“Howis Ed?” Handy asked.
“He’sas cranky as ever.”
“Soundslike him.”
“Thankyou, gentlemen. You’re dismissed.”
“Yes,sir,” they said.
Ileaned back in my chair and looked at the hologram again.
“Avirus,” I said aloud. “Some type of virus might have eliminatedthe races.”
ThenI shook my head. “No; if it were a virus then we’d have bodiesgalore piling up on the planet. But there are no bodies. There arenopeople. It’s as quiet as a cemetery on a Sunday morning.”
Butsometimes stillness can be unsettling, I thought.
Iwalked out. Our huge transport ship sat about a mile away. Thethreesmaller shuttles were closer to camp. The transports are used tomovesoldiers to and from the interstellar ships, which can’t land on aplanet. Our interstellar taxi, theWilliamT. Sherman, orbited above.
Chapter
