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"Is that why you look up all the time?"

"Yes, it's silly They won't follow us, ever They haven't anything to folloith I' too careful, is all"

Michael ca back "Is this really our city, Dad?"

"The whole darn planet belongs to us, kids The whole darn planet"

They stood there, King of the Hill, Top of the Heap, Ruler of All They Surveyed, Uni to understand what ita world really was

Night came quickly in the thin atmosphere, and Dad left them in the

square by the pulsing fountain, went down to the boat, and ca hands

He laid the papers in a clutter in an old courtyard and set thehed, and Tihtened aniulfed them The papers crinkled like an old man's skin, and the cremation surrounded innuious Prejudice: An Essay; The Science of Logistics; Problems of the Pan-Aest"

Dad had insisted on bringing these papers for this purpose He sat there and fed them into the fire, one by one, with satisfaction, and told his children what it all meant

"It's tis I don't suppose it was fair, keeping so much from you I don't know if you'll understand, but I have to talk, even if only part of it gets over to you"

He dropped a leaf in the fire

"I' burned clean of Earth right now Forgive me if I talk like a politician I aovernor, and I was honest and they hatedvery good Science ran too far ahead of us too quickly, and the people got lost in a s, gadgets, helicopters, rockets; e er and bigger and finally killed Earth That's what the silent radio means That's e ran away from

"We were lucky There aren't anytrip at all I put off telling you Earth is gone Interplanetary travel won't be back for centuries,and strangled itself with its own hands You're young I'll tell you this again every day until it sinks in"

He paused to feed more papers to the fire