After these words, he smiled grimly. “Although the truth is that this discovery would only be considered important in academic circles.”
His acumen gained its corroboration very soon. Confirmation of the existence of life on an alien planet really excited only the scientific community. Society in general, or rather, humanity, regarded it in the same way as discoveries of exoplanets had in due time. At first such events arouse great interest, but it quickly dries up when it turns out that these celestial bodies are useless as a human habitat.
Chapter 18
Eleven years had passed since the joyless message of the first expedition, and after the prescribed period of time, Georg—along with the rest of humanity—received the next letter from the galaxy. It reported that the second ship had reached a planet belonging to the 55th star system in the Cancer constellation. Already a veteran astronomer, he acquainted himself with the message without Miriam. His mother had parted with her life six years prior.
As before, the registration of the signal looked like a marvel. It simply couldn’t be perceived otherwise. First— psychologically, it was almost impossible not to perceive the end of an expectation that had stretched over the centuries as anything less than a miracle. Also another, purely technical aspect made people apprehend that signal as an unbelievable phenomenon: each expedition had thirty years to send the first signal from its planet. It was because after that interval, the mission’s energy source couldn’t provide the radio line with the power sufficient for interstellar broadcasting. After that, the surveillance over that expedition should have stopped.
With time, the knowledge about the energy source haunted Georg more and more persistently. What if this ship were to send its first message not immediately after the landing, but three decades later? Once, he’d believed absolutely that he would learn the results of the three expeditions. But as his age grew, his faith decreased with a rather unpleasant speed. Now he often doubted if he would see any other report at all.
However, his emotional experiences and impatience didn’t bother the machines. They permanently showed the signal, with the same appearance on the computer screens. Nature also behaved ordinarily, in accordance with early autumn in the northern climate. On a rare, warm September day, looking from the opened window on the second floor, Georg saw a field covered with grass, still green. The wind brought itself to mind only with the help of some fragments of web, flying into the room.
Against the background of such calm, the long-awaited high-frequency signal sounded like thunder, and made him startle. He turned to the equipment. A few minutes previously there had been a regular and eternal jagged line, reflecting natural radiation on the screen. Now a figure in the shape of an isosceles triangle appeared, which slowly moved to the right edge of the monitor.
Seeing it, Georg naturally felt a growing tremor. The next second he told himself that he had seen this before, and there was no need for excitement. Who knew what this message contained? However, surprisingly soon his complacency lost its effectiveness when it turned out that, unlike the day when the signal of the first expedition had arrived, this time he would have to strain his nerves even more.
Eleven years prior, when he and Miriam had been waiting for a message from the previous ship, the first impulse was followed by three similar ones, after which the message appeared on the screen. But now nothing followed that single squeak. The monitor just went dark for a while and then the usual radio-background reappeared on it.
Georg tensed, trying to understand what this meant and what he should do. Was this all that the second expedition had sent to humanity? Did it fail immediately after assembling its radio channel? No, Georg felt unable to accept such a possibility so easily. On the contrary, he convinced himself that the machines on a distant planet had just botched the first attempt. And their next effort, which they, according to the rule of broadcasts from the exoplanet, must repeat in some eight hours, would doubtless successfully be forthcoming.
Nevertheless, the scientific committee to which the facility belonged kept silent. It seemed that they were taken aback as well, and didn’t know how to perceive this oddity.
In the end, he could only wait. He thought he should divert himself with something else, not suffer through the long hours, and pretend that he was just waiting for the very first signal from the mission. What else he could do? Fortunately, his telescope could see the Cancer constellation during the next séance, too. In addition to Northern Europe, the desired star would also be visible in North America. Georg thought that perhaps he should warn them, just in case, although he reminded himself that their computer wouldn’t miss the signal, either.
Georg always had something to do, especially considering that he supported the performance of the Antenna alone. None of his three sons had shown a desire to devote his life to astronomy. Also, the lack of specialists still made itself felt acutely. The astronomers didn’t show a strong wish to work in the far, deserted north.
He carried out a routine check of the units, lubricated the antenna engines, tuned the mechanical parts of the receiver, tinted the supports, and did other operations necessary to maintain the astrophysical equipment. In addition to his main job, he had a plot of land for his hobby—a vegetable garden.
While waiting for the report, Georg also conducted a preliminary check of the electronics. As a result, when the signal’s prescribed date came, the entire radio astronomy complex was fully prepared and was working normally, as always.
The astronomer looked at his archaic wrist watch. A few minutes had passed after noon. Since he had nothing to do for another eight hours, Georg decided to work in the garden which he had here, near the Antenna. He planned to dig up the ground to prepare for spring while the weather allowed it. If there was any news, he would find out about it by phone.
He liked rural activities, and skillfully coped with them. Who knew—if not for that old catastrophe, would he ever have become involved in astronomy? Maybe he would have become a successful farmer, like his great-grandfather Anthony.
