The Rossem Project is close to success, and will allow a hand picked expedition to explore other worlds, searching for the threat that faces the planet Tharia, but as they begin their mission they discover that there are many other threats out there...
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Their progress across the continent was slow, as they had to live off the land, stopping to hunt and set traps for the small animals that lived in the shadow of the vast, dead city, and they had to take wide detours to avoid the regions surrounding Malganian settlements which would be sure to contain large areas of farmland and isolated homesteads.
They would set up camp in one of the old skyscrapers and spend a day or two building up their food supplies, then spend three or four days travelling, keeping close to the buildings so that they could slip into a doorway at the first sign of company. A couple of times they spotted army patrols ahead of them and hid for a day or two until they could be sure they'd moved far away. The result was that they averaged only ten miles a day, slowing even further when they came to areas that had become impenetrable over the years and were forced to backtrack, looking for alternative routes.
Some areas had become so thickly overgrown that they were totally impassable, and one area of several square miles had become so swampy and waterlogged that their legs sank up to the knees in thick, sucking mud. They tried their best to fight their way through it, but taking the necessary care was costing them more time than simply diverting around the area and so with heavy hearts, they decided to cut their losses and turn back. These impassable areas weren't marked on any of their maps, suggesting either that the Malganians hadn't explored the whole area they claimed as their territory or that the land had changed during the years since it had first been charted. It suggested that nasty surprises might be waiting for them up ahead, a possibility that made them all uncomfortable.
Every four days or so, whenever the portal re-opened, they would get Farspoken messages from the crew of the Jules Verne, popping into their universe before heading back into their own universe before they could be attacked. The messages from Lirenna grew increasingly heartrending for Thomas as he sensed his wife growing increasingly deperate. He could hear in her voice that it was taking her more and more effort to cling to hope, and he longed to be able to tell her that he was still alive, still looking for a way home. How long would it be before the Jules Verne stopped coming? he wondered. Lirenna, he knew, would never give up hope, but the Beltharans and the University authorities would want to continue their mission, to explore some of the other worlds of the sheaf. If that happened, and the shipwreck victims failed to find another silver ship to take them home, they might be stranded on Fechlon for the rest of their lives.
One danger that they apparently wouldn't have to worry about, though, was large animals. During all the weeks they spent travelling through the continent sized city they never saw anything larger than a large dog, although these creatures travelled in large packs and howled at them from time to time as the Tharians passed through their territories.
"There must have been large animals once, though," said Thomas thoughtfully. "They must have all died out during the golden age of this civilisation. The cities took up so much space that there wasn't enough room left for the animals."
