“Yes, of course.”
A few seconds of silence fell. Then Charlie waved vaguely with a hand. “It’s fantastic . . . but we’re all getting used to that by now. I’d like to see how it fits with the circularization criterion.” He thought more and shook his head. “Fantastic,” he said again.
“You haven’t heard the rest yet, Charlie,” Vicki said dryly.
“I must admit I have trouble accepting this part myself,” Farzhin confessed. “But it fits so many facts. If the ancient narratives are telling us what I think they are, we’re faced by a story so bizarre that nobody back on Earth ever managed to understand it, even after centuries of scholarly translations and debate.” He paused. Sariena and Charlie just looked at him expectantly. Farzhin got up, moved over to the worktop running along the side of the room, and activated the holo-unit.
The image that appeared in the tank-like viewing zone was of two planetary bodies locked in mutual gyration like a close-coupled binary star system. One was recognizable as pre-Athena Earth, though visibly deformed by a bulge in the region immediately opposite the companion body. The bulge was located in the region of what would normally have been northern India and Tibet—except that it consisted not of mountainous plateau, but ocean. The other body was smaller and more deformed, almost assuming the proportions of a pear. Again, it possessed an aqueous bulge on the facing side. A tenuous bridge of white mist connected the two bodies. Farzhin gazed at it for a few seconds and then turned toward Sariena and Charlie. “The earlier close passes by Venus had raised tidal bulges in the crusts of both Earth and Mars. The massive Tibetan uplift was a remnant of it in modern times. But back in the period we’re talking about, starting at about fifty-three hundred years ago . . .”
“Is that when you’re saying the Venus encounters occurred?” Charlie queried.
“Yes . . . It was much larger. Likewise on Mars. The Tharsis Bulge still exists as virtually a circular continent uplifted above the median terrain today. But back then, it was a huge deformation of the planet’s shape—the smaller body would be far more affected by tidal forces than the larger.”
“Wait a minute, Emil,” Sariena checked him. Farzhin raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying the other object there is Mars?”
“Yes,” Farzhin said. The problem Sariena had with it was plain enough: It bore no resemblance to the Mars of modern times. “That’s what we think it was like.”
“That recently?”
Farzhin nodded. “When the repeating cycle brought Mars and Earth together, the two gravitational anomalies locked them into synchronism. I’m not sure what broke them up again. Maybe Venus returning periodically disrupted the configuration and started the process again. That’s another thing you might be able to help us with.”
“How long did each of these periods of mutual capture last?” Charlie asked.
“I estimate around twelve years,” Farzhin replied.
“And this went on for almost two thousand years?”
“Yes.”
“You’re saying they were synchronous. Mars just hung there for twelve years at a time, stationary in the sky?”
“Above northern India,” Farzhin confirmed.
“At what kind of distance?”
“About forty thousand kilometers between centers.”
Charlie caught Sariena’s eye. Vicki noted the strained looks being exchanged between them—but with an unspoken agreement to see it through. Farzhin saw it too. He had been prepared for it. Charlie looked back at Farzhin. “Inside the orbit of the Moon,” he commented.
“Well inside. Mars appeared ten times the Moon’s size in the sky. The surface details were clearly visible. Faces and figures described in the Vedic hymns correlate with features identifiable on Mars today. Robin was the first to spot Shiva, as I mentioned earlier. That boy is amazing. . . . The Arsia and Ascraeus volcanoes, Valles Marineris, and the contours of the Tharsis bulge form the face. The myth tells of a third eye opening in Shiva’s forehead, belching flames.” Farzhin gestured at the holo image. “The position of the huge Olympus Mons volcano matches it perfectly.”
Sariena sat back, smoothing her hair over the nape of her neck with a hand. Her attitude seemed receptive, weighing things up. “Incredible,” she murmured distantly, though Vicki could see in her eyes that her mind was racing.