Perhaps Georg’s relationship with the plants was so harmonious because he knew their measure. If already tired, he never touched a shovel or rake, and didn’t plant a seedling. After completing an amount of work suitable for a sixty-three-year-old man, he returned to the signal office center. Here, as he knew, nothing had changed.
Georg opened the refrigerator, took out two ham sandwiches—one with cheese—and put them in the microwave. By the time he’d slowly put a plastic bottle on the table, poured a little water into a glass and quenched his thirst, then collected a plate, the food machine had clinked, telling him that his sandwiches had warmed up.
Well-fed and rested, the man again went to the window and glanced at his watch. The hands of his mechanical clock approached half past four. He had nearly another four hours to kill before eight. After a brief hesitation, he returned to the refrigerator.
He took out a crystal jug of plum moonshine from there and poured it into a faceted glass to the height of two fingers. After a moment of thought, he added two more fingers. Then it occurred to him that the same amount could be added once more, but he remembered in time that owing to so much alcohol, he would likely fall asleep and miss the main event.
Obviously, his dream would not have hurt anything, but Georg didn’t want to oversleep when the new planet and Earth met on their radio date. After the alcohol-containing liquid had moved from the glass into his body, Georg wanted to go out into the yard again, so he put a woolen jacket on over his flannel shirt and headed for the exit.
Today it didn’t surprise him that he remembered so clearly the events that had happened more than twenty years ago. What was so surprising about it? How could you forget the moments when you were waiting for the results of a project lasting centuries? Were there many such days in one’s life?
Now Georg realized that his memory still had some things missing: he didn’t remember the end of the walk. The next recollection was how he, sit
ting on a chair in the yard, was rubbing his eyes; he immediately looked anxiously at his watch. Only five minutes remained until eight o’clock, the arrival of the second expedition’s signal.
He reached the room at the right time. The broadcast began one minute ahead of time, as a high-frequency signal sounded from the computer again. The same triangular figure reappeared on the screen, and Georg’s heart pounded again.
This time, fortunately, his nerves didn’t have to strain. The first figure was immediately followed by three similar ones, and soon a message written in black letters appeared on the monitor against a light background. It said that the apparatus for a year-and-a-half had revolved around the planet in search of a suitable place for landing, and the foundation of the colony. During this rotation, it had gradually changed its orbital plane. Its rotation had started in the equatorial plane and ended in the polar one.
The report contained a complete list of scientific data, but the main thing was the impossibility of creating a new humanity on this globe. There was too much water on the planet, although, in reality, there was several times less than on Earth. Precisely, it had caused the failure of the second expedition. The liquid enveloped the surface of the fourth satellite of the 55th star in the Cancer constellation with an even layer a kilometer deep.
Thus it turned out that, on a completely flooded sphere, there was neither a square meter of soil, nor a glass of fresh water. What astronomers had previously perceived as land, due to its low albedo compared to the rest of the surface, had turned out to be algae fields the size of a continent. The land itself was sticking out of the ocean in the form of lifeless rocks. The largest of them had a surface area of no more than a few square kilometers. Dark-blue, moss-like plants covered these rare islands, and on one of them, on a rather smooth surface, the ship had landed.
With the exception of the ivy-like plants, swaying in the waves, and moss that covered the bare stones, the robots didn’t find other life forms; at least, not above the water. What was under the water, they couldn’t discover. These machines were designed to work on the land, in human’s natural environment.
The information received left no doubt that this was another useless celestial body, of which the galaxy had a surfeit. Based on the situation, the mission began to create microorganisms suitable for the aquatic environment.
That day, after such crushing news, Georg went to the refrigerator and took out his beverage again. After the slightest hesitation, he filled his favorite faceted glass, brought it up to his face and said loudly, “For my mother, Miriam, for my ancestor, Iason Azgo, my descendants, and for everyone.” The man drained the vessel, went to the ancient sofa next to the wall, lay down on his back and stared unblinkingly at the ceiling.
Chapter 19
After the distressing news from the flooded planet, Georg’s life gradually abated into an invisible channel, the existence of which people rarely remembered. From time to time, when distracted from the daily endless fuss, they exclaim in surprise, “Wow! How much time has passed!”
Georg had a reason for such an exclamation twelve years after the previous message, when the report from the third expedition arrived, sent from the Andromeda constellation. It informed humanity about the landing that had occurred on the fifth planet of the star, Epsilon.
The composition of the atmosphere of this celestial body, its air temperature, the magnitude of the magnetic field and all other countless characteristics turned out to be as predicted by the results of measurements and studies conducted by astrophysical methods from Earth.
Water was abundant—warm in the oceans, clean in the rivers, fresh and cold in the springs. The land was interspersed with water expanses, and it covered almost half of the planet’s surface, looking like a blooming garden. No radiation, and not even a single molecule of a harmful substance. The climate, especially between the polar circles, seemed artificial, it so suited earthly life. In a few words, this mission had found a wonderful place, a real paradise.
