def readSlices(self):
    """Read slice information from disk

    :returns: ``[(startTime, timeStep), ...]``
    """
    if not exists(self.fsPath):
      raise NodeDeleted()

    slice_info = []
    for filename in os.listdir(self.fsPath):
      if filename.endswith('.slice'):
        startTime, timeStep = filename[:-6].split('@')
        slice_info.append((int(startTime), int(timeStep)))

    slice_info.sort(reverse=True)
    return slice_info