White Mars Part 16

'Eh? What's rupicolous?'

'Means it lives off rocks. Not a bright thing to do.'

'How so? At least there's a generous supply of rock around right here...'

The discussion broke up without coming to any conclusion.

Adminex invited Hawkwood to come to the Hindenburg Hall and address an a.s.sembled crowd on the subject of Olympus. In particular we wished him to clarify its nature.

He agreed as long as his talk took the form of an interview. If I would ask the questions. I agreed. When we had both prepared for the talk, an a.s.sembly was called.

Since the occasion was so important, children were permitted to be present. In they streamed, carrying their tammies - tammies that had been fed and cosseted before their entry.

Dreiser arrived in style. He was prompt. He came with a retinue of four, the wispy Poulsen, another scientist, a blonde personal a.s.sistant whom we had met, as Cang Hai reminded me, in Dreiser's office, and a fourth member whom I hardly recognised at first. Gone were her thick and curly chestnut locks. Her hair was now black, straight, and cut short. It was Kathi Skadmorr. When she shook my hand and smiled, I knew that smile.

The retinue settled themselves in the front seats, while Dreiser and I sat under the great photograph of the flaming zeppelin, in the dazzle of Suung Saybin's lighting.

Dreiser began by saying that he wished to inform everyone of the little he knew concerning the nature of the life form called Olympus. He reminded us that Olympus had maintained its present existence for far longer than terrestrial telescopes had been around to be trained on Mars. It was an object, a life form, of immense antiquity, almost as ancient as the rocks to which it clung.

To remind us of its size, he zapped before the audience a 3D vidslide showing Olympus in profile, with a dawn light on its higher reaches, while its tall serrated skirts remained in a dusky red twilight. Its vast span covered 600 kilometres of ground.

'There it is, waiting for we know not what, amid ancient cratered topography over three billion years old.'

A shot of Earth's Mount Everest was superimposed over Olympus. It showed as the merest pimple below the central caldera.

'As you see,' said Dreiser, 'Olympus is unusually large for a volcano. For a life form it defies the imagination.'

An uneasy hush fell on the audience.

I remarked that Mars had previously been ruled out as an abode of life.

But this, Dreiser argued, was merely a reference to the many studies that had been conducted of soil and rock samples, of the a.n.a.lysis of the atmosphere, and of drillings made down into the crust. None had revealed any evidence for Martian life of any kind - even when allowances were made for the fact that life here might be completely different from life on Earth.

It was still difficult, I said, not to think of Olympus as simply an extraordinarily large volcano among other Martian volcanoes, admittedly of smaller size, such as Elysium, Arsia and Pavonis. Or were they also the carapaces of living beings?

He thought not. 'Reproduction is a basic evolutionary function. Nevertheless it seems that Olympus has not sp.a.w.ned. Maybe it is a hermaphrodite. Maybe it simply lacks a partner.'

We would come to what it resembled later, Dreiser said. He wished to state that he had no quarrel with all the previous research centering on the quest for life. Those conclusions were definitive. Olympus was unique.

At this juncture, Dreiser said, he believed that the spotlight should shine on his a.s.sociate, who had first brought the movements of Olympus to scientific notice. Those movements were so unprecedented that at first they were not credited. In introducing Kathi Skadmorr, he knew she was already celebrated as the YEA who had courageously gone down into the throat of the Valles Marineris and found considerable underground reservoirs of water.

Kathi now came to the dais and spoke without preamble, almost before the clapping had finished. 'I'm campaigning to call Olympus Mons by a more vital name. It was christened in ignorance, long ago. I propose rechristening it, in the light of our new-found knowledge, Chimborazo, which means the "Watchtower of the Universe". So far my campaign has only one member, but I'm still hoping.

'We don't as yet know what we have here. Okay, Chimborazo moves, but whole mountains have been known to move. So movement does not necessarily mean life. Here's where we detected movement.'

She zapped a vidslide taken from the satcam, showing the tumbled regolith on Chimborazo's westerly side, and continued to speak.

'The broken regolith shows where our friend upped stumps and began to move. We secured one of those elusive white tongues you will all have seen. They are in fact inorganic, but with organic nerves and feelers lacing them. It seems not all tongues are identical, and that they serve different functions.

