Old Earth

by Hawki

Oneshot: The Butlerian Jihad was over. Humanity had been liberated from the thinking machines. But it had come at a heavy cost. It had come at the expense of Earth. And in time, few would remember what was lost.

Old Earth

Oh Earth, forever hidden from human eyes.

Planet on Imperium's edge, unwatched, unmourned, unremembered.

Perhaps preserved in memory of Other, but even this too may fade.

Old Earth, it is called, yet life ended early.

Cradle of mankind, destroyed by Man's children.

Life given through sphere of nuclear fire.

And through that fire, life ended.

Such is the power of the atom, the cold logic of the machines, and the restlessness of Terra's children.

Old Earth, forever scarred. Long ago let out final breath.

A heaving sigh, made before, from which its children spread.

Known Universe, they call it, surpassing the tyranny called distance.

Emerald throne upon world of Salusa Secundus.

Emerald like the fields of Earth, forever lost.

A stillness in space. Machines silent, they cast their shadows.

On worlds like and unlike Terra.

Many worlds, many houses.

A whisper of seas, a song of the desert.

And false ambrosia, through which Terra's children may soar.

Final morning, set on Earth.

No mourning, as parent of many.

Her rest eternal.

Given final lullaby, on the strings of a baliset.

Those who hold the memory.

Tears, it seems, must flow.

Like spice.