Nightwings
Robert Silverberg
 In a decadent and caste-based future humanity is divided into guilds, each having a specific job to do. The members of some guilds appear to have undergone genetic engineering; for instance, the Fliers' ability to fly and the Watchers' ability to use their mental capabilities to watch distant stars. The main character in the novella is a Watcher, whose mission is to watch the skies with some sophisticated equipment and to inform the Defenders in the event of an alien invasion. Along with a young Flier girl and a Changeling (who belongs to no guild), he visits the old city of Roum (suspected previously to be called Rome), and becomes entangled in events including the possibility of invasion. Apart from Roum, only two other great cities are mentioned, Jorslem (Jerusalem) and Perris (Paris), but their greatness is relative, as they only have a few thousand inhabitants.