The study of the essence of local biology took almost three months. It confirmed the accurate prediction of the creators of the SQP: biology in different places in the Universe was built in its own way, and different lives were likely to be unsuitable for each other as food.
The Signal Office Center-3, of the third expedition, sent to Earth its first report on the successful landing, the natural fitness of the planet, and the biochemical characteristics of local life. The cyber-mechanical settlement strictly followed the plan, and the creation of earthly life began.
The multi-purpose reactor distilled and filtered several times the water brought by one of the robots of the expedition, namely the RA-3, from a rivulet nearby the landing site. As a result, the laboratory received pure H2O. Next, the same device, using ionizing radiation, split the water molecules and pumped the obtained hydrogen and oxygen into two separate vessels. Then, the Life Assembling Instrument-3 began to turn chemical elements into living objects.
The process took place in a room with an area of about one hundred square meters. The LAI-3 almost completely occupied the middle of this compartment and it comprised of a gene assembler, chemical and bioreactors, accumulating cameras, infrared, optical and ultraviolet lasers and a computer that controlled all the equipment.
All these devices were equipped with a multitude of switches, sensors, connecting tubes, injectors, filters, pumps, centrifuges, mass spectrometers, and auxiliary equipment. Thirty-two cylindrical chambers occupied the remainder of the compartment, being arranged in three rows of two tiers each. Thirty of them had a volume of half a cubic meter, and the last two had a volume of 2.5 cubic meters.
Bottle-like ceramic vessels, distributed across the lander, contained chemical elements of almost the entire periodic table. According to the computer’s command, the robots had been taking these bottles and connecting them to the nipples of the bioreactor, which would suck a predetermined amount of substance through membranes and into the working area. Gaseous materials were processed directly, whereas powders and liquids were converted to steam before being processed.
Atoms combined, producing compounds of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, phosphorus, and so on. This was the first step in transforming lifeless matter into living organisms. Such an action looked like a marvel, but, on the other hand, this process had been repeated back on Earth until the software and hardware had together reached perfection.
Chemical compounds became more and more complicated until, in the end, they transformed into substances from which biological mechanisms were built. The next step on this path was the creation of related “tools”: DNA, RNA, cytosol, ribosomes, and, in general, all those "inhabitants" of a living cell that helped it interact with its environment and multiply.
The LAI-3 performed all its chemical processes accurately and without loss. The electromagnetic field and thermodynamic conditions operating in the working area brought each atom to the place designated for it—literally, ‘by hand’. The creation of the living matter lasted two months.
This formation occurred simultaneously in two chambers, each with a volume of half a cubic meter. The first of them contained a nutrient solution and the second a living cell. When this phase process ended, the robots placed a fully viable cell in the nutrient solution and division began in order to create grass seeds.
Unfortunately, it turned out that the complete dissimilarity of bio-structures of different planets didn’t guarantee their neutrality to each other. It didn’t stop the animals and microorganisms of this planet. It seemed that, in the course of their evolution, they’d somehow developed the ability to eat and digest any organic compounds.
The problems began immediately after the robots sowed the grass seeds. First of all, only a small fraction of the seeds managed to sprout after a few days. And the animals instantly ate them.
The robots, armed with masers, drove the animals away, but the beasts quickly overcame their initial fear, and their attacks became more and more numerous. In photograph
s taken by the robots, these creatures—the size of a fox or even smaller—looked almost cute: bright green or blue fur covered their bodies. These beasts had large-faceted eyes, a wide mouth on a fish-like snout, and six legs. The robots soon found out one more thing about them, however: they had small, extra mouths with teeth on the soles of their front pair of feet.
All three computers made their unambiguous conclusion that local life wasn’t neutral in relation to earthly life. This fact appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle completely excluding the creation of a functioning colony on this planet. This time, the mission rejected the Plan B because the local life itself had blocked the success of the third expedition and become the cause of its failure.
Georg received this message, as always, in the SOC room of the Antenna. The news immediately gave rise to one irresistible desire: to fill his favorite faceted glass with what he called a solvent of misfortune. Soon after he’d taken his first sip, the old man felt a great sense of gratitude to the inventor of home-made vodka. His nerves relaxed a little, and his thoughts started to flow more freely.
Georg understood that the years full of hope had passed in vain. In his youth he’d had no doubt that he would witness great achievements, but now he saw clearly that life had ruthlessly demolished his expectations. Such a collapse, it seemed, should have plunged him into a deep depression, but instead he didn’t really feel boundless sadness.
Although he hadn’t ever admitted it to himself, in reality he had long felt a crack that had arisen in the depths of his hopes. It had happened on the very day when he and his mother had witnessed the failure of the first expedition. The failure of the second, of course, had widened this gap, and now the third catastrophe almost turned it into a chasm.
In one brave gulp, he swallowed the remaining drink and for some time resembled a sculpture. Meanwhile, the alcohol diligently acted on his old body. It fueled his feelings, and as a result, Georg’s frustration grew into a real anger. The old man couldn’t even remember what exactly had angered him.
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