weeks time.
Lunarian Origin Mystery
Scientists do not agree that Lunarians necessarily originated on
Minerva. Detailed physical examinations of “Charlie” (Times, 7
November 2027) shows Lunarian anatomy identical to that of humans
and incapable of being the product of a separate evolutionary
process, according to all accepted theory. Conversely, absence of
traces of Lunarian history on Earth seems to rule out any
possibility of terrestrial origins. This remains the main focus of
conrroversy among the investigators.
In an exclusive interview, Dr. Victor Hunt, the British-born UNSA
nucleonics expert coordinating Lunarian investigations from
Houston, explained to a Times reporter: “We know quite a lot about
Minerva now-its size, its mass, its climate, and how it rotated and
orbited the Sun. Upstairs we’ve built a six-foot scale model of it
that shows you every continent, ocean, river, mountain range, town,
and city. Also, we know it supported an advanced civilization. We
also know a lot about Charlie, including his place of birth, which
is given on several of his personal documents as a town easily
identified on Minerva. But that doesn’t prove very much. My deputy
was born in Japan, but both his parents come from Brooklyn. So
until we know a lot more than we do, we can’t even say for sure
that the Minervan civilization and the Lunarian civilization were
one and the same.
“It’s possible the Lunarians originated on Earth and either went to
live on Minerva or made contact with another race who were there
already. Maybe the Lunarians originated on Minerva. We just don’t
know. Whichever alternative you choose, you’ve got problems.”
Alien Marine Life Traced to Minerva
Professor Christian Danchekker, an eminent biologist at Westwood
Laboratories, Houston, and also involved in Lunarian research from
the beginning, confirmed that the alien species of fish discovered
among foodstocks in the ruin of a Lunarian base on Lunar Farside
several months ago (Times, 6 July 2028) appear to have been a life
form native to Minerva. Markings on the con-
tainers in which the fish were preserved show that they came from a
well-defined group of equatorial islands on Minerva. According to
Professor Danchekker: “There is no question whatsoever that this
species evolved on• a planet other than Earth. It seems clear that
the fish belong to an evolutionary line that developed on Minerva,
and they were caught there by members of a group of colonists from
Earth who established an extension of their civilization there.”
The professor described the suggestion that the Lunarians might
also be natives of Minerva as “ludicrous.”
Despite a wealth of new information, therefore, much remains to be
explained about recent events in the Solar System. Almost
certainly, the next twelve months will see further exciting
developments.
(See also the Special Supplement by our Science Editor on page
14.)
chapter thfrteen
Captain Hew Mills, UN Space Arm, currently attached to the Solar
System Exploration Program mission to the moons of Jupiter, stood
gazing out of the transparent dome that surmounted the two-story
Site Operations Control building. The building stood just clear of
the ice, on a rocky knoll overlooking the untidy cluster of domes,
vehicles, cabins, and storage tanks that went to make up the base
he commanded. In the dim gray background around the base,
indistinct shadows of rock buttresses and ice cliffs vanished and
reappeared through the sullen, shifting vapors of the
methane-ammonia haze. Despite his above-average psychological
resilience and years of strict training, an involuntary shudder ran
down his spine as he thought of the thin triple wall of the
dome-all that separated him from this foreboding, poisonous, alien
world, cold enough to freeze him as black as coal and as brittle as
glass in seconds. Ganymede, largest of the moons of Jupiter, was,
he thought, an awful place.
“Close-approach radars have locked on. Landing sequence is active.
Estimated time to touchdown: three minutes, fifty seconds.” The
voice of the duty controller at one of the consoles behind Mills
interrupted his broodings.
“Very good, Lieutenant,” he acknowledged. “Do you have contact with
Cameron?”
“There’s a channel open on screen three, sir.”
Mills moved around in front of the auxiliary console. The screen
showed an empty chair and behind it an interior view of the