I believe the thought is that the longer that we are here, the less that we will desire that. Who we are will be defined less by our lives before, and more by the next. Carata told me that she doesn't know how long she's been here, but it's been so long that she's lost count. It doesn't matter to her. [The words are haunting, but they come with some sense of discomfort, one that radiates in the air between her and Peter. They may not share a brood, but she still hasn't come to deal with this fact. Not completely. Her mental trip with her fellow commanders had only served to exacerbate this particular problem.] More to the point, the longer we are here, the less of a chance that we will have something to return home to.

[It's all about the passage of time. What are homes without the societies that define them? Who would they be to the worlds they left behind?]