Bliss watched as the final joints were sealed， her arm about Fallom"s shoulder. The young Solarian stared at the two space-suited figures in obvious alarm. She was trembling， and Bliss"s arm squeezed her gently and reassuringly.
The airlock door opened， and the two stepped inside， their bloated arms waving a farewell. It closed. The mainlock door opened and they stepped clumsily onto the soil of a dead world.
It was dawn. The sky was clear， of course， and purplish in color，but the sun had not yet risen. Along the lighter horizon where the sun would come， there was a slight haze.
Pelorat said， "It"s cold."
"Do you feel cold？" said Trevize， with surprise. The suits were well insulated and if there was a problem， now and then， it was with the getting rid of body heat.
Pebrat said， "Not at all， but look " His radioed voice sounded Trevize"s ear， and his finger pointed.
In the purplish light of dawn， the crumbling stone front of the building they were approaching was sheathed in hoar frost.
Trevize said， "With a thin atmosphere， it would get colder at night than you would expect， and warmer in the day. Right now it"s the coldest part of the day and it should take several hours before it gets too hot for us to remain in the sun."
As though the word had been a cabalistic incantation， the rim of the sun appeared above the horizon.
"Don"t look at it，" said Trevize conversationally. "Your face-plate is reflective and ultraviolet-opaque， but it would still be dangerous."
He turned his back to the rising sun and let his long shadow fall on the building. The sunlight was causing the frost to disappear， even as he watched. For a few moments， the wall looked dark with dampness and then that disappeared， too.
Trevize said， "The buildings don"t look as good down here as they looked from the sky. They"re cracked and crumbling. That"s the result of the temperature change， I suppose， and of having the water traces freeze and melt each night and day for maybe as much as twenty thousand years."
Pelorat said， "There are letters engraved in the stone above the entrance， but crumbling has made them difficult to read."
"Can you make it out， Janov？"
"A financial institution of some sort. At least I make out a word which may be `bank.""
"What"s that？"
"A building in which assets were stored， withdrawn， traded， invested，loaned if it"s what I think it is."
"A whole building devoted to it？ No computers？"
"Without computers taking over altogether."
Trevize shrugged. He did not find the details of ancient history inspiring.
They moved about， with increasing haste， spending less time at sac build ing. The silence， the deadness ， was completely depressing. The slow millennial-long collapse into which they had intruded made the place seem like the skeleton of a city， with everything gone but the bones.
They were well up in the temperate zone， but Trevize imagined he could feel the heat of the sun on his back.
Pelorat， about a hundred meters to his right， said sharply， "Look at that."
Trevize"s ears rang. He said， "Don"t shout， Janov. I can hear your whispers clearly no matter how far away you are. What is it？"