Finches of Mars. Brian Aldiss

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      BRIAN ALDISS

       Finches of Mars

      For my grandsons

      in the future

      Laurence and Thomas

      (Thomas who was the first person

      to read this discourse)

      And to Jason and Max

      and Ben and of course

      Archie

      with my love.

      He who can read Sir Charles Lyell’s grand work on the Principles of Geology, which the future historian will recognise as having produced a revolution in natural science, and yet does not admit how vast have been the past periods of time, may at once close this volume.

      – Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

      Table of Contents

       Title Page

       Dedication

       Epigraph

      1. An Oceanless World

      2. A Freedom

      3. Mangalian’s Remark

      4. Final Journey

5. The Shape of the UU

6. Mangalian Among the Ladybirds

7. The Care of a Child

8. The Death of a Hero

       9. Life Elsewhere?

       10. The Inevitable Happens

       11. A Belated Announcement

       12. Mulling Over Required

       13. Some False Dispositions

       14. The Mad Horse & Ooma’s Sad Poem

       15. An Hour’s Friendship

       16. Shap’s Lecture

       17. Interlude: A Farewell To Families

       18. Interlude Part II: A Long Journey and A Short Walk

       19. The Vexed Question of Umwelts

       20. A Troubled Exwo

       21. Images of the Past

       22. Phipp has Problems to Share

       23. The Four Birds

       24. Consolations of Knowledge and Sex

       25. Meeting an Astronomer

       26. Life on Mars! The Capture of Things

       27. Hitting the Trail

       28. Some Problem for Mangalian

       29. Questions of Evolution

       30. Precious Discoveries

       31. Visitors

       32. Descendants from the Present

       33. Reception in the China Tower

       34. A Great Resource

       Footnotes

       Appendix

       By the same author from The Friday Project

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

      Your idea regarding the effect of gravity on foetal development is absolutely fascinating, and is of much interest to me …

      There is a great deal of knowledge in the field of foetal development about the importance of physical distorting forces on inducing foetal growth, making your idea of “lighter gravity” affecting foetal life entirely feasible (and to the best of my knowledge absolutely original to boot). Further, the effect of changes of gravity on heart action and blood flow is also fascinating, especially since the foetus is not as well equipped as is its mother.

      So, malformed foetuses being at risk of dying in utero or at birth is a plausible conjecture.

      Professor Frank Manning

      Division of Maternal Foetal Medicine

      New York Medical College

      New York

      All those who prefer to whatever degree the hypothetical over what is called reality, finding the real so deplorable that they seek out what may never be, will find here elements for enjoyment. Those optimists who grieve over the shortcomings of existence may like to imagine that better prospects will be created in the future, not least amid the airless deserts of Mars depicted here.

       1

       An Oceanless World

      The word ‘scenery’ was not in use on Mars. One might talk instead of ‘the prospect’.

      The prospect was modestly dramatic. Volcanoes on this section of Tharsis were small and scattered. The settlement site on the Tharsis Shield had been chosen for its underground water supply and its comparative smoothness. A path had been worn leading eastwards a short way. A man and woman were walking side-by-side along the path, treading with the high-kneed gait the lower gravity of Mars encouraged. The pair were thickly dressed and wore face masks, since they were beyond the atmospheric confine of the project settlement.

      This constitutional exercise, though remarkable enough, had come about by events and arrangements of some complexity, inspired in large part by the findings of the NASA experimental vehicle, Curiosity, in 2012AD – when both of these new Martians were not even conceived.

      Rooy and Aymee were taking their daily exercise. They had discovered in the austerities of this derelict planet something they had sought without success in their previous lives. No air: perfect vision – clarity of sight and mind. Martian orange-grey sterility. Aymee, dark of skin and outspoken, always declared that Mars served as a physical manifestation of the support system of the subconscious.

      The great spread of an oceanless world surrounded them. Such water as there was flowed hidden underground. As usual, the couple had walked until the brow of Olympus Mons showed like consciousness above the horizon

      They were walking now between two volcanoes, believed to be extinct, Pavonis Mons and, to the south, Arsia Mons, passing quite close to the rumpled base of the former. In one of these small fissures they had found a little clump of cyanobacteria which added to the interest of their walk. They believed it to be a mark of an ancient underground waterway.

      Their progress was slow; Rooy had his left leg encased in plaster, setting a broken bone.

      Little Phobos, having risen in the west, was at present speeding above the Shield. Sight