Imperial Earth

The car had come to the crest of a low hill, and for the first time Duncan had an extensive view of the surrounding countryside. He could see for at least twenty kilometers, and the effect of all this open space was overwhelming. It was true that he had gazed at much larger-and far more dramatic-vistas on Titan; but the landscapes of his own world were implacably lethal, and when he traveled on its open surface he had to be insulated from the hostile environment by all the resources of modern technology. It was almost impossible to believe that there was nowhere here, from horizon to horizon, where he could not stand unprotected in the open, breathing freely in an atmosphere which would not instantly shrivel his lungs. The knowledge did not give him a sense of freedom, but rather of vertigo.

It was even worse when he looked up at the sky, so utterly different from the low, crimson overcast of Titan. He had flown halfway across the Solar

System, yet never had he received such an impression of space and distance as he did now, when he stared at the solid-looking white clouds, sailing through a blue abyss that seemed to go on forever. It was useless to tell himself that they were only ten kilometers away the distance a spaceship could travel in a fraction of a second. Not even the star fields of the

Milky Way had yielded such glimpses of infinity.

I For the very first time, as he looked at the fields and forests

spread out around him under the open sky, Duncan realized the immensity of Planet Earth by the only measure that counted-the scale of the individual human being. And now he understood that cryptic remark Robert Kleinman had made before he left for Saturn: “Space is small; only the planets are big.”

“If you were here three hundred years ago,” said his host, with considerable satisfaction, “about eighty percent of this would have been houses and highways. Now the figure’s down to ten percent, and this is one of the most heavily built-up areas on the continent. It’s taken a long time, but we’ve finally cleaned up the mess the twentieth century left.

Most of it, anyway. We’ve kept some as a reminder. There are a couple of steel towns still intact in Pennsylvania; visiting them is an educational experience you won’t forget, but won’t want to repeat.”

“You said this was a ten-percent built-up area. I find it hard to believe even that. Where is everyone?” Duncan queried.

“There are many more people around than you imagine. I’d hate to think of the mental activity that’s going on within two hundred meters of us, at this very moment. But because this parkway is so well landscaped, you probably haven’t noticed the surface exits and feeder roads.”

“Of course-I still have the oldfashioned picture of Terrans as surface dwellers.”

“Oh, we are, essentially. I don’t think we’ll ever develop the-ah-‘corridor culture’ you have on the Moon and planets.”

Professor Washington had used that anthropological cliche with some caution. Obviously he was not quite sure if Duncan approved of it. Nor, for that matter, was Duncan himself; but he had to admit that despite all the debates that had raged about it, the phrase was an accurate description of

Titan’s social life.

“One of the chief problems of entertaining off worlders like yourself,” said Washington somewhat ruefully, “is that I find myself explaining at great length things that they know perfectly well, but are too polite

to admit. A coiinle of years ago I took a statistician from Tranquillity along this road, and gave him a brilliant lecture on the population changes here in the Washington-Virginia region over the last three hundred years. I thought he’d be interested, and he was.

If I’d done my homework properly-which I usually do, but for some reason had neglected in this case-I’d have found that he’d written the standard work on the subject. After he’d left, he sent me a copy, with a very nice inscription.”

Duncan wondered how much “homework” George had done on him; doubtless a good deal.

“You can assume my total ignorance in these matters. Still, I should have realized that fusor technology would be almost as important on Earth as off it.“It’s not my field, but you’re probably right. When it was cheaper and simpler to melt a home underground than to build it above—and to fit it with viewscreens that were better than any conceivable window-it’s not surprising that the surface lost many of its attractions. Not all, though.”

He gestured toward the left-hand side of the parkway.

They were approaching a small access road, which merged gently into the main traffic lane. It led into a wood about a kilometer away, and through the trees Duncan could glimpse at least a dozen houses. They were all of different design, yet had common features so that they formed a harmonious group. Every one had steeply gabled red roofs, large windows, gray stone walls-and even chimneys. These were certainly not functional, but many of them served to support complicated structures of metal rods.