Al glanced around at the gathered men and woman, and leaned in as he gathered up his pile of chips as he said with a grin, "Alright, storytime, boys and girls. I've actually only been to Earth a few times, and then only to the world capital. Paris, I think it's called. I usually only stay long enough to get a few million people partying, maybe TP a few government buildings and spaceships, and then leave, but I have managed to get a pretty decent impression of the place," he said, as he leaned forward again and gathered up everyone's cards.
"It's a fun little place. Very clean, very beautiful, though I get the feeling that most of Paris is directed at tourists. You'd probably have to dig to find the genuine human culture on that rock. It's a sparsely populated planet, from what I hear; less than three billion inhabitants, with nearly a third of that in and around Paris itself." He glanced around at the group and began expertly shuffling the cards as he continued, "Only about ten percent of that population is human, from what I've seen. I can only go on hearsay for anything outside of Paris, but it sounds like there are a number of other major and minor cities scattered across the planet, most of them maintained with the same clean, inviting atmosphere as Paris. Outside of the cities, Earth is apparently a favorite spot for political retreats and high-cost getaways." He began to deal the cards. "Most of the planet has apparently been allowed to remain wild. My friend Flordia could tell you more. As a nature nut, she loved it there. There are quite a few resorts meant to take advantage of that across the planet."
He finished dealing, but avoided picking up his cards as he continued speaking. "I think the population of the Sol system is something like twenty five billion. Don't know how that compares to whenever you guys are from, but it's kind of nice to go to a place that's not jam-packed with people. Except during tourist season. The largest concentration of people, obviously, is on Earth itself. For a while during the IPA's heyday, that solar system had a fair amount of political power as well. I never really could figure out why."
"I think we've probably got more information... historical information and stuff, I mean, on our ship's computer. You guys are kind of getting me interested in Earth history right now. Anyway, if you want to know more, I could go look it up. Ante up, guys."
***
Salem walked into his ship and stroked the wall three times. Three separate compartments slid open; one in the floor, one in the wall towards the front, and one larger one in the wall near him. He began walking around, gathering items, both from their spots on the shelves around him, and in the compartments he'd opened.
