian was standing there, her suit glowing softly. ‘Good landing, sir,’ she said.

I nodded, glad she was safe, but irritated; if she’d followed orders she wouldn’t have been here at all. I turned away from her, a deliberate snub that was enough admonishment for now.

I tried to get my bearings. The sky was deep. Beyond clouds of ash, sunsats swam. And past them I glimpsed the red pinprick of the true sun, and the wraith-like Galaxy disc.

I was just outside that mountainside village. Below me the valley skirted the base of Mount Perfect, neatly separating it from more broken ground beyond. The landscape was dark green, its contours coated by forest, and clear streams bubbled into a river that ran down the valley’s centre. A single, elegant bridge spanned the valley, reaching towards the old Conurbation on the far side. Further upstream I saw what looked like a logging plant, giant pieces of yellow-coloured equipment standing idle amid huge piles of sawn trees. Idyllic, if you liked that kind of thing, which I didn’t.

On this side of the valley, the village was just a huddle of huts - some of them made from wood - clustered on the lower slopes of the mountain. Bigger buildings might have been a school, a medical centre maybe, and there were a couple of battered ground transports. Beyond, I glimpsed the rectangular shapes of fields - apparently ploughed, not a glimmer of replicator technology in sight. It was like a living-history exhibit. But today it was all covered in ash.