Chapter 19 Chapter 19 A Warning from Mercury

For the first time in weeks, all Rama committee members were present.Professor Solomon emerges from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where he is conducting research on the mining technology of deep seabed valleys.It's no surprise that Dr. Taylor has resurfaced, since Rama is now more newsworthy than some inanimate artifact. The chairman would have thought that now that Dr. Perilla's prediction of a hurricane in Rama had been confirmed, he would be more confident than ever.But to His Excellency's great surprise, Perilla looked depressed and congratulated his colleagues with more restraint than usual.

In fact, the outer space biologist is deeply chagrined at himself for ignoring a bursting column of sea ice, a far more spectacular phenomenon than a hurricane.Remembering the rise of hot air but forgetting the shrinkage of hot ice was not an achievement he considered very proud.But he'll let that go quickly and return to his normal Olympic confidence. When the chairman asked him to speak on his predictions for future climate change, he explained cautiously: "You all understand that the weather in a strange world like Rama may still have many unpredictable events, but if my calculations are correct If there is no storm, the situation will stabilize soon until it reaches perihelion, and there will be a process of slow temperature rise in the future, but it is not important to us at that time, because long before that, Endeavor Just have to leave."

"So it can be said that it will be safe to go back inside soon?" "Well, maybe. We'll know for sure in forty-eight hours." "It is very necessary to go back once," said the Mercury ambassador. "We must understand Rama as well as we can. The nature of the situation has now completely changed." "I think we all understand what you mean, but could you please elaborate?" "Of course. Up until now, we've assumed that Rama was inanimate, or at least not contained. But now we can no longer pretend it's an abandoned ship. Even though there might be no life there, or Manipulated by a robot, programmed to perform certain missions—perhaps a mission that would be very bad for us. Although it is not to our taste, we must seriously consider countermeasures for self-defense."

Ambassador Mercury's speech immediately caused a burst of booing in opposition, and the chairman had to raise his hand to maintain order. "Please let him finish," he begged. "Whether we like the idea or not, we have to seriously consider it." "With all due respect to Your Excellency the Ambassador," Dr. Taylor said in his most irreverent tone, "I think we can dismiss the naive idea of ​​fear of malicious interferers. A species as advanced as the Rama Man, with moral values It must have developed accordingly. Otherwise, they would have destroyed themselves—we almost did this ourselves in the 20th century. This is clearly stated in my new book "Earth and Sky". I Hope you have received the version sent to you."

"I received it, thank you, but unfortunately I can only skim the foreword because I am too busy with business. However, I am familiar with the basic argument. We will not have any ill will towards an ant nest, but if it happens to be there to build a house foundation... ..." "It's as bad as the Pandora fallacy! It's nothing but interstellar xenophobia!" "Gentlemen! It is useless to argue like this. Mr. Ambassador, please continue." Glancing at Conrad Taylor, he remained silent like a volcano waiting for its chance. "Thank you," said the Ambassador of Mercury. "The possibility of danger may be small, but when it comes to the fate of human beings, we cannot take chances. And this is especially important for us Mercury people. We are more important than others." Anyone with more reason to be wary."

Tyler snorted loudly, but received another stare from the moon. "Why does Mercury bear the brunt more than the other planets?" asked the chairman. "Look at the current situation. Rama is already deep in our orbit. It is only a hypothesis to think that it will circle the sun and return to space. What if it brakes? If so, it will happen At perihelion, which is about thirty days later. My scientists tell me that if it shifts speed at that point, Rama will obtain a circular orbit only 2,500,000,000 kilometers from the sun. From there it will rule the entire solar system. "

For a long time no one said a word, not even Taylor. The committee members are sorting out their thoughts.Those difficult Mercurians had such a capable ambassador. For most people, Mercury is a pretty good version of hell, at least until a worse place is found.But the Mercurians are proud of their own exotic planet.Its day is longer than its year, its two sunrises and two sunsets, its rivers of molten metal, all these, the moon and Mars are incomparable.Unless humans can land on Venus, they won't encounter an environment worse than Mercury. Yet this world is, in many respects, the key to the solar system.These would have been obvious in retrospect now.But this fact was not realized until a century into the space age.Now the Mercury never let anyone forget about it.

Long before humans arrived at Mercury, the planet's unusual density suggested heavy elements in its composition, yet its value was staggering.It postponed by a thousand years the panic of humanity running out of its most needed metals, and the wealth was in the most favorable location, where the sun's energy is 10 times greater than that of the cold earth. Infinite energy, infinite metals: this is Mercury.Its magnetic launcher can catapult the products it creates to any point in the solar system.It could also export energy in the form of synthetic transuranic isotopes or pure radiation, and there were even plans that the Mercurian lasers would one day melt down Jupiter.But the rest of the world is largely unimpressed.A technology that can cook Jupiter is too tempting for interstellar blackmail.

All of the above illustrate the general views on Mercury people.Revered for their strength of character and engineering prowess, they are admired for conquering such a fearsome world.But they still aren't liked, let alone considered completely trustworthy. At the same time, their views are worthy of attention.There is a joke that Mercurian people sometimes act as if the sun is their private property.They are bound to the sun with a love-hate bond, as pirates are to the sea, Nepalese are to the Himalayas, Eskimos are to the arctic tundra.They are extremely unhappy if something comes between them and the natural energy that rules and controls their lives.

