There was a cheer, a sudden outburst of emotions that had been pent-up for months. Kate high-fived Ally, Beth hugged Jorja. The atmosphere was electric. Mammalian creatures breathed in oxygen and regulated their own temperature, just like the mammals of Earth. It was a huge discovery—far greater than any previous mission had discovered. Kate couldn’t wait to send NASA the report on this finding.
Jorja broke in to the revelry. “Are we going to detonate?”
It was a sobering question. If any of these lifeforms were intelligent—a big if—the Prime Directive required that the crew detonate the probe before it could be spotted by any beings on the ground. Earthlings must not interfere with the development of another species and the idea of a strange, otherworldly object drifting down from the heavens could have unforeseen consequences. At a minimum, it would scare the crap out of them.
On the other hand, detonation robbed them of vital data closer to the ground. They hadn’t established if the mammals were intelligent. It wouldn’t matter to a bunch of cows, for example, if an object from space dropped into their midst. The problem is, they didn't know yet.
“Where will the probe fall?” Kate asked.
Greta looked up at another display screen. “Um. Land. Not far from a large group of mammals.”
Kate shook her head. They could have allowed it to fall into the ocean, but not on land. Unless…
“What’s the grouping of the mammals?” This was an important clue. If it’s a herd, they would be grouped together for social interaction and protection against enemies. Intelligent beings tend to be more independent and thus are often spread out.
“Scattered,” Greta replied. There was a murmur among the crew. She anticipated the next question. “Probe is hitting twenty-thousand feet.”
“All right, give me a final temperature.” Twenty thousand is about as low as NASA recommends. At four miles up, the sound would be minimal and debris would be well scattered. Much lower and you risk terrifying the residents.
“Sixty-two degrees.”
“Hold a minute.” Kate was acting on what everyone was thinking—just a few more seconds of data! NASA would not object to a detonation at a slightly lower altitude once they saw the results. “Let me know when we reach seventeen thousand.”
Greta watched the screen. “Seventeen thousand.”
“Detonate.”
Greta pushed a button and the probe data vanished from her screen. “Probe destroyed at sixteen thousand, six hundred feet.”
Kate nodded. Her euphoria over the discovery of life was tempered by the loss of data. “What was the final temperature?”
“Sixty-six degrees.” Greta bent down and worked the numbers. “By my calculations, it should be close to ninety on the planet surface. Perfect sunbathing weather.”
More good news. “All right, let’s massage the data. Jorja, let’s map the planet, starting from the area covered by the probe. Greta, let’s coordinate the groupings of all lifeforms you recorded. Beth, see if you can add anything about these lifeforms. Ally, let’s drop down into a lower orbit and get some detailed pictures.”
The crew got to work, excited over their discoveries. Ally took the ship down to minimum orbit and focused the high-definition camera through her monitor. Her head snapped up. “Jesus,” she breathed.
“Captain,” she turned. “I think you’re going to want to see this on the monitor.”
“Switching over.” Kate punched a button and the high-powered camera image jumped onto the large overhead monitor. Everyone’s jaw fell open at once.
There were villages down below.
Two hours later, they were poring over a map of the continents. A rough circle indicated where the probe had picked up lifeforms. Ally had a sheaf of photos taken of the area, plus others that showed several small towns grouped near water and forests.
“Here and here, two large groupings of the mammals that we can assume are intelligent,” Greta was saying, pleased to have their attention. “And smaller ones here and here. Closer to the probe’s drift radius, I picked up some scattered smaller mammals, and what appears to be reptilian lifeforms.”
Reptiles too? It was beyond belief. This planet had evolved similar to Earth. The idea was staggering. Kate knew that this planet would soon be festooned with ships from Earth, all carrying scientists who would spend the rest of their lives discovering new facts about Devon.
Ally passed around the photos. “They have an agrarian society, probably similar to Earth of the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. You can see they’ve tamed some beasts and use them to haul carts and plow fields.”
Kate studied the photos. The beasts looked like donkeys, although they had thicker, shorter legs. The carts rode on large wooden wheels. In one photo, she could see a cage of some sort over one of the carts. Probably transporting prisoners, she mused, which would indicate some sort of judicial system. This world fascinated her.
“The beings in these villages are humanoid, not all that dissimilar from us. I’ve asked the computer to develop a more accurate picture of both sexes, based on what we can see from here.” She pushed some buttons and small holograms appeared before them on the flat top of the display.
Two creatures appeared, standing side by side and rotating slowly. They were darker, with more body hair, but otherwise looked human. Both had two arms and legs, a face with two eyes, a nose and mouth. The woman had two breasts. The only obvious differences were in the foreheads and ears. A narrow, lumpy bone extended down from the hairline to the bridge of the nose and the ears were flatter and attached to the skull.
The average man appeared to be larger and more powerful than a human male. The man’s chest was deep and well developed, indicating hard work. The woman looked much the same as an Earth woman, except she had some scattering of hair between her breasts, as well as the expected hair in her armpits, on legs and pubis.
Because of the apparent heat on the surface, the humanoid images wore hardly any clothes at all. The woman was entirely naked, except for animal skins wrapped around her feet. The man wore a covering over his privates as well as foot skins.
Jorja spoke right up. “Let’s see what the computer can do without the clothes.” Everyone smiled.
Kate sighed. “Well, I suppose, as long as it’s in the interest of science. Computer, can you generate an image of the male being without clothes?”
“Insufficient data,” the metallic voice intoned.
“Damn!” Jorja said.
“Why are the women naked?” Beth asked.
Ally shrugged. “Maybe it’s custom.”
“The men sure look strong,” Jorja said. She needs to go off somewhere and masturbate, Kate thought.
It did give her an idea. “Computer, replace the female image with that of an average human male.”
The woman vanished and the image of a naked man appeared. Compared to the native, the Earth man looked like a ninety-pound weakling. “Scale,” Kate said. A scale rose up next to the holograms. The Earthling was six feet tall. The native was easily six-six and probably outweighed him by fifty pounds or more.
“Wow,” Beth said. “Look how they’ve developed. Makes us look puny in comparison.”
“Let’s compare the women too.”
Kate gave the instructions and in seconds, holograms of a native woman and an Earth woman appeared side by side. The scale showed the native was only about two inches taller than the average Earth woman, who stood five-six, according to the scale.
“They’re a lot like us, only hairier,” Greta put in.
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