Derek looked around for a volunteer. “Who wants to stay with the ship?”

Ken shook his head. “How would I get it home if something happened to you guys?”

“Just tell Barry to take you back,” said Hutch.

“He’d do that anyway, wouldn’t he? If something happens?”

“Yes.”

“Then I think I’ll go with the shuttle.”

“It’s a lander,” said Wally.

“Whatever.”

Derek looked around. Nobody was volunteering to stay. “Wally, I guess you’re our guy.”

•  •  •

Sunlight filled a sky that had become cloudless. Hutch pulled the brim of her Hawks baseball cap lower and took them toward one of the islands. “Don’t get too close,” Derek said.

She activated the telescope. Ken was first to comment on the presence of a volcano. It was on the south side of a massive island. “There’s a city,” he added. “I guess it’s inactive.”

“Must be,” said Derek.

The city consisted of a vast array of dwellings and a few larger buildings, including two that looked like factories. And a couple of wind farms.

They had cars. Hutch watched them moving slowly through the city. Others passed along country roads. “They probably don’t have either coal or oil,” said Ken. “If you have to get everything from the ocean, you have a serious problem.”

“But a lot of the oil,” said Wally, “comes out of oceans.”

“Which can only happen if you know it’s there in the first place. I wouldn’t think collectors and wind generators would be enough to provide an adequate supply of electricity for a city, but maybe they’ve figured out an alternative method.”

“Maybe nuclear?” said Wally.

•  •  •

They continued across the ocean. Most of the larger islands seemed to be inhabited, sometimes with towns and small cities, often by only a few cottages. They were approaching one that had a large beach. The beach was crowded. But they were still too far out to get a good look at the sunbathers, even with the telescope.

Hutch was about to pull away when Derek told her to keep going. “Let’s see if we can get a decent look at these guys.”

“Okay.” She took the vehicle down just over the ocean, where it would be less likely to attract attention.

A town lay immediately behind the beach. And to the north she saw something that looked like a tower, and, a couple of kilometers beyond that, a port facility. A freighter was just leaving the harbor.

The tower rose well above the trees. It was plain enough, no sculptures or anything except for a blue globe at the top of the spire. It manifested the aura of a place of worship. And there was a parking lot, occupied by several cars.