'Our hypothesis at present is that the tongues, more scientifically termed exteroceptors and proprioceptors, were once digestive organs, and that they have been modified over the eons. Not only do they provide nourishment to Chimborazo: they also function as rudimentary detectors. Thus, you see, they provide evidence that Chimborazo is not only a ma.s.sive life form: it is also a life form with some kind of intelligence.

'Now I will hand over to Tom and Dreiser again.' She did not leave the dais, but took a seat next to me.

After thanking Kathi, I asked Dreiser where this monstrous thing had come from? From outer s.p.a.ce? The Oort Cloud?

Not at all. 'Olympus Mons,' said Dreiser, then hesitated. 'Very well then, Chimboranzo-'

Kathi immediately interrupted, saying, 'It's Chimborazo, Dreiser!'

He gave a grunt and grinned at her. 'Chimborazo is entirely indigenous. Nor is there anything uncanny about it. Our belief is that it is the result of a curious form of evolution - curious, that is, from the point of view of one accustomed to thinking in terrestrial terms. Curious - but by no means irrational.'

But if this life form actually evolved on Mars, as Dreiser claimed, there would surely be evidence of other life in the atmosphere, I said. Not only in the atmosphere, but in the rocks and regolith. 'Evolution', after all, implied 'natural selection', so there must have been other forms of life with which this monstrous Olympus organism had been in compet.i.tion. I remarked that it would be silly to turn our backs on Darwin's findings, since natural selection was now a well-established principle.

Dreiser had adopted a slouching posture, as if scarcely interested in the topic we were discussing. Now he sat up and looked at me with a direct stare.

'I am not disputing those principles, Tom. Far from it. But it is all too easy to fall into the way of thinking that how natural selection has operated in the main on Earth is its only method. Conditions here are vastly different from those Downstairs. Which is not to say that Darwin's perceptions do not still apply.'

Of course conditions differed, I agreed. But I could not see how his Olympus could have extinguished all other life forms on the planet, simply by sitting there like a great lump, all in one place.

'For some while we thought exactly as you do. I have to say it is a limited point of view. Mounting evidence that Olympus is a living thing has made us change our opinions, our rather parochial earthly opinions. In fact, evolution on Earth itself has not been entirely "Nature red in tooth and claw". I could name many examples of cooperation between species that have led to vital evolutionary advantage. I stress that: cooperation, not compet.i.tion.'

I supposed he was thinking of man and his long relationship with the dog.

'Unfortunately we did not bring our loyal friend the dog here with us, more's the pity. We will certainly need him when we travel towards the stars to face unforeseen challenges. We did bring all the bacteria in our stomachs, without which we could not survive. That's a handy example of a symbiotic relationship.'

What could that have to do, I asked, with his Olympian organism wiping out the rest of Martian life?

'That is not my argument. Not at all. There are many examples where symbiosis has played a vital role in evolution. Let's take lichens. Two differing organisms got together, a fungus and an alga, to form the unbeatable lichen, the hardiest of terrestrial life forms. Lichens are the first to move in after a volcanic eruption has wiped a mountainside clean. Even we, resourceful humankind, depend on our bacteria, just as swarming microlife depends on us.'

We had found no lichen-like organisms on Mars, I argued, and asked where that left us.

'Hang on. I'm not finished. I have some even more apposite examples of cooperation. There were times in the evolution of life on Earth when symbiotic relations have been absolutely vital.

'Take the eukaryotic cell. This is the kind of cell of which all ordinary plants and all animals are composed. It's a cell that contains a distinct nucleus within which chromosomes carry genetic material. It has long been established that the first eukaryotic cells came about by the union of two other more primitive types of organism, the earlier prokaryotic cell and a kind of spirochete. The development of all multicellular plants and animals - and humans - stems from this union.

'Incidentally, on the subject of life, you might ask yourself how likely - what are the odds - of such a coincidence happening elsewhere in our galaxy. Long odds, I'd say.'

Although I was in agreement with this statement, I got Dreiser back on track again by asking what all this had to do with Olympus's extinction of the rest of Martian life.

'No, no, you have the wrong picture in your head still, Tom. That's not what happened here, as we envisage it. There was no extinction.'

He paused before continuing, perhaps considering how to explain most clearly.

