The ship came down from space. It came down from the stars and the silent gulfs of space. It was a new ship, the only one of its kind. It had fir in its belly and men in its body, and it moved with clean silence, fiery and hot. A crowd had gathered at its New York launching site and shouted and waved their hands up into the sunlight … and the rocket had jerked up, bloomed out great flowers of heat and color, and run away into space on the FIRST VOYAGE TO MARS! And now, it was decelerating with metal efficiency in the upper zones of Mars’ atmosphere …
Navigator Lustig, archaeologist Hinkston, and captain John Black watched Mars swing up under them …
The ship landed softly on a lawn of green grass. Outside, upon the lawn, stood an iron deer. Further up the lawn, a tall brown Victorian house sat in the quiet sunlight. An old swing which was hooked into the porch ceiling swung back and forth, back and forth, in a little breeze …
Slumscape, with a nod to Colongyschtonk. If you’re a megaslums-of-the-future fan ( wow, weird ~ that’s the first time I’ve articulated that particular thought ), be sure to check out Ponte City.