Four had no planets. Five and Six had nothing in the zone. The next two both had worlds in the zone—in fact, Eight had a pair—but all were sterile. Nine had nothing whatever. Ten had a living world in a perfect position, but it was filled with oversized predators. Settling there would have required some major adjustments.

Beth asked whether they had sufficient provisions for an extended mission. “We’re fully stocked,” Hutch explained. “We always assume that a mission will go well beyond the planning.”

•  •  •

At Eleven, they surfaced halfway between a green world and its moon. The planet had moderate temperatures. They entered orbit and gathered on the porch, looking down on forests, mountains, rivers, oceans, and sparkling white clouds. The skies were full of birds. Then Hutch was looking down at a crumbling city. It would have been easy to miss. There were no buildings, only stone symmetries that had been virtually absorbed by the ground. An occasional piece of rectangular rock jutted out of a bush. “That thing’s been gone a long time,” said Derek.

The vegetation looked different from what Hutch had seen anywhere else, save that it was green. There didn’t seem to be any trees. Or at least nothing with a large trunk. Instead, the ground was covered with a multitude of flowering plants. “Where are the trees?” asked Wally. “I’ve never seen a living world with no trees.”

Something was moving on a hilltop. “Looks like a buffalo,” said Wally.

“Barry, do you see anything at all that suggests anybody’s still alive here?”

“Nothing, Derek.”

Behind them, the sun was sinking toward the horizon.

A four-legged creature appeared, scrambling across the landscape, apparently in pursuit of something. Then it vanished into the shrubbery.

“Well, this place might work,” said Derek. “It doesn’t seem to be inhabited now, and it looks as if it has everything they’d need.” He appeared genuinely happy. “Let’s go down and take a look.”

•  •  •

They descended into a field alongside a river. The field had long, thick grass and giant flowers growing out of golden stalks. The air was okay, containing the right levels of oxygen and nitrogen. It had the faint scent of springtime. “Perfect,” Derek said. “I don’t think we could have found a better place.”

Hutch was watching for predators. The one drawback she saw was the thick shrubbery. An elephant could have crept up on them without being seen. “They’d have to do some work to get this place in shape,” Derek said. “But it seems good.”

The sun was just settling into a line of hills. A warm breeze blew across the area, bending the giant flowers. They walked over to the river. The water was clear and fish were active. Derek had brought containers. He took samples of the soil and the water.

“We don’t have a capability to analyze them, do we, Derek?”