'With the very different conditions on Mars, the balance of advantage in evolutionary processes was also different. Even on Earth, two types of evolutionary pressure have been important. We have become accustomed to considering the idea of compet.i.tion as being the more important. This may be because Darwin's splendid perceptions were launched in 1859 into a highly compet.i.tive capitalist society.

'In the compet.i.tion scenario, the different species battle it out, and the "fittest" are, on the whole, the ones that survive. But the cooperative element in evolution has sometimes proved important - vital, you might say - as we've seen in the instances of symbiotic development I have already mentioned.

'On Earth, compet.i.tive aspects of evolution have rather dominated the cooperative elements in our consideration. Our enforced social compet.i.tiveness has led us in that direction. We tend to think that the compet.i.tive element predominates, although in fact the entire terrestrial bioma.s.s works in unconscious cooperative ways to create a favourable environment for itself.

'These cooperative processes stem from the early days when life first crept from sea to the land. Initially both land and atmosphere were hostile to life of any kind, and various symbiotic relationships had to be adopted. Otherwise life could not have survived. But gradually, as conditions on Earth became more favourable, compet.i.tive elements began to a.s.sert themselves. We now see - or think we see - the compet.i.tive elements dominating the cooperative elements.'

Somewhere in the audience, a tammy began to chirp and was hushed. I asked Hawkwood if evolution had taken a different course on Mars.

'Possibilities for life here differ considerably from Earth, as we have said. Conditions have never been other than harsh. Now they weigh heavily against life. We have low atmospheric pressure, almost zero oxygen content, abnormally dry conditions. But basic natural laws always applied.

'In the case of evolution, cooperation had a distinct edge over compet.i.tion. In the early days of Mars's history, conditions more closely resembled Earth's. But gradually oxygen became bonded into the rocks while water vapour leaked away. As conditions became more and more adverse, cooperation among the indigenous life forms won out over compet.i.tion.

'The enormous diversity of life forms, such as we find on Earth, never had a chance to develop here. Evolution on Mars was forced into a combining together of life. All forms eventually huddled together for protection against adverse Martian conditions. It was the ultimate Martian strategy.'

They huddled together, I suggested, under what we have always thought was a volcano, Olympus Mons. Why should they have chosen that particular shape?

'A cone shape is economical of material. And since the life forms were not going to be particularly mobile, they chose a defence readily adopted by countless of Earth's creatures - they opted for camouflage. Camouflage against what we can't tell; nor, I suppose, could they. But their instincts are readily understandable. In fact, the sh.e.l.l is just that, a sh.e.l.l made from keratin and clay - very tough and durable.'

It would keep heat in, I suggested.

'Yes, and fairly large meteorites out.'

A child's voice from the audience asked, 'What are the people like under the sh.e.l.l, Dreiser?'

They aren't people in our sense of the word,' Dreiser replied. 'The use of keratin as a binder in the sh.e.l.l suggests hair, nails, horns, hooves, feathers...'

At the words 'hooves, feathers...' a frisson ran through the audience like the rustling of great wings.

Dreiser continued. 'Olympus Mons - sorry, Kathi, Chimborazo - has grown gradually into the vast volcano shape we know today. The creatures under it must be still surviving, perhaps even thriving, since Olympus is now in a growth phase. It extends very slowly, we think upwards. But our surveys indicate an expansion of something like 1.1 centimetres every other decade.'

So how did it feed?

'Its exteroceptors suck nourishment and moisture from the rocks.

'As you have heard from Kathi here, Chimborazo is executing a slow horizontal movement. It advances at the rate of a few metres every Martian year.'

At the exclamations from his audience, Dreiser looked gravely ahead of him. He spoke next with emphasis.

'This advance began only when these domes and the science unit were established. Chimborazo is probably attracted by a heat source.'

'You mean it's advancing on us?' cried a nervous voice from the floor.

'Although its forward movement is much faster than its growth rate, it is still no speedster by terrestrial standards. A snail runs like a cheetah by comparison. We're all quite safe. It will take nearly a million years to drag itself here at present rate of progress.'

'I'm packing my bags now,' came a voice from the floor amid general laughter.

Vouchsafing the remark a wintery smile, Dreiser continued, 'We monitored the horizontal movement first. You may imagine our incredulity. We did not immediately realise we were dealing with a living thing - undoubtedly the biggest living thing within the solar system.

