Science demands patience. - Arthur C. Clarke

Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.

But at least we have answered one ancient question. We are not alone. The stars will never again be the same to us.

The dismantling of the vast and wholly parasitic armaments industry had given an unprecedented — sometimes, indeed, unhealthy — boost to the world economy. No longer were vital raw materials and brilliant engineering talents swallowed up in a virtual black hole — or, even worse, turned to destruction. Instead, they could be used to repair the ravages and neglect of centuries, by rebuilding the world.