[Cast: V1 Inara] [V1: smoky female alto, warm feline chest voice, agile melodic phrasing, lightly husky, intimate and thoughtful, minimal vibrato] [Tempo: 106 BPM] [Time Signature: rolling 6/8] [Key: E Dorian] [Motif: bright banjo ascends, deep cello answers, melodic bass connects] [Intro: one plucked banjo, distant travel bell, soft cello] [V1: quietly sung] The old ships crossed a longer night. The charts were ink, the engines prayer. They carried seedlings, books and names, And built a home when they got there. [Verse 1: V1, banjo and walking electric bass] In Kepler's belts the cutters sang, Their lamps made constellations near. The first crews took the ore at hand, And learned to make a living here. Beyond their reach the Road lay torn, All broken worlds and shifting stone. They didn't need to chase its teeth; They had enough to build a home. Then later hands brought wonders back From deep among the ruined spheres: A fuel that bent the cost of flight, New gates that shortened waiting years. The stars stayed just as far apart, But distance lost its ancient price. A daughter's call crossed half the dark Before her mother poured the rice. [Pre-Chorus: bass climbs, cello begins to bow] A bridge is neither good nor cruel; It only shows where feet may go. A stranger carries medicine, Another carries deeds to own. [Chorus: V1, warm soaring folk melody, banjo and cello intertwined] Come through the open door, Bring the stars you found. There's room enough to welcome you Without selling off the ground. You made the distance smaller; We made a life here too. The width of every welcome Has to hold us and hold you. [Instrumental: Kepler banjo figure answered by Tal'Shyran cello] [Verse 2: V1, quieter frame drum, acoustic strings] On Tal'Shyra the Sky-Roots rose Where the cities kept their careful bounds. A world could hold a million paths Without a highway swallowing sound. The factories worked beyond the blue, On moons and stations built for heat. Down here a river kept its course, And children knew the earth by feet. The old clans owned no perfect hearts; They knew the temper of the claw. They taught the little ones to pause And put their strength beneath the law. A forest wasn't vacant space; A common wasn't land forgot. Some things were kept for everyone, Not parceled into someone's lot. [Pre-Chorus: V1, intimate near spoken, bass suspends] A guest may stay, a guest may thrive, And plant new roots beside the old. But when you come to share a home, You cannot simply call it sold. [Chorus: V1, melodic lift, distant harmony] Come through the open door, Bring the stars you found. There's room enough to welcome you Without selling off the ground. You made the distance smaller; We made a life here too. The width of every welcome Has to hold us and hold you. [Bridge: V1, bass alone then cello, restrained unease] The Pilgrim missed the garden world. Its wake arrived as trade and speed. One ship brought cures for winter fever; One brought contracts dressed as need. A man called all the open green A blank that waited for his hand. He measured roofs against their yield And never asked who loved the land. We offered him the public road, The town, the market, work to do. He asked instead to fence the water, To make the river private too. That's when the welcome met its edge, Not with a fist, but with a word: You may build where people choose. The common stays. Let that be heard. [Instrumental: banjo and cello in rising counterpoint, bass holds pulse] [Verse 3: V1, bright acoustic rhythm returns] The children still take different paths: Some learn the engines, some the trees. Some build a ship beyond the moon; Some study how the rivers breathe. A builder needn't hate a forest. A keeper needn't fear a star. The trouble starts when one forgets That other lives are where they are. A freighter limped in full of families, No place to dock and nowhere warm. We cleared a hall beneath the Sky-Root And sheltered them against the storm. We laid out quilts and shared our bread. We don't reserve compassion For the ones who grew here first; The law that keeps the commons open Must give the stranger water for their thirst. I learned to sing in both those rooms, In airlock light and lantern gold. The future isn't only what Our clever hands can buy or hold. [Final Chorus: V1, full folk ensemble, hopeful but unsentimental] Come through the open door, Bring the stars you found. There's room enough to welcome you Without selling off the ground. You made the distance smaller; We made a life here too. The width of every welcome Has to hold us and hold you. [Outro: cello recedes, banjo plays unresolved figure] A gate can bring the stars within; It cannot tell us what to spare. The bridge may carry all of us. The ground must still have room for air. [V1: spoken softly] Come in. Just don't mistake our welcome For a world without a say. [End]
