Oracle's Flotsam

Oracle's Flotsam

“Though the native Quadrons were what Dr. Girard called ‘post-civilized’ – a polite term for stone-aged savages living among the ruins of previous civilizations – the world of Oracle had seen over a dozen distinct periods of civilization, going back nearly two million years. Scattered ruins: cities long looted or buried under sand or mud or lava, a long rusted railroad a hundred meters below the surface of a shallow sea, all spoke of ancient disasters.

“No radioactivity marred the ruins, but there were many ways for civilizations to fall. There was material here for decades of study. Some ruins betrayed obvious function; others where less obvious. The natives had no real idea either.”