Rodney interrupted, "There hasn't been enough radiation around here for hundreds of thousands of years to activate such a screen."
Wass said coldly, "He's right, Martin."
Martin crossed an intersection, Rodney slightly behind him. "You're both wrong," he said. "We landed here today."
Rodney stopped in the middle of the metal street and stared down at Martin. "The wind—?"
"Why not?"
"That would explain why it stopped so suddenly, then." Rodney stood straighter. When he walked again, his steps were firmer.
They reached the center of the city, ahead of the small, slight Wass, and stood watching him labor along the metal toward them.
Wass' face, Martin saw, was sober. "I tried to call the ship. No luck."
"The shield?"
Wass nodded. "What else?"