pairs of appendages, not two. That in itself is enough to
immediately rule out any kinship with every vertebrate of this
planet."
Caldwell stooped to examine the pelvis, which comprised just an
arrangement of thick bars and struts to contain the thigh sockets.
There was no suggestion of the splayed dish form of the lower human
torso.
"Must've had peculiar guts, too," he offered.
"It could be that the internal organs were carried more by
suspension from the hoop above than by support from underneath,"
Danchekker suggested. He stepped back and indicated the arms and
legs. "And last, observe the limbs. Both lower limbs have two bones
as do ours, but the upper arm and thigh are different-they have a
double-bone arrangement as well. This would have resulted in vastly
improved flexibility and the ability to perform a whole range of
movements that could never be duplicated by a human being. And the
hand has six digits, two of them opposing; thus its owner
effectively enjoyed the advantages of having two thumbs. He would
have been able to tie his shoes easily with one hand."
Danchekker waited until Caldwell and Hunt had fully studied every
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
of the kind of thing I mean," he said.
The picture of the fish skeleton vanished and was replaced by one
of a massive, hornless, rhinoceroslike creature. In the background
stood an enormous opened canister from which the animal had
presumably been removed. The canister was lying in front of what
looked like a wall of ice, surrounded by cables, chains, and parts
of a latticework built of metal struts.
"The Baluchitherium, gentlemen," Danchekker informed them, "or
something so like it that the difference escapes me. This animal
stood eighteen feet high at the shoulder and attained a bulk in
excess of that of the elephant. It is a good example of the
titanotheres, or titanic beasts, that were abundant in the Americas
during the Oligocene but which died out fairly rapidly soon
afterward."
"Are you saying that baby was alive when the ship ditched?"
Caldwell asked in a tone of disbelief.
Danchekker shook his head. "Not this particular one. As you can
see, it has come to us in practically as good a condition as when
it was alive. It was taken from that container in the background,
in which it had been packed and preserved to keep for a long time.
Fortunately, whoever packed it was an expert. However, as I said
earlier, there were cages and pens in the ship that originally held
live specimens, but by the time they were discovered they had
deteriorated to skeleton condition, as had the crew. There were six
of this particular species in the pens."
The professor chang
ed the picture to show a small quadruped with
spindly legs.
"Mesohippus-ancestor of the modern horse. About the size of a
collie dog and walking on a three-toed foot with the center toe
highly elongated, clearly foreshadowing the single-toed horse of
today. There is a long list of other examples such as these, every
one immediately recognizable to any student of early terrestrial
life forms."
Speechless, Hunt and Caldwell continued to watch as the view
changed once more. This time it showed something that at first
sight suggested a medium-sized ape from the gibbon or chimpanzee
family. Closer examination, however, revealed differences that set
it apart from the general category of ape. The skull construction
was lighter, especially in the area of the lower jaw, where the
chin had receded back to fall almost below the tip of the nose. The
arms were proportionately somewhat on the short side for an ape,
the chest broader and flatter, and the legs longer and straighter.
Also, the opposability of the big toe had gone.
Dancbekker allowed plenty of time for these points to register
before continuing with his commentary.
"Clearly, the creature you now see before you belongs to the
general anthropoid line that includes both man and the great apes.
Now, remember, this specimen dates from around the early Mbcene
period. The most advanced anthropoid fossil from around that time
so far found on Earth was discovered during the last century in
East Africa and is known as Proconsul. Proconsul is generally
accepted as representing a step forward from anything that had gone
before, but he is definitely an ape. Here, on the other hand, we
have a creature from the same period in time, but with distinctly
more pronounced humanlike characteristics than Proconsul. In my
opinion, this is an example of something that oc
cupies a position corresponding to that of Proconsul, but on the
other side of the split that occurred when man and ape went their
own separate ways-in other words, a direct ancestor to the human
line!" Danchekker concluded with a verbal flourish and gazed at the
other two men expectantly. Caldwell stared back with widening eyes,
and his jaw dropped as impossible thoughts raced through his mind.
"Are you telling . . . that the Charlie guys could have . from
that?"
"Yes!" Danchekker snapped off the screen and swung back to face
them triumphantly. "Established evolutionary theory is as sound as
I've insisted all along. The notion that the Lunarians might have
been colonists from Earth turns out indeed to be true, but not in
the sense that was intended. There are no traces of their
civilization to be found on Earth, because it never existed on
Earth-but neither was it the product of any parallel process of
evolution. The Lunarian civilization developed independently on
Minerva from the same ancestral stock as we did and all other
terrestrial vertebrates-from ancestors that were transported to
Minerva, twenty-five million years ago, by the Ganymeans!"
Danchekker thrust out his jaw defiantly and clasped the lapels of
his jacket. "And that, Dr. Hunt, would seem to be the solution to
your problem!"
chapter sixteen
The trail behind this rapid succession of new developments was by
this time littered with the abandoned carcases of dead ideas. It
reminded the scientists forcibly of the pitfalls that await the
tin-wary when speculation is given too free a rein and imagination
is allowed to float further and further aloft from the firm grounds
of demonstrable proof and scientific rigor. The reaction against
this tendency took the form of a generally cooler reception to
Danchekker's attempted abrupt wrapping up of the whole issue than
might have been expected. So many blind alleys had been exhausted
by now, that any new suggestion met with instinctive skepticism and
demands for corroboration.
