Sawyer, Robert J - SS - Mars Reacts.pdf - Robert J Sawyer - przemosta

Mars Reacts!

byRobert J. Sawyer

What really happened to the Mars Polar Lander, which was lost on December3,

1999? The Globe and Mail: Canada's National Newspaper asked award-winning

Toronto science-fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer to spin a fanciful tale, suggesting

ananswer . . .

(First published in The Globe's Saturday, December 11, 1999, edition.)

The round door to the office in the underground city irised open." Teltor! Teltor!"

The director of the space-sciences hive swung her eyestalks to look wearily at Dostan , her

excitableassistant. "What is it?"

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"Another space probe has been detected coming from the third planet."

"Again?" said Teltor , agitated. She spread her four exoskeletal arms. "But it's only been a

hundreddays or so since their last probe."

"Exactly.Which means this one must have been launched before we dealt with that one."

Teltor'seyestalks drooped as she relaxed. The presence of this new probe didn't mean the

peopleon the blue planet had ignored the message. Still . . .

"Is this one a lander , or just another orbiter ?"

"It has a streamlined component," said Dostan . "Presumably it plans to pass through the

atmosphereand come to the surface."

"Where?"

"The south pole, it looks like."

"And you're sure there's no life on board?"

"I'm sure."

Teltorflexed her triple-fingered hands in resignation. "All right," she said. "Power up the

neutralizationprojector; we'll shut this probe off, too."

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That night, Teltor took her young daughter, Delp , up to the surface. The sky overhead was

black-- almost as black as the interior of the tunnels leading up from the buried city. Both tiny

moonswere out, but their wan glow did little to obscure the countless stars.

Teltorheld one of her daughter's four hands. No one could come to the surface during the

day; the ultraviolet radiation from the sun was deadly. But Teltor was an astronomer -- and that

wasa hard job to do if you always stayed underground.

Young Delp's eyestalks swung left and right, trying to take in all the magnificence overhead.

But, after a few moments, both stalks converged on the bright blue star near the horizon.

"What's that, Mama?" she asked.

"A lot of people call it the evening star," said Teltor , "but it's really another planet. We're the

fourthplanet from the sun, and that one's the third."

"A whole other planet?" said Delp , her mandible clicking in incredulity.

"That's right, dear."

"Are there any people there?"

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"Yes, indeed."

"How do you know?"

"They've been sending space probes here for years."

"But they haven't come here in person?"

Teltormoved her lower arms in negation. "No," she said sadly, "they haven't."

"Well, then, why don't we go see them?"

"We can't, dear. The third planet has a surface gravity almost three times as strong as ours.

Our exoskeletons would crack open there." Teltor looked at the blue beacon. "No, I'm afraid the

onlyway we'll ever meet is if they come to us."

"Dr. Goldin ! Dr. Goldin !"

The NASA administrator stopped on the way to his car.Another journalist, no doubt. "Yes?"

hesaid guardedly.

"Dr. Goldin , this is the latest in a series of failed missions to Mars. Doesn't that provethat

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yourso-called `faster, better, cheaper' approach to space exploration isn't working?"

Goldinbristled. "I wouldn't say that."

"But surely if we had human beings on the scene, they could deal with the unexpected, no?"

Teltorstill thought of Delp as her baby, but she was growing up fast; indeed, she'd already

shedher carapace twice.

Fortunately, though, Delp still shared her mother's fascination with the glories of the night

sky. And so, as often as she could, Teltor would take Delp up to the surface. Delp could name

manyof the constellations now -- the zigzag, the giant scoop, the square -- and was good at

pickingout planets, including the glaringly bright fifth one.

But her favorite , always, was planet three.

"Mom," said Delp -- she no longer called her "Mama" -- "there's intelligent life here, and

there'salso intelligent life on our nearest neighbor , the blue planet, right?"

Teltormoved her eyestalks in affirmation.

Delpspread her four arms, as if trying to encompass all of the heavens. "Well, if there's life

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Sawyer, Robert J - SS - Mars Reacts.pdf

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