by Mike Resnick
“You have no desire to kill anyone,” said the Kragan emotionlessly, “and yet you came down here to threaten us with complete and total destruction. Is it any wonder that we cannot allow you to survive?"
“But we are the last!” said the man. “When you have killed us, the race of Man will have ceased to exist."
“Yes,” said the Kragan. It did not sound regretful.
“It was Man that gave form and structure to the galaxy. We’ve played too important a role in the scheme of history to die as a race. Surely you must be able to see some value in keeping a remnant of us alive."
“As you kept remnants of other races alive?” asked the Kragan.
“How many species has Man exterminated in his brief lifetime? How many worlds has he ground to dust and ash?"
“But damn it, I didn’t do those things!” cried the man in exasperation.
“Left to live, you would,” said the Kragan. “You already contemplate doing so with this very planet."
“Give me an alternative,” pleaded the man. “Any alternative."
“The alternative,” said the Kragan patiently, “is not to destroy the planet."
“Then let us live in peace!"
“You are a Man,” said the Kragan. “For you to live in peace is a contradiction in terms."
“Keep us imprisoned on this planet, then,” said the man. “Destroy our ship and patrol the skies so that we can never leave again."
“Your ship is already destroyed,” said the Kragan. “And you will never leave again. Have you anything further to say?"
The man looked up at the stars for the last time, sighed, and shook his head. “No,” he said.
“Then return to your companions,” said the Kragan. “We will not honor any further truces."
The man trudged slowly up the mountain.
“Well?” asked the second woman.
“We’re no worse off than before,” said the man.
“That’s not saying a hell of a lot,” said the second woman. “I assume we’re also not any better off?"
“No.” He looked around the cave. “How long is the food good for?"
“Two days if we eat hearty,” said the third woman. “Maybe a week if we scrimp."
“Why scrimp?” said the second woman. “If we’re going to die, let’s at least do so with full stomachs."
“Right,” said the first woman. “Death by slow starvation isn’t one of the nicer ways to go."
“There is no nice way,” said the man. “If only those damned Kragans would listen to reason!"
“But they won’t,” said the third woman.
“Damn it!” said the man. “We’ve meant too much to the galaxy just to die like this! They could save us. Keep this place a planetary prison or zoo or whatever they wanted to do with us, and just let us live. It can’t end like this! We’ve gone too far, done too much, to die in this forgotten little hellhole with nobody around to notice. Damn it all—we’re Men!"
“Bravo!” said the second woman, clapping her hands sarcastically. “What a pity those words can’t be engraved on the wall of the cave."
“You may be content to sit here and wait for death,” said the man, “but if we can’t live, then I think we should at least die with some kind of gesture, something they may remember us for."
“We could all kneel down in front of the Kragans and pray while their firing squad mowed us down,” said the second woman with a laugh.
“Or write down your touching little speech and put it in a bottle in the hope that someone will find it someday,” added the third woman.
“Stop your snickering!” snapped the man. “If we’re going to die, at least we ought to go about it right."
“And what is the right way for a race to die?” said the second woman.
“Not by sitting around moaning and cackling, that’s for sure!" said the man. “Don’t you want somebody to know we’ve been here, that this is where Man met his end?"
“Who do you propose to tell?” asked the second woman.
“I don’t know,” said the man. “Somebody.” He looked around the cave and his eyes fell on the device. “Everybody.” He walked over and knelt down next to it. “At least they’ll know we didn’t go out like lambs to the slaughter, that we fought to the very end to preserve all that was Man."
He reached out and pressed the button.
It was glorious.
EPILOGUE. 587th Millennium
Eons passed, and Man—or something very like him—slithered out of the slime, sprouted limbs, developed thumbs. He stood erect, saw the stars for the first time, and knew that they must someday be his. . . .
—The End—
CHRONOLOGY
Chronology of the universe created in BIRTHRIGHT: THE BOOK OF MAN (through May 1, 2010), showing the year, the era, and the title:
1885 A.D. "The Hunter" (IVORY)
1898 A.D. "Himself" (IVORY)
1982 A.D. SIDESHOW
1983 A.D. THE THREE-LEGGED HOOTCH DANCER
1985 A.D. THE WILD ALIEN TAMER
1987 A.D. THE BEST ROOTIN' TOOTIN' SHOOTIN'
GUNSLINGER IN THE WHOLE DAMNED GALAXY
2057 A.D. "The Politician" (IVORY)
2908 A.D. 1 G.E.
16 G.E. Republic "The Curator" (IVORY)
264 G.E. Republic "The Pioneers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
332 G.E. Republic "The Cartographers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
346 G.E. Republic WALPURGIS III
367 G.E. Republic EROS ASCENDING
396 G.E. Republic "The Miners" (BIRTHRIGHT)
401 G.E. Republic EROS AT ZENITH
442 G.E. Republic EROS DESCENDING
465 G.E. Republic EROS AT NADIR
522 G.E. Republic "All the Things You Are"
588 G.E. Republic "The Psychologists" (BIRTHRIGHT)
616 G.E. Republic A MIRACLE OF RARE DESIGN
882 G.E. Republic "The Potentate" (IVORY)
962 G.E. Republic "The Merchants" (BIRTHRIGHT)
1150 G.E. Republic "Cobbling Together a Solution"
1151 G.E. Republic "Nowhere in Particular"
1152 G.E. Republic "The God Biz"
1394 G.E. Republic "Keepsakes"
1701 G.E. Republic "The Artist" (IVORY)
1813 G.E. Republic "Dawn" (PARADISE)
1826 G.E. Republic PURGATORY
1859 G.E. Republic "Noon" (PARADISE)
1888 G.E. Republic "Midafternoon" (PARADISE)
1902 G.E. Republic "Dusk" (PARADISE)
1921 G.E. Republic INFERNO
1966 G.E. Republic STARSHIP: MUTINY
1967 G.E. Republic STARSHIP: PIRATE
1968 G.E. Republic STARSHIP: MERCENARY
1969 G.E. Republic STARSHIP: REBEL
1970 G.E. Republic STARSHIP: FLAGSHIP
2122 G.E. Democracy "The 43 Antarean Dynasties"
2154 G.E. Democracy "The Diplomats" (BIRTHRIGHT)
2239 G.E. Democracy "Monuments of Flesh and Stone"
2275 G.E. Democracy "The Olympians" (BIRTHRIGHT)
2469 G.E. Democracy "The Barristers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
2885 G.E. Democracy "Robots Don't Cry"
2911 G.E. Democracy "The Medics" (BIRTHRIGHT)
3004 G.E. Democracy "The Policitians" (BIRTHRIGHT)
3042 G.E. Democracy "The Gambler" (IVORY)
3286 G.E. Democracy SANTIAGO
3322 G.E. Democracy A HUNGER IN THE SOUL
3324 G.E. Democracy THE SOUL EATER
3324 G.E. Democracy "Nicobar Lane: The Soul Eater's Story"
3407 G.E. Democracy THE RETURN OF SANTIAGO
3427 G.E. Democracy SOOTHSAYER
3441 G.E. Democracy ORACLE
3447 G.E. Democracy PROPHET
3502 G.E. Democracy "Guardian Angel"
3504 G.E. Democracy "A Locked-Planet Mystery"
3504 G.E. Democracy "Honorable Enemies"
3505 G.E. Democracy “If the Frame Fits…”
3719 G.E. Democracy "Hunting the Snark"
4375
G.E. Democracy "The Graverobber" (IVORY)
4822 G.E. Oligarchy "The Administrators" (BIRTHRIGHT)
4839 G.E. Oligarchy THE DARK LADY
5101 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER
5103 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER REBORN
5106 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER UNLEASHED
5108 G.E. Oligarchy A GATHERING OF WIDOWMAKERS
5461 G.E. Oligarchy "The Media" (BIRTHRIGHT)
5492 G.E. Oligarchy "The Artists" (BIRTHRIGHT)
5521 G.E. Oligarchy "The Warlord" (IVORY)
5655 G.E. Oligarchy "The Biochemists" (BIRTHRIGHT)
5912 G.E. Oligarchy "The Warlords" (BIRTHRIGHT)
5993 G.E. Oligarchy "The Conspirators" (BIRTHRIGHT)
6304 G.E. Monarchy IVORY
6321 G.E. Monarchy "The Rulers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
6400 G.E. Monarchy "The Symbiotics" (BIRTHRIGHT)
6521 G.E. Monarchy "Catastrophe Baker and the Cold Equations
6523 G.E. Monarchy THE OUTPOST
6524 G.E. Monarchy “Catastrophe Baker and a Canticle for
Leibowitz
6599 G.E. Monarchy "The Philosophers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
6746 G.E. Monarchy "The Architects" (BIRTHRIGHT)
6962 G.E. Monarchy "The Collectors" (BIRTHRIGHT)
7019 G.E. Monarchy "The Rebels" (BIRTHRIGHT)
16201 G.E. Anarchy "The Archaeologists" (BIRTHRIGHT)
16673 G.E. Anarchy "The Priests" (BIRTHRIGHT)
16888 G.E. Anarchy "The Pacifists" (BIRTHRIGHT)
17001 G.E. Anarchy "The Destroyers" (BIRTHRIGHT)
21703 G.E. "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge"
Novels not set in this future:
ADVENTURES (1922-1926 A.D.)
EXPLOITS (1926-1931 A.D.)
ENCOUNTERS (1931-1934 A.D.)
HAZARDS (1934-1939 A.D.)
STALKING THE UNICORN ("Tonight")
STALKING THE VAMPIRE ("Tonight")
STALKING THE DRAGON (“Tonight”)
THE BRANCH (2047-2051 A.D.)
SECOND CONTACT (2065 A.D.)
BULLY! (1910-1912 A.D.)
KIRINYAGA (2123-2137 A.D.)
KILIMANJARO (2234-2241 A.D.)
LADY WITH AN ALIEN (1490 A.D.)
A CLUB IN MONTMARTRE (1890-1901 A.D.)
DRAGON AMERICA: REVOLUTION (1779-1780 A.D.)
THE WORLD BEHIND THE DOOR (1928 A.D.)
THE OTHER TEDDY ROOSEVELTS (1888-1919 A.D.)
THE BUNTLINE SPECIAL (1881 A.D.)