The discovery of early terrestrial animals on the Ganymean
spaceship proved only one thing conclusively: that there were early
terrestrial animals on the Ganymean spaceship. It didn't prove
beyond doubt that other consignments had reached Minerva safely, or
indeed, that this particular consignment was ever intended for
Minerva. For one thing, Jupiter seemed a strange place to find a
ship that had been bound for Minerva from Earth. All it proved,
therefore, was that this consignment hadn't got to wherever it was
supposed to go.
Danchekker's conclusions regarding the origins of the Ganymeans,
however, were fully endorsed by a committee of experts on
comparative anatomy in London, who confirmed the affinity between
the Ganymean skeleton and the Minervan fish. The corollary to this
deduction-that the Lunarians too had evolved on Minerva from
displaced terrestrial stock-although neatly accounting for the
absence of Lunarian traces on Earth and for the evident lack of
advanced Lunarian space technology, required a lot more in the way
of substantiating evidence.
In the meantime, Linguistics had been busy applying their newfound
knowledge from the microdot library to the last unsolved riddle
among Charlie's papers, the notebook containing the handwritten
entries. The story that emerged provided vivid
confirmation of the broad picture already deduced in cold and
objective terms by Hunt and Steinfield; it was an account of the
last days of Charlie's life. The revelations from the book lobbed
yet another intellectual grenade in among the already disarrayed
ranks of the investigators. But it was Hunt who finally pulled the
pin.
Qasping a folder of loose papers beneath his arm, Hunt strolled
along the main corridor of the thirteenth floor of the Naycomms
Headquarters building, toward the Linguistics section. Outside Don
Maddson's office he stopped to examine with curiosity a sign
bearing a string of two-inch-high Lunarian characters that had been
pinned to the door. Shrugging and shaking his head, he entered the
room. Inside, Maddson and one of his assistants were sitting in
front of the perpetual pile of litter on the large side table away
from the desk. Hunt pulled up a chair and joined them.
"You've been through the translations," Maddson observed, noting
the contents of the folder as Hunt began arranging them on the
table.
Hunt nodded. "Very interesting, this. There are a few points I'd
like to go over just to make sure I've got it straight. Some parts
just don't make sense."
"We should've guessed," Maddson sighed resignedly. "Okay, shoot."
"Let's work through the entries in sequence," Hunt suggested. "I'll
stop when we get to the odd bits. By the way. . ." He inclined his
head in the direction of the door. "What's the funny sign outside?"
Maddson grinned proudly. "It's my name in Lunarian. Literally it
means Scholar Crazy-Boy. Get it? Don Mad-Son. See?"
"Oh, Christ," Hunt groaned. He returned his attention to the
papers.
<
br /> "You've expressed the Lunarian-dated entries simply as consecutive
numbers starting at Day One, but subdivisions of their day are
converted into our hours."
"Check," Maddson confirmed. "Also, where there's doubt about the
accuracy of the translation, the phrase is put in parentheses with
a question mark. That helps keep things simple."
Hunt selected his first sheet. "Okay," he said. "Let's start at the
beginning." He read aloud:
"Day One. As expected, today we received full (mobilization alert?)
orders. Probably means a posting somewhere. Koriel.
This is Charlie's pal who turns up later, isn't it?"
"Correct."
thinks it could be to one of the (ice nests far-intercept?).
What's that?"
"That's an awkward one," Maddson replied. "It's a composite word;
that's the literal translation. We think it could refer to a
missile battery forming part of an outer defense perimeter, located
out on the ice sheets."
"Mmm-sounds reasonable. Anyhow, Hope so. It would be a change to
get away from the monotony of this place. Bigger food ration in
(ice-field combat zones?). Now . . ." Hunt looked up. "He says,
'the monotony of this place.' How sure are we that we know where
'this place' is?"
"Pretty sure," Maddson replied with a firm nod. "The name of a town
is written above the date at the top of the entry. It checks with
the name of a coastal town on Cerios and also with the place given
in his pay book for his last posting but one."
"So you're sure he was on Minerva when he wrote this?"
"Sure, we're sure."
"Okay. I'll skip the next bit that talks about personal thoughts.
"Day Two. Koriel's hunches have proved wrong for once. We're going
to Luna."
Hunt looked up again, evidently considering this part important.
"How do you know he means Earth's Moon there?"
"Well, one reason is that the word he uses there is the same as the
last place the pay book says he was posted to. We guess it means
Luna because that's where we found him. Another reason is that
later on, as you'll have read, he talks about being sent
specifically to a base called Seltar. Now, we've found a reference
among some of the things turned up on Farside to a list of bases on
place 'X,' and the name Seltar appears on the list. X is the same
Giant Series 01 - Inherit the Stars Page 16