At that, Charlie got up too and came around to join them. Here was another point that wouldn’t be lost on him. Evidence had long been known that sea levels on Earth had risen massively in recent millennia from the edges of what in modern times were submerged continental shelves. But there had never been any reason to connect the increase in Earth’s inventory of water with the loss from Mars. That was where the influx that had overfilled the oceans came from.
“So you’re claiming that this whole area around northern India was subject to immense flooding,” Charlie said. “And it happened periodically, every time Mars returned. Is this what the Tethys really was?” That was the name given to the primordial ocean believed, according to the old plate tectonics, to have existed between India and Eurasia millions of years previously. Farzhin said nothing, letting him fill the details in for himself. “You’d have huge inflows and outflows across the surrounding areas every time the bulge built up and dissipated,” Charlie went on. “That could account for the immense sediment deposits all over that region, couldn’t it? And what cut the huge gorges of the Himalayan rivers.”
“Yes. And now think about the geology and archeology of the Middle East and China,” Vicki said. “So much of the architecture in those areas just doesn’t fit with the idea of the military constructions that the traditional view always made it out to be. But when you think of them as flood defenses, maybe, or sanctuaries for the population to retreat to when the next approach happened, it all makes sense.”
Sariena was stooping to examine the far side of Earth’s globe, the face away from Mars. “Antipodal tides in the opposite hemisphere,” she murmured. “Maybe a lesser crustal uplift from the Venus encounters, too . . . The Bolivian plateau. Those massive constructions in the Andes. Remnants of sea ports and cultivation up near what was the snow line when you knew it, Charlie.”
Farzhin waited, watching the two visitors curiously—and just a shade anxiously. Enough had been said. Charlie and Sariena looked at each other. It was already clear that Farzhin needn’t have worried. “I’d like to get those simulations set up as soon as possible,” Charlie said, looking back at him. “Would it be possible to go through the data you have sometime while we’re here?”
“We can do it right now in my office,” Farzhin said, moving to shut down the viewer. “The door up there won’t close because of the structural warping, but I’m told it isn’t about to fall down anytime soon.”
“Can we let you get started without us and catch you later?” Sariena said. “There’s somebody else in Kropotkin that I need to see, and Vicki said she’d show me the way. It’s all changed since I was last here. If I let myself get involved in this now, I’ve a feeling I might not get away.”
“Go ahead. We’ll see you when you get back,” Charlie told her.
“Maybe we could all make dinner somewhere afterward,” Farzhin suggested. Everyone agreed that sounded good. Sariena and Vicki retrieved their suit packs from the rack by the door and slung them across their backs as they left. The packs were bulky but of inconsequential weight. In fact, they helped balance. Some people carried lead bricks in backpacks as an aid to walking. Weighted boots were normal.
They came out into a broad corridor where the maintenance crew were working, with screw jacks emplaced at intervals to shore up the roof. “Well, this is a whole new angle you’re showing us,” Sariena said. “It could change everything.”
“And I’ve got a feeling we’re just scratching the surface,” Vicki replied. “There are all kinds of references that take on some new kind of significance in Emil’s interpretation, but we don’t know yet what they mean.”
“Such as?”
“Oh . . . for example, not only the Indian texts, but others from Egypt, China, the Middle East, all talk about some kind of celestial staircase, a column or pillar in the sky. . . .”
“You mean like Jacob’s Ladder?”
“That’s one of them. We’re sure they refer to something those people saw, but we don’t know what. Then again, you find various symbols and pieces of imagery that turn up again and again. It’s fascinating work.”