The chairman finally broke the long silence.He took the Mercurians seriously, though he considered them uneducated techno-savages. "I think you have some merit in your argument, Mr. Ambassador," he said slowly. "Do you have any suggestion?" "Yes, sir. We need the facts before we know what to do. We know the geography of Rama--if that word can be used--but nothing about its power. And the crux of the whole problem Yes: Does Rama have a propulsion system? Can it change orbit? I'd love to hear Dr. Perilla's opinion on this." "I've thought about that for a long time," replied the exobiologist. "Of course Rama must have gotten its initial motive force from some launcher, but that might have been an extracorporeal booster. If it had an internal As far as thrusters, we haven't found a trace of them. No rocket ports or anything like that on the shell, that's for sure."

"They may be hidden." "Maybe, but it's unlikely, and where are the fuel storage tanks and energy sources? The main shell is solid, and we have checked it with a seismic detector. In the cavity of the north end shell, there is an airtight air chamber system. "Then only the southern tip of Rama remains, and Colonel Newton has not yet been able to reach it because of the ten kilometers of water. All the grotesque machines and structures are at the South Pole—in the photographs, you can see. They are What, no one knows. "But I'm reasonably sure that if Rama has a propulsion system, it's something completely beyond our current understanding. In fact, it may be the fabled 'space drive' that people have been talking about for 200 years." "You don't rule that out?" "Not ruled out, of course. If we could prove that Rama has a spatial drive—even if we can't find its manipulative form—that would be a major manifestation. At least we'd know that such a thing is possible." "What's a space drive?" asked the Earth ambassador candidly. "That's a propulsion system that has nothing to do with rocketry, Lord Laubutt. Anti-gravity propulsion, that is, unaffected by gravity, would be a good drive if that were possible. know where to look for this drive, and most scientists doubt its existence." "It doesn't exist," interjected Professor Davidson. "Newton has already concluded that there is no effect without reaction. Space drive is pure nonsense. Listen to me." "You may be right," replied Perilla, with uncharacteristic affability, "but if Rama doesn't have a space drive, it doesn't have any drive. There's literally no place for a normal thruster and its Where the big fuel tanks are." "It's hard to imagine the whole world being pushed around," Solomon said. "What will happen to the contents? Everything has to be fastened with anchor screws. It's so inconvenient." "Well, the acceleration will probably be minimal. The biggest problem will be the water in the cylindrical sea. How can you make it not..." Perilla's voice died away, and his eyes stared into the distance.He seemed to be in the throes of an epileptic seizure or even a heart attack.His colleagues watched him warily.Returning suddenly, he pounded his fist on the table and exclaimed, "Of course it is! That explains everything! The cliffs on the South Bank—now it makes sense!" "I don't understand," the Moon Ambassador murmured on behalf of all present. "Look at this cross-section of Rama," Perilla said still excitedly, spreading out his map. "Have you got your copy? The Sea of ​​Columns is sandwiched between two cliffs, surrounded by The entire inner surface of Rama. The one on the north side is only 50 meters high, while the one on the south side is 500 meters high. Why is there such a big difference? No one can figure out a reason. "But if Rama has its own propulsion ability - can accelerate and the north end is forward, then the sea water will have a tendency to move backwards, and the sea level in the south will rise, which can be as high as hundreds of meters. Therefore, there must be a higher embankment .Let's take a look..." With quick mental calculations, he raised his eyes triumphantly in an astonishingly short time—no more than 20 seconds: “Knowing the height of the embankment, we can calculate the maximum acceleration that Rama can withstand.” .If the acceleration of gravity exceeds 2%, the seawater will submerge the southern continent." "One-fiftieth of a g, that's not a big deal." "For a mass of 10 trillion tons, yes, it is enough for interstellar flight." "Thank you very much, Dr. Perilla," said Ambassador Mercury. "You have given us many things to consider. Mr. Chairman, can we remind Lieutenant Colonel Newton of the importance of inspecting the Antarctic region?" "He did his best. Of course the sea is a hindrance. They're building some kind of rowboat to at least get them to New York." "The Antarctic may be more important. I will bring these issues to the attention of the General Assembly at Headquarters. Do you all agree?" No one objected, including Dr. Taylor.Just as the committee was about to adjourn, Lord Lewis held up his hand. The old historian rarely spoke; when he did, everyone listened in silence. "If we do find that Rama is alive and has these powers now, there is an ancient military saying that power does not mean aggression." "How long will we have to wait before we become aware of its invasion?" asked the Mercury Ambassador. "By the time we do, it may be too late." "It's too late. There's nothing we can do to affect Rama. In fact, I don't think we've been able to do anything about it." "I don't agree with that, Lord Lewis. We could do a lot if it proved necessary, but this is a critical moment. Rama is a cosmic egg, hatched by the heat of the sun, ready to break at any moment." out of the shell." The chairman of the committee looked at the messenger from Mercury with frank wonder.Throughout his diplomatic career, he has rarely been surprised like this.He never dreamed that a Mercurian could have such a poetic and unrestrained imagination. ----------------------------- Notes: