3 The Historian’s Story

I was speechless for a moment or two after the Historian talked back to me, until I stammered, “What?”

“I am the Historian. What would you like to know, Sikka?”

“Why do you call me that? Don’t call me that.”

“Whatever you say, slick. What would you like to know?”

“Am I going crazy?”

“Dammit, man! I am the Historian, not a psychiatrist! What would you like to know?”

“I want to know what’s going on!”

“The key to understanding the present always lies in the past.”

“Then start at the beginning!”

“Excellent!” Everything went dark. And then there was a flash of light, and I could see every detail of the Historian’s story:

“In the beginning, there was the Big Bang, and the Universe was born. Among the earliest of galaxies there formed by chance the ideal system of stars and planets and other minor bodies.”

“In this system, one planet formed on the far edge of the habitable zone. On it, life flourished in all its generous diversity, and over the eons, spawned species of intelligence and sentience. Cultures emerged and merged and abated. Societies large and small formed and flowed and failed. Civilizations rose and fell and sometimes rose again.”

“Those that could, called their home Terra.”

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