Quietus by Ross Rocklynne The creatures from Alcon saw from the first that Earth as a planet was practically dead dead in thesense that it had given birth to life and was responsible indirectly for its almost complete extinction. quotThis type of planet is the most distressingquot said Tark absently smoothing down the brilliantlycolored feathers of his left wing. quotI can stand the dark barren worlds which never have and probablynever will hold life. But these that have been killed by some celestial catastrophe Think of what greatthings might have come from their inhabitants.quot As he spoke thus to his mate Vascar he was marking down in a book the position of this planet itsgeneral appearance from space and the number and kind of satellites it supported. Vascar sitting at the controls both her claws and her vestigial hands at work guided the sphericalship at slowly decreasing speed toward the planet Earth. A thousand miles above it she set the craft intoan orbital motion and then proceeded to study the planet Tark setting the account into his book forlater insertion into the Astronomical Archives of Alcon. quotEvidentlyquot mused Vascar her brilliant unblinking eyes looking at the planet through a transparentsection above the control board quotsome large meteor or an errant asteroid