He yanked his belongings out of the clearing and ducked into the shrubbery. There were short stubby trees, brambles, and vines. Proteus ran as fast as he could, his head down, his camp shoes automatically shooting out their small circles of light from the toes, illuminating the ground beneath his feet. They were a present from his mother—a luxury—hardly a necessity at the camps he attended with their gently lighted grounds. But here—he paused, best not to think of his parents, he thought. Not now.

His feet hurt already. The shoes would wear out quickly on this uneven surface. But he felt excited. At least things were happening, and he was on his own. He was scared, he finally admitted, but even that was exhilarating. He felt very hunted but very free. Then a new worry bothered him. Suppose the people who contacted him were really from home and trying to trick him?

Still, Proteus thought, they’d be more apt to send out women on the search, and the voice he’d heard had been masculine. He looked up through the thicket at the black sky and thought that despite everything, he wouldn’t be caught and sent home. He never felt so … like himself before.

Suddenly Proteus stopped, his shoe-lights illuminating the beginning of a hill, or a drop of some kind. Cautiously he inched forward, then stopped again, staring. He was on the high brim of a strange round hill. Within were dark, curious shapes, like buildings, that were situated a good thirty feet down. Actually, he was on the edge of a circular valley he saw. Quickly he found a more inclined area and began to make his way down.

There were no hills in the floating city. He wasn’t used to climbing. Several times he fell. When he was halfway down, he stopped, staring through the darkness. As he did, streaks of light ribboned through the clouds—his first sight of dawn. He looked up, marveling at the way dawn happened (all by itself, not by prearranged signals, as at home). He knew all the scientific reasons, but again the phenomenon at first sight was amazing. The sky shivered. Clumps of cloud turned from gray-black to gray to … puffs of perfect muted colors which themselves began to change the moment they appeared.

For a moment, until he looked back down, he’d forgotten the scene below. Now in the growing light, the buildings sprang clearly upward from the litter; ruins of such an extent that Proteus stepped back involuntarily. And what ruins! There were portions of sprawling walls, high pillars such as he’d seen in some video tapes, and piles of rubble. A few tall white towers still stood, half-covered now with vines and foliage.