Deception Point Page 23

It appeared the astrobiologists had been right, Tolland idea. ET is a bug.Rachels legs felt wishy-washy beneath her. I cant believe it, she said, turning the fossil in her hands. I never thought Give it some time to sink in, Tolland said, grinning. Took me twenty-four hours to get my feet back under me.I see we fork over a newcomer, said an uncharacteristically big Asian homosexual, walking over to join them. bad and Tolland seemed to deflate instantly with the mans arrival. Apparently the moment of magic had been shattered.Dr. Wailee Ming, the man said, introducing himself. Chairman of paleontology at UCLA.The man carried himself with the pompous rigidity of renaissance aristocracy, continuously stroking the out-of-place bow tie that he wore beneath his knee-length camel-hair coat. Wailee Ming was apparently not one to let a remote setting come in the way of his prim appearance.Im Rachel sexton. Her hand was still trembling as she shook Mings smooth palm. Ming was obviously an other of the Presidents civilian recruits.It would be my pleasure, Ms. Sexton, the paleontologist said, to tell you anything you want to know about these fossils.And plenty you dont want to know, corky grumbled.Ming fingered his bow tie. My paleontologic specialty is extinct Arthropoda and Mygalomorphae. patently the most impressive characteristic of this organism is--is that its from another friggin planet Corky interjected.Ming scowled and cleared his throat. The most impressive characteristic of this organism is that it fits perfectly into our Darwinian ashes of terrestrial taxonomy and classification.Rachel glanced up. They can classify this thing? You mean kingdom, phylum, species, that sort of thing?Exactly, Ming said. This species, if found on earth, would be classified as the order Isopoda and would go down into a class with about two thousand species of lice.Lice? she said. But its huge.Taxonomy is not size specific. House cats and tigers are related. Classification is about physiology. This species is clear a insect It has a flattened body, seven pairs of legs, and a reproductive pouch identical in structure to wood lice, pill bugs, beach hoppers, sow bugs, and gribbles. The other fossils clearly reveal more specialized-Other fossils?Ming glanced at Corky and Tolland. She doesnt know?Tolland shook his head.Mings face brightened instantly. Ms. Sexton, you havent heard the good part yet.There are more fossils, Corky interjected, clearly trying to steal Mings thunder. Lots more. Corky scurried over to a large manila envelope and retrieved a folded sheet of oversized paper. He opening it out on the desk in front of Rachel. After we drilled some cores, we dropped an roentgenogram camera down. This is a graphic rendering of the cross section.Rachel looked at the x-ray printout on the t equal, and immediately had to sit down. The three-dimensional cross section of the meteorite was packed with dozens of these bugs.Paleolithic records, Ming said, are usually found in heavy concentrations. ofttimes times, mud slides trap organisms en masse, covering nests or entire communities.Corky grinned. We think the collection in the meteorite represents a nest. He pointed to one of the bugs on the printout. And theres mommy.Rachel looked at the specimen in question, and her jaw dropped. The bug looked to be about two feet long.Big-ass louse, eh? Corky said.Rachel nodded, dumbstruck, as she pictured lice the size of bread loaves wandering around on some distant planet.On earth, Ming said, our bugs stay relatively small because gravity keeps them in check. They cant grow larger than their exoskeletons can support. However, on a planet with skeletal gravity, insects could evolve to much greater dimensions.Imagine swatting mosquitoes the size of condors, Corky joked, taking the core sample from Rachel and slipping it into his pocket.Ming scowled. You had better not be stealing thatRelax, Corky said. Weve got eight tons more where this came fro m.Rachels analytical mind churned through the data before her. But how can life from space be so quasi(prenominal) to life on earth? I mean, youre saying this bug fits in our Darwinian classification?Perfectly, Corky said. And believe it or not, a lot of astronomers have predicted that extraterrestrial life would be very similar to life on earth.But why? she demanded. This species came from an entirely different environment.Panspermia. Corky smiled broadly.I beg your clear?Panspermia is the surmise that life was seeded here from another planet.Rachel stood up. Youre losing me.Corky turned to Tolland. Mike, youre the primordial seas guy.Tolland looked happy to take over. Earth was once a lifeless planet, Rachel. thus suddenly, as if overnight, life exploded. Many biologists think the explosion of life was the magical result of an ideal mixture of elements in the primordial seas. But weve never been able to reproduce that in a lab, so religious scholars have seized that failure as proof of God, meaning life could not exist unless God affected the primordial seas and infused them with life.But we astronomers, Corky declared, came up with another explanation for the overnight explosion of life on earth.Panspermia, Rachel said, now understanding what they were talking about. She had heard the panspermia theory before besides didnt know its name. The theory that a meteorite splashed into the primordial soup, bringing the first seeds of microbial life to earth.Bingo, Corky said. Where they percolated and sprang to life.And if thats true, Rachel said, then the underlying filiation of earths life-forms and extraterrestrial life-forms would be identical.Double bingo.Panspermia, Rachel thought, still barely able to grasp the implications. So, not only does this fossil confirm that life exists elsewhere in the universe, but it practically proves panspermia that life on earth was seeded from elsewhere in the universe.Triple bingo. Corky flashed her an enthusiastic no d. Technically, we may all be extraterrestrials. He localise his fingers over his head like two antennas, crossed his eyes, and wagged his tongue like some kind of insect.Tolland looked at Rachel with a pathetic grin. And this guys the pinnacle of our evolution.25Rachel Sexton felt a dreamlike mist swirling around her as she walked across the habisphere, flanked by Michael Tolland. Corky and Ming followed close behind.You okay? Tolland asked, watching her.Rachel glanced over, giving a weak smile. Thanks. Its just so much.Her mind reeled back to the infamous 1996 NASA discovery-ALH84001-a Mars meteorite that NASA claimed contained fossil traces of bacterial life. Sadly, only weeks after NASAs triumphant press conference, several civilian scientists stepped transport with proof that the rocks signs of life were really nothing more than kerogen produced by terrestrial contamination. NASAs credibility had taken a huge hit over that gaffe. The New York measure took the opportunity to sarcastically redefine the agencys acronym NASA-NOT ALWAYS SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE.