detail of the skeleton to their satisfaction. When they looked
toward him again, he resumed: “Ever since the age of the Ganymeans
was verified, there has been a tendency for everybody to discount
them as merely a coincidental discovery and having no direct
bearing on the Lunarian question. I believe, gentlemen, that I am
now in a position to demonstrate that they had a very real bearing
indeed on the question.”
Hunt and Caldwell looked at him expectantly. Danchekker
walked over to a display console by the wall of the lab, tapped in
a code, and watched as the screen came to life to reveal a picture
of the skeleton of a fish. Satisfied, he turned to face them.
“What do you notice about that?” he asked.
Caldwell stared obediently at the screen for a few seconds while
Hunt watched in silence.
“It’s a funny fish,” Caldwell said at last. “Okay-you tell me.”
“It is not obvious at first sight,” Danchekker replied, “but by
detailed comparison it is possible to relate the structure of that
fish, bone for bone, to that of the Ganymean skeleton. They’re both
from the same evolutionary line.”
“That fish is one of those that were found on the Lunarian base on
Farside,” Hunt said suddenly.
“Precisely, Dr. Hunt. The fish dates from some fifty thousand years
ago, and the Ganymean skeleton from twenty-five million or so. It
is evident from anatomical considerations that they are related and
come from lines that branched apart from a common ancestral life
form somewhere in the very remote past. It follows that they share
a place of origin. We already know that the fish evolved in the
oceans of Minerva; therefore, the Ganymeans also came from Minerva.
We thus have proof of something that has been merely speculation
for some time. All that was wrong with the earlier assumption was
our failure to appreciate the gap in time between the presence of
the Ganymeans on Minerva, and that of the Lunarians.”
“Okay,” Caidwell accepted. “The Ganymeans came from Minerva, but a
lot earlier than we thought. What’s the big message and why did you
call us over here?”
“In itself, this conclusion is interesting but no more,” Danchekker
answered. “But it looks pale by comparison with what comes next. In
fact”-he shot a glance at Hunt-“the rest tells us all we need to
know to resolve the whole question once and for all.”
The two regarded him intently.
The professor moistened his lips, then went on: “The Ganymean ship
has been opened up fully, and we now have an extremely
comprehensive inventory of practically everything it contamed. The
ship was constructed for large freight-carrying capacity and was
loaded when it met with whatever fate befell it on Ganymede. The
cargo that it was carrying, in my opinion, con-
stitutes the most sensational discovery ever to be made in the
history of paleontology and biology. You see, that ship was
carrying, among other things, a large consignment of botthtical and
zoological specimens, some alive and in cages, the rest preserved
in canisters. Presumably the stock was part of an ambitious
scientific expedition or something of that nature, but that really
doesn’t matter for now. What does matter is that we now have in our
possession a collection of animal and plant trophies the like of
which has never before been seen by human eyes: a comprehensive
cross section of many forms of life that existed on Earth around
the late Oligocene and early Miocene periods, twenty-five million
years ago!”
Hunt and Caidwell stared at him incredulously. Danchekker folded
his arms and waited.
“Earth!” Caldwell managed, with difficulty, to form the word. “Are
you telling me that the ship had been to Earth?”
“I can see no alternative explanation,” Danchekker returned.
“Without doubt, the ship was carrying a variety of animal forms
that have every appearance of being identical to species that have
been well-known for centuries as a result of the terrestrial fossil
record. The biologists on the Jupiter Four Mission are quite
positive of their conclusions, and from the information they have
sent back, I see no reason to doubt their opinions.” Danchekker
moved his hand back to the keyboard. “I will show you some examples