It had been literal centuries since I had been free to drive along a U.It had been literal centuries since I had been free to drive along a U.S. Interstate, especially in the northeast where the terrain flows and ebbs like water frozen in a strobe photograph. "Terran Humans have spent a relatively short part of their existence figuring out how to get off their own world. But in the eight thousand years since they figured out how to iconify their communication, the most powerful among them have created enormous, wonderful monuments to themselves, their gods, their people, their ideals. I want to preserve that. I think that, in the human crush, a lot of those wondrous testaments to how they got from being hunter-gatherers to citizens of the stars will be destroyed. It's time they got off their rotten little mudball, and turned their eyes towards honoring the drive that got them there." She smiled and leaned over, kissing my cheek. "You would do that with Terra... " She was silent for a moment. "But, be honest. When we meet another interstellar species, will you make the same offer?" I closed my eyes. "I don't know. I really don't. I'd like to think that I will. There's something special about Terra, although nobody else must know that." She sighed; I couldn't see the expression on her face, but I assumed it was something of a smile. "Ken," she said quietly, "It's not a surprise that you love Terra. |