Page 56 - Extraterrestrials, Foreign and Domestic

Zaratan or Gaia?

“But the ground isn’t solid! Nor am I certain I’d call it ground.”
Milgrist blinked, groping for words. “Look at the land around the
ship.” He reached past Yabbowitz and adjusted the image. “What
happened within hours after we landed?”
“As I recall, it rained pretty heavily overnight.”
“Right, even though we picked a place to set down where it had
been perfectly clear for days, and no weather front was within a
thousand kilometers. I went out into the meadow the next day and
the foliage we had incinerated was already recovering. Now it is taller
and thicker than shrubbery of the same species farther away. And
more flame-resistant.” The scientist, eyes bugging, jabbed a finger at
the screen. “See that?”
“Oh, yeah, a lot of the crew noticed it. Didn’t you say yourself that
plant life often comes back stronger after a fire?”
Milgrist winced.
“Yes, but that was based on the way our former home planet
behaved. In fact, the new growth threatened to block our vents
within forty-eight hours. This anomaly put me on guard, less likely to
produce another glib explanation. As I now see it, that was the first
response to our presence.”
“Eh? Response? Are you blaming us for a freak storm and a lot of
weeds? And trying to convince me that they are related?”
“Yes.” Milgrist was firm. “Each morning since then we’ve had a
detail out there trimming the stuff. It is now acting more like a
creeping vine than the same plants ten yards away. I compared their
genetic structure. They are not the same. I therefore discarded the
possibility that they were opportunistically seeking heat or some
chemical by-product of the ship. No, the vegetation is getting
tougher and more robust daily, and each time I analyze it the germ
plasm has shifted. It’s as if in a crisis Darwinian selection could be
overridden by Lamarckian acquired characteristics. But I was not
ready to accept the implications of that conclusion. Not until the
second response.”
“Now what are you talking about? Don’t get technical on me,
Doctor.”
“I’m referring to the widening circle of devastation around the
Sohar we have drawn by chopping down flora and killing fauna for
dissection in my laboratory. As soon as this sampling of the biota

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