Kéthani Read online

  Tomorrow I am meeting my old friends and we are returning to Earth, to the location where we first met, all those hundreds of years ago.

  Earth is depopulated now; only a handful of wardens live among its petrified treasures, its overgrown vales, guardians of the cradle of humankind. Despite all the early objections, despite the scepticism and pessimism, the religious and philosophical opposition, time has worked to erode our fears and prove wrong the voices of dissent. The galaxy is now the true home of humankind, though people do return to Earth from time to time, so I’ve heard, to dwell in the past and relive old memories, before renewing their lives out there.

  We will meet among the tumbled stones of the village we once called home, perhaps trace among the crumbled foundations the dwellings where we lived, the places where we met. We might even find the ruins of the Fleece…

  We will recount our exploits on alien worlds, catching up with the deeds of friends we have not seen for dozens of years, in some cases a century or two. Then, talk will turn to the past, to life on Earth, when we were so very young and thought ourselves so experienced and wise.

  And we might even shed a tear or two before we part again and return to our rightful place among the distant stars.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Portions of this novel appeared in the following publications:

  “Ferryman” first appeared in New Worlds, 1997.

  “Onward Station” first appeared in Interzone 135, 1998.

  “The Kéthani Inheritance” first appeared in Spectrum 7, 2001.

  “Thursday’s Child” first appeared in Spectrum 9, 2002.

  “The Touch of Angels” first appeared in Threshold Shift, 2006.

  “The Wisdom of the Dead” first appeared in Interzone 186, 2003.

  “A Heritage of Stars” first appeared in Constellations, 2005.

  “Matthew’s Passion” (written with Tony Ballantyne) is original to the collection.

  “A Choice of Eternities” first appeared in Postscripts 1, 2004.

  “The Farewell Party” first appeared in The Solaris Book of New SF, 2007.

  The sections entitled “The Coming of the Kéthani” and “Diaspora”, and the linking material, are original to the collection.

  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the editors of the anthologies and magazines where these stories first appeared: David Garnett, David Pringle, Paul Fraser, Gary Turner, Peter Crowther, and George Mann. The chapter entitled “Matthew’s Passion” was written with Tony Ballantyne, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him for his input and hard work.

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