"Rodney! Stop it!"
Rodney swallowed audibly. "This place scares me...."
"The first time I was ever in a rocket, it scared me. I was thirteen."
"This is different," Wass said. "Built-in traps—"
"They had a war," Martin said.
Wass agreed. "And the survivors retired here. Why?"
Martin said, "They wanted to rebuild. Or maybe this was already built before the war as a retreat." He turned impatiently. "How should I know?"
Wass turned, too, persistent. "But the planet was through with them."
"In a minute," Martin said, too irritably, "we'll have a sentient planet." From the corner of his eye he saw Rodney start at that. "Knock it off, Wass. We're looking for reservoirs, you know."
They moved slowly down the metal avenue, between the twisted shadow shapes, looking carefully about them.