'We did not connect it at first with those white exteroceptors, which flick so quickly out of sight. They are the creature's sensors, and of complex function. Not eyes exactly. But they appear to be sensitive to electromagnetic signals of various wavelengths. The mult.i.tude of them together is probably used to build up a picture of sorts. They retract at any unexpected signal, which caused us problems in getting a clear picture of them to start with.'

A subdued voice asked a question from the audience. Dreiser needed it repeated: 'I can't believe what you're telling us. How can that enormous thing possibly be alive?'

Kathi answered sharply. 'You must improve your perceptions. If it can think, Chimborazo is probably asking itself how a small feeble bipedal thing like you could possibly be alive - not to mention intelligent.'

The questioner sank back in her chair.

'You can perhaps imagine our shock when we discovered that Chimborazo was advancing towards our research unit. Nothing can stop its approach,' Kathi said. 'Unless we make some sort of conscious appeal to it...'

I asked if Dreiser thought that Olympus had a mind anything like ours.

'The balance of opinion is that it has a mind radically different from ours. So Kathi has half persuaded us. A mind compounded of a mult.i.tude of little minds. Thought may be greatly slowed down by comparison with our time-scales.

'Yes, I have to say it may well have awareness, intelligence. We have detected a fluttery CPS - the clear physical signal that is the signature of mind. It may tick over slowly by our standards, but speed of thought isn't everything.'

'Now you're being anthropomorphic!' said a voice from the floor.

'It is one of the functions of intelligence to respond discriminatingly to the events that come within its scope. Which is what Olympus seems to be doing. Its response to mankind's arrival here is to move towards us. Whether this can be construed as hostile or friendly, or merely as a reaction to a heat source, we have yet to decide. It has decided!'

He paused for thought. 'It may well have consciousness. Consciousness is not necessarily the gift solely of earthly beings such as ourselves.

'In our discussions here, I have noticed the frequency with which ancient authorities are appealed to, from Aristotle and Plato onwards - to Count Basie, I may say. This is because our consciousness has a collective element. "No voice is ever lost," if I may take my turn at quoting. Our consciousness has been enriched by the minds of those good men who lived in the past. Perhaps you may regard this as a mental evolutionary principle of cooperation in action.

'Consciousness is unlike any other phenomenon, compounded of many elements and apparent contradictions along the quantum-mechanical level. In the close quarters engendered by its sh.e.l.l, the huddled creatures of Olympus would probably have developed a form of consciousness.

'I will also venture the suggestion that here in our cramped quarters we could be developing a new step forward in human consciousness, represented by the word "utopian". A thinking alike for the common good...

'If that is so - and I hope it may be so - it will mean the fading away of individualism. This is what has happened with our friend Chimborazo, if I guess correctly. It has become a single creature consisting of the symbiotic union of all indigenous Martian life.'

Came a shout from the audience. 'What gives you the idea that this weird mind is good?'

Dreiser responded thoughtfully. 'I repeat that individualism had no chance on Mars. To survive, this ent.i.ty evolved a collective mind. It has therefore learned control ... But we can only speculate upon all this. With awe. With reverence.'

Here Kathi chipped in to say, 'It may seem to us slow and ponderous, but why should we not believe it to be superior to our own fragmented minds?'

After the talk, Helen Panorios came up to Dreiser and asked, timidly, why Olympus had camouflaged itself as a volcano.

'Olympus lies among other volcanoes. So it can become pretty well lost in the crowd.'

'Yes, sir, but what has it camouflaged itself against?'

Dreiser regarded her steadily before replying. 'We can only suppose - although this is terrestrial thinking - that it feared some great and terrible predator.'

's.p.a.ce-born?'

'Very probably s.p.a.ce-born. Matrix-born...'

From this occasion onwards, Dreiser and I spent more time together, discussing this extraordinary phenomenon. Sometimes he would call in Kathi Skadmorr. Sometimes I called in Youssef Choihosla, who professed an empathy with Olympus.

One of the first questions I asked Dreiser was, 'Are you now going to abandon your search for the Omega Smudge?'

He stroked his moustache as if it was his pet, gave me an old-fashioned look, and replied with a question, 'Are you going to abandon your plans for a Utopian society?'

So we understood each other. Ordinary work had to continue.