"Martin!" Wass' voice came through the receivers in both their radios.
"Martin, I can't get out!"
* * * * *
Rodney mumbled something, and Martin told him to shut up.
Wass said, more quietly, "Remember that metal band? It's all clear now,
and glittering, as far as I can see. I can't get across it; it's like a
glass wall."
"We're trapped, we're trapped, they are--"
"Shut up, Rodney! Wass, I'm only two sections from the edge. I'll check
here."
Martin clapped a hand on Rodney's shoulder again, starting him moving,
toward the city's edge, past the black, silent buildings.
The glittering band was here, too, like a halo around a silhouette.
"No go," Martin said to Wass. He bit at his lower lip. "I think it must
be all around us." He was silent for a time, exploring the consequences
of this. Then--"We'll meet you in the middle of the city, where we
separated."
Walking with Rodney, Martin heard Wass' voice, flat and metallic
through the radio receiver against his ear. "What do you suppose caused
this?"
He shook his head angrily, saying, "Judging by reports of the rest of
the planet, it must have been horribly radioactive at one time. All of
it."
"Man-made radiation, you mean."
Martin grinned faintly. Wass, too, had an active imagination. "Well,
alien-made, anyhow. Perhaps they had a war."