Arthur Clarke: Rama Revealed

“According to our statistical data,” the Eagle said, “this planet has a nontrivial probability of producing life after a few billion years of evolution, once this period of bombardment and formation is concluded. It will have.a solitary, stable host star, an atmosphere with sufficient climatic variation, plus all the chemical ingredients. Here, see for yourself. Keep your eyes on that planet. I am going to activate a special routine that scans quickly through the bottom half of the periodic chart and displays quantitative data about the comparative number of atoms of each kind that exist in that boiling stew.”

A magnificent visual display appeared in the blackness above the infant planet. Each separate atom contained in the planet’s mass was indicated both by a specific color and by its number of neutrons and protons. The size of the atom showed its comparative frequency in the mix. “Note that there are significant densities of carbon, nitrogen, the halogens, and iron,” the Eagle said. “These are the critical atoms. They were all created by nearby supernova in the not too distant past and have enriched the organizational possibilities of this forming body. Without complex chemistry, there cannot be efficient life. If iron were not available to be the central atom of hemoglobin, for example, on your planet, the oxygen distribution system of the many advanced life-forms would be much more inefficient.”

So the process continues, Nicole thought, eon after eon. Stars and planets form out of the cosmic dust. A few of the planets contain the right chemical stuff that might eventually lead to life and intelligence. But what organizes this process? What unseen hand causes these chemicals to become more and more complex and structured in time, until they reach even the state of self-awareness? Is there some yet-to-be-formulated natural law about matter organizing itself according to specified rules?

The Eagle was now explaining how unlikely it was that life would evolve in star systems that Contained only simple atoms like hydrogen and helium, and none of the more complex, higher-order atoms forged by dying stars in supernova explosions. Nicole began to feel an overpowering insignificance. She longed for something on a human scale.

“How small can you shrink this room?” Nicole said suddenly. She laughed at her own awkward phraseology. “To be more precise,” she continued, “what is the ultimate resolution of this system?”

“The finest level of detail possible,” the Eagle said, “is at a scale of four thousand ninety-six to one. At the other extreme, we can display an intergalactic scene with a greatest dimension of fifty million light-years. Remember, our interest in activities outside the galaxy is limited.”

Nicole was doing some mental calculations of her own. “Since the longest dimension of this room is half a kilometer, at the highest level of detail this room would be filled by a piece of real estate roughly two thousand kilometers long?”

“That’s right,” the Eagle said. “But why are you asking?”

Nicole was becoming more excited. “Could we zoom in on the Earth?” she asked. “And let me fly over France?”

“Yes, I guess so,” the Eagle answered after a short hesitation. “Although that is not what I had planned.”

“It would mean a lot to me.”

“All right,” the Eagle said. “It will take a couple of seconds to set up, but we can do it.”

The flight began over the English Channel. The Eagle and Nicole had been sitting on the platform at the top of the dark room for approximately three seconds when there was an explosion of light beneath them. After Nicole’s eyes finally adjusted, she recognized the blue water underneath them and the shape of the Normandy coastline. Off in the distance the Seine emptied into the Channel.

She asked the Eagle to station the platform over the mouth of the Seine and then to move slowly toward Paris. The sight of the familiar geography evoked a strong emotional response in Nicole. She remembered clearly the days of her youth, when she had wandered carefree throughout this region with her beloved father.

The model below them was superb. It was even three-dimensional when the sizes of the geographical features and buildings below them were above the limits of resolution of the alien system. In Rouen, the famous church where Joan of Arc had temporarily recanted was half a centimeter tall and two centimeters long. Off in the direction of Paris, Nicole could