Jack Campbell - Guardian

But many of those cities were patched by dead sections. Areas destroyed in war and still not reclaimed, or areas once populated when the number of humans on Old Earth had peaked, then depopulated during the bad times that had followed. Old Earth still had an impressively large population, but one that it could now sustain over the long term.

In some places, ancient cities along the coasts were girdled by berms and barriers to keep out waters that must have risen about them. In other places, less fortunate cities were marked by leaning, decrepit towers rising from shallow waters that had submerged lower structures.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Senator Suva said. “They survived so much. The scars are there, but the people of Old Earth are slowly bringing her back.”

Geary nodded. “Someone recently told me that we had learned to live without hope for a better future. But I don’t think that was entirely true. Hope always lived here. Old Earth survived her trials and still managed to send out the first colonies to other stars. Those colonies gave birth to others, until humanity has spread across hundreds of star systems.”

“Old Earth,” Charban noted with a smile, “is invoked not just as Home, but as an example that where life remains and resolve does not fail, victory, or at least survival, may always be possible.”

“But possibly at great cost,” Rione added.

“Speaking of victory,” Senator Costa said acidly, “you will doubtless be happy to hear, Admiral, that the people of Sol Star System are of conflicting opinions about our liberating them from the occupying force from the Covenant.” Now that the battle was done, and the Covenant warships eliminated, Costa had embraced the engagement without any hint of her previous misgivings. “They’re glad enough to be free of the occupiers, but they aren’t thrilled with the fighting or our own continued presence.”

“What did they say about the threat to you and the other Alliance senators?” Geary asked.

Costa’s smile stretched wide and sardonic. “No reply on that. No curiosity or questions, either. None at all. It’s enough to make you wonder if someone at Sol wasn’t involved in the matter.”

“We will make what contacts we can and perhaps learn more about what happened,” Senator Sakai said. “Admiral, we have gained agreement under Sol Star System tourism regulations to allow every member of the ship’s crew to visit the surface, one-third of the crew each day for three days. Old Earth will send up shuttles and take groups to different cities. The ancestors of those on this ship came from many different spots on Old Earth, and the people here will try to accommodate the wishes of our people to visit the places that mean the most to them. The Alliance government will cover the cost of those shuttle runs.”

“Sol didn’t offer to cover the cost?” Geary asked.

“That would have required special debate and procedures,” Sakai said. “I assumed we did not have decades to wait while those matters were resolved. There is another issue we must discuss. The authorities on the portion of Old Earth containing the region called Kansas would like a much clearer indication of where the Dancers wish to go. Kansas is a large area on the surface.”

Charban tapped a control, causing an image of angular letters to appear. “The Dancers sent me this when we reached orbit. More of that ancient text that said Kansas . These letters spell a word that might be pronounced Lee-on or Lie-ons.”

“We will send that to the authorities below,” Sakai said. “Perhaps they will be able to tell us where that is.”

“Have they explained why humanity expanded so much farther inward along the galactic arm than we did outward?” Geary asked. That issue had been bothering him ever since it was pointed out.

Was Sakai’s small smile tinged by darkness? It was hard to tell. Even his voice only might have carried a cutting edge. “The first colonies outward made that happen. In the outward direction, the first colonies were obsessed with their own profit and security. Worried that even newer colonies beyond them might surround them with potential enemies, or compete with them economically, they clamped tight controls on movement through their star systems and created barriers to further exploration and colonization. Since jump technology required anyone going beyond them to pass through them, they successfully prevented any threats to their security, prevented anyone else from exploiting the star systems farther outward from them, and became an isolated, forgotten backwater relative to the rest of humanity.”

“So, they won?” Geary asked sarcastically.

“They thought so.”

Geary stepped off the shuttle ramp, feeling the soil of Old Earth itself under his feet. The last time I actually stood on a planet was when I was on Kosatka with Tanya. Before that… a century ago, though it feels much shorter to me. And now Tanya and I are here. Home. The place all ancestors of all humans came from.

He blinked against the bright sun overhead and the strong, cold wind blowing across this land, carrying fine particles of dust and grit with it. The parched dirt had formed ridges and small dunes sculpted by the breezes.

Nearby, a battered tower of dark stone rose from the remnants of a larger structure, broken window openings gazing out blankly. The shuttle had landed in an open area surrounding the remains. Watching the landing area on the way in, Geary had seen that the open area had formed a square about the large building. Here and there, flat segments of concrete, the remains of roadways, were visible beneath the drifting soil.

Around the open square were some other dark stone ruins or just low mounds that marked the buried remnants of smaller structures, the mounds set in straight lines that marked the boundaries of the ancient roads. Buildings had been here, but centuries of abandonment had led to their collapse, time and weather eating away at the works of humanity.

He took a few steps, seeing that here the concrete road had given way to brick. A small patch of brick lay beneath his feet, the paving still intact though badly cracked. This section must have been buried for some time and only recently exposed by the unrelenting winds.

A few stunted trees grew amid the scrub grass that formed patchy oases among the dusty dunes. Large old tree trunks lay partially buried, their crumbling remnants testament to how fertile this land had once been.

Tanya had come to stand beside him, looking around curiously. “This is where the Dancers wanted to go? I’ve seen bombarded worlds that were in better shape.”

“It must have been a nice town, once,” Geary commented. “I don’t see signs of destruction. It must have been abandoned.” He pointed to some of the buildings. “You can still see signs of repairs. Some people must have hung on here as long as they could, even when the area turned into a desert.”

An atmosphere flier had come to rest nearby, the occupants walking out to stand amid the desolation. “Earth once endured orbital bombardments, and many other ills,” one of them said, her face saddened. “This is the place where Lyons, Kansas, once stood. Like many such towns, it could not survive the great changes in climate, the wars, and the many other troubles Old Earth has endured. People stayed and tried to keep this place and many like it alive, but in time their efforts were not enough. Here you see what became of the dreams of many people because of the folly of many people.”

“Such places are not disturbed, except by natural processes,” a man from Earth added. “They are a reminder, and a monument.”

“Like living in a graveyard,” Desjani muttered in Geary’s ear.