Page 121 of The Last Hope

His forehead crinkles with the spike of his brows. “We’re on an op toprotectEarth. If there was no Earth, why would we be here?”

“For laughs.”

He actually laughs, light sparkling his eyes. “Bloody hell, I want to live in your head.”

“I’m not a chump,” I defend hotly.

He smiles more. “It wasn’t a slight.”

I simmer down. My arms slacken around my legs. “What about Earth then?”

Stork frowns up at the stars, thinking for a long while. “I’m not even sure where to begin.”

I have so many questions about the planet. All we’ve learned about has been an Earth from the past, and the Earth of 3525 could be so different.

A question barrels in front of all the others.Are there trees on Earth?I mean to ask for Mykal, and I open my mouth and I waver uneasily.

If Stork saysno,then I’d crush Mykal’s spirits for the rest of the mission. I can’t do that.

I find another one. “Are there cars?” I wonder.

He cocks his head. “For you to drive?”

“Yes,” I say. “I’d like to drive a human car.”

He looks me down and up, as though picturing me driving a human car. Thankfully he doesn’t laugh like it’s silly. He’s smiling. “I want to see that.”

“So there are?”

“No and yes; they’re not cars like from Saltare-3.” He explains, “Your cars are on the ground. Cars on Earth are in the air.”

“Flying cars?” I like the sound of that.

He eyes my rising lips. “We call them aerovans. And there aren’t many of them.” He pauses and grimaces. “There aren’t many…” He rubs his forehead. Struggling. His face contorts in a series of tormented emotions.

“It’s all right.”

He lets out a signature brisk laugh that fades solemnly. “No, it’s not.” His throat bobs. “… there aren’t many people left.”

I listen closely.

“Earth has gone through six World Wars, three Armageddons, includingfamineand pestilence. Seven catastrophic natural disasters and four interstellar conflicts. Humans have suffered, but they’ve endured.”

I try to picture Earth and I see a desolate war-torn wasteland. “How many people are there?”

“There used to be billions of humans in the world.” Stork searches the stone walls like he can find liquor, but he continues on without a drink. “Now, there are only two thousand left. One thousand are currently registered in the fleet and another thousand are still on Earth. That’s it.”

I’m stunned cold.

Two thousand people.

There were more than two thousand on theRomulusalone.

There were a little under two thousand just at the start of StarDust.

Two thousand people.

The whole human race.