“Clearing the clouds now,” the pilot said.
Nik stared out the window. A second later, the turbulent gray masses obscuring their vision were suddenly gone. He blinked. A vast ocean appeared beneath them.
The water below was black, the dark waves heaving and churning. Wind whipped the tips of them white.
“We’ll be over land shortly.” The co-pilot tapped her screen. “I’m detecting bio signatures in the water. They aren’t clear, though. The radiation is causing problems.”
“There’s life?” Nik asked.
“Yes. Large kinds of life. These signatures are huge.” The co-pilot shuddered.
Nik speculated that if anything had survived the nuclear fallout, it most likely would have…mutated into something else.
“How are the radiation levels?” Avril asked.
The comms officer swiveled his chair to face them. “High. Really high. Here in what was New York, you’ll be able to stay dirtside for sixty minutes, tops.”
Avril frowned. “That’s not long.”
“Land ahead,” the pilot said.
Nik craned his neck a little for a better view out the window. There it was. Land spread ahead, like a dark shadow. As they sped closer, he saw dark waves crashing on a beach of black rock and sand. Beyond the water, the black sand continued. It was a dark desert with giant dunes and rocky outcrops of twisted shapes.
Not a single instance of vegetation, no movement, and definitely no lifeforms.
“Coming up on the coordinates for New York City,” the comms officer said.
Everyone pressed their noses closer to the windows. Nik frowned. He didn’t see anything but black sand.
“There.” Nera reached over his shoulder, pointing.
For a second, he was distracted by her body pressed against his. Then he blinked and saw what she was pointing at.
The shapes looked like rocks, but he realized they were shards of broken buildings. The remnants of skyscrapers pointing toward the gray clouds.
“That must be the city center.” He wanted to see it. He wanted to go down there and explore what had once been a great city of Earth.
But they had a mission, and he was the one who’d suggested the suburbs.
“We’re heading west of the city,” Avril said, her gaze glued to the scene outside. “It looks like this black sand covers everything.”
“It was formed from the nuclear bombings,” the comms officer said.
And over the thousands of years, it had obviously overtaken the city. Moments later, the ship stopped.
“We aren’t going to land,” the pilot said, his hands on the controls. “The scans are showing the sand may not be stable for the ship’s weight. You’ll have to rappel down.”
“Okay.” Avril nodded. “Solomon and Gunn, you’re Team One. Team Two will be Nik and?—”
“I’ll go with Nera,” he said.
Avril frowned. “Fine. Team Three will be myself and Agent Ryant. Get suited up. There’s light body armor for everyone. Scans have assured us the air is breathable.”
Soon Nik was standing at a side door of theDrake, watching Nera hook up to a line. Beside them, Solomon and Gunn edged over the side and zoomed to the ground.
“Ready?” Nera asked.
“Yeah.” Nik closed his safety clip. “Let’s go find some treasure.”
