Just so much junk now.
Highly automated surface farming was impossible now; they’d manufactured no spare parts here, nor had they the means and materials to innovate beyond a certain level. When the pumps went and the power supplies finally wore out and the spare parts for the robotic monitors were gone, there had been nobody to bring them more, nobody to trade the rich and probably exotic high-demand delicacies they’d raised here for what they needed.
“There are some places even people can’t manage after a while, huh, Doc?” a man’s voice commented near her.
“Perhaps,” she responded. “But I wouldn’t put it past some remnants to have made it here, perhaps in caves or underground. They knew what was happening, and they had time to plan. I don’t know what shape they’d be in after all these years, but I wouldn’t be shocked to find some pockets here and there, people living in sheltered areas and somehow getting by. It wouldn’t be much of a life, but back on Old Earth and in several worlds out here we’ve seen people get by with less. In deserts so hot and dry they’d boil your brains, and in areas so cold that you’d swear nothing could find enough food and warmth. Keep that in mind, all of you, when we go down there! We don’t want any ugly surprises, and we’re not exactly in the business of giving poor stuck farmers a ride.”
The man chuckled. “You’re all heart, Doc.” He turned and looked at the rest of the team, all in environmental suits with helmets on to protect against the elements, and waved them forward. All of them were armed. “Everybody spread out and be at the ready! I don’t think we’re gonna find anybody down there in those ruins, but you never know who or what’s gonna pop up from where. If they’re around, though, they’ll already know we’re here.”