home, heard and succumbed. Across the light years, one after another, their little efforts dimmed and died like defective Christmas lights. Out, out, brief candle. Freezing or asphyxiating, burning up on unplanned atmospheric entry, exploding in momentary fireworks in the cold of space. A handful survived that initial cataclysm and turned the helm for Earth, trying to go back. But if any of them arrived they were then lost in the general ruin, and no trace of their return survived.
