Starborne (46 page)

He and Noelle step out into the corridor. They are all out there, wa
n
dering around in wonder. No one speaks. He sees shining eyes ever
y
where. The year-captain realizes that he is captain no longer: there is no need for a captain he
re. And the days of playing
Go
have ended, too. They are one person; they are beyond games.
Go
would be impossible now for them to play, for how can one compete against oneself?

.…
then fields unsowed bear ripened fruit. All ills grow better, and Baldur com
es back.…

“
And now,”
Noelle whispers, “
now we reach toward Earth. We put our strength in Yvonne, and Yvonne will
—”

Yvonne draws Earth
’
s hundreds of millions of souls into the network in one great gulp, everyone, everyone, and the next phase of human life b
egins.

***

The
Wotan
hurtles onward through the nospace tube. Soon they will arrive at Planet C; and they will send down explorers to see if the newest world they have found is a fair and lovely place where the sons and daughters of mankind can thrive. If
it is, they will settle there. And if not, they will go on, on toward Planet D, and Planet E, and Planet X and Y and Z. They are confident that eventually they will find a world whose air they can breathe and whose water they can drink and whose land they
can farm, and where they can plant the seed of Earth in a new beginning. But it will not matter at all if they never do. All will be well, even so. The ship and its hundreds of millions of passengers will course onward through the universe forever, warmed
by the light of the friendly stars.