Susan slammed the door of the Capsule shut, as the Cull's manipulator arm shot out to hold it. Bracing herself against the vibration, she turned the key, locking it. As the movement stopped instantly, she sat down.

"I think we'll be staying in here until that stops."

"WHY IS THE EARTH-QUAKE NOT AFFECTING THE CAPSULE?"

"Inertial compensation. Dimensional travel is a lot rougher than a..." She looked at the dials "...5.4 earthquake. According to the instruments we're near the epicenter."

"ENDURE AND INVESTIGATE, OR RETURN?"

"If we return, we won't be able to do another flight for a month. Do you think the ship is in danger?"

"NEGATIVE. SHIELDS CAN WITHSTAND STELLAR FORCES."

"Then we just sit here for a few minutes. Earthquakes like this don't last long."

"AFTERSHOCKS." It reminded her smugly.

"True. We'll have to be careful." The single blue eye glared at her unwinkingly. She glared back. "Do you expect me to stay in here?"

"YOU ARE FRAGILE."

"And you aren't."

"AGREED."

"Then you'd better look after me," she said, casting a quick glance at the monitors to check the quake had finished and opening the door. There was a faint irritated mumble from the Cull and the flash of the analogue circuit being triggered behind her.

It was dusk, the streetlights near them were dead, and it should have been dark. Instead the sky was ablaze with stars, in swirls and utterly unfamiliar constellations. The moon was risen and full, but a dull grey compared to the brilliance, and the colours, of the lights that surrounded it. Shocked still, she stared, squinting as she tried to find a landmark on the horizon to match them against.

"Cet, are the stars moving. Visibly?"

"Stellar movement is occurring at different rates, some perceptual." The Cull reported, turning his head to survey the devastation.

"Must be a star cluster, a planet in the middle of - "

"Negative." He bent down, lifting a street sign. It was in English. "This is Earth."

"Then explain that." She pointed to the horizon where the sun was setting, then half-turned. "And that."

A second blue-ish sun was sinking below the horizon, huge and wreathed in red clouds.

"I cannot." The Cull stared, intrigued.

"Come on." Susan looked round the debris that surrounded them. "Maybe we can find a survivor who can explain this."

` Their capsule had landed on an abandoned lot, edged by development signs and the remains of long-unfinished and overgrown building works. Outside the city was no better, new cracks and damage combining with wear that had obviously been there for some time. There was no one in sight. The world was eerily quiet, the peace broken only by debris shifting and the sound of water running some where close. Susan listened carefully but could not hear any sounds of people, no screams, no cries for rescue or shouts of the missing.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Can you find anyone?" she asked. Cet looked round and began to stalk down the street, focused on something out of sight. Susan followed.

"Life signs." he said.

It was two blocks away, after a four foot drop in the asphalt where the road had cracked side to side as the quake shifted the earth. The car was on its side, roof crushed in, and half-buried where the front of a shop, split in half by the quake fracture, had collapsed onto it. She walked up cautiously, in case the rubble shifted.

"Hello?" she asked, trying to see in.

"We're trapped!" It was a man's voice. The door was too distorted to open, the corner of the roof crushed down on it and the remains of the window shattered. Inside she could just see someone moving.

"Hold on." Breaking the remaining glass could shower them with fragments if she wasn't careful. Looking round for a suitable piece of debris, she picked up part of the shop's doorframe, and carefully broke out the lower corner of the window. Wrapping her hand in folds of her jacket she snapped the safety glass out, lifting the lumps clear so they didn't fall inside the car.

"The rubble will collapse if the car is moved." Cet said.

"Then we need to get this door open. Help me." She reminded herself that the alien did not always know the appropriate ways to act in certain situations, or knew and did not care, and would need frequent reminding. He looked at her, walked over, and pulled the door open as she levered against it. Susan lost her footing as the resistance vanished, and took a few paces back to get her balance. A man almost fell out, onto the road, catching himself on his hands, and crawling the rest of the way. He took a breath and started to pull the rest of his family out, a child and a woman.

Above them the concrete teetered and rocked. As she realised what was happening, Susan grabbed the child, and ran and the others followed. Cet looked up, calculating angles. Human velocity was insufficient to evade the collapse. Support as a block was impossible: there was no structural strength in the matter that was falling. He aimed upwards and fired a wide angled blast into the rubble as it fell.

Susan choked, falling to her knees as the dust cloud hit. Pulling the child in she crouched over it, sheltering it as she braced for the impact. A moment later as thought returned and she found she was still alive, she opened her eyes, wiping the dust clear, and looked up. The dust cloud was settling around them. The other refugees were raising their heads and voices in confusion. Above them, the side of the high rise gaped open to the air and yet the street around them was almost clear of rubble, just coated an inch deep in thick grey concrete dust. Fifty tons of brick, cement and steel had vanished into thin air. The survivors looked around, gaping in shock. Susan looked for Cet.

He was walking the last few paces towards her, unfazed by events or the light coating of grey dust on his suit and skin. She began to stand, even as he reached down a hand to take her arm.

"This area is unstable. We need to leave."

"I noticed." she said, brushing herself off. She looked round, handing the boy to his father, and followed Cet. "Leave here or leave and go home?"

"Unknown." He paused, considering his words and rephrased it. "I am unsure?"

"That's right."

"Further exploration may be safe elsewhere, but this location is unsafe. The capsule, or our access to it, may be at risk," he said.

"You, you just pointed and the wall disappeared. How did you do that?" They turned round fast as they heard the voice. One of the refugees had stumbled after them. The rest were on their feet, staring at them.

"Cet, this is why I try to be subtle," Susan said, quietly. "Trying to get back to the capsule now will be difficult without - "

"Negative." He raised a hand, looking smug, and she grabbed it.

"Oh no. For once we are going to get out of this peacefully."

"So you got our signal then?" the refugee interrupted, as they glared at each other. Susan looked at him. He seemed curious rather than frightened, and to her surprise so did the other humans. "If you're talking about going back to the capsule..."

"I think there has been some misunderstanding, we have not received any signals, and standing here isn't safe. We need to move." She was interrupted as the boy's mother made her way to them, relief etched on every line of her face.

"Aliens? Oh thank god! You've finally come. We've been calling for years!" Susan and Cet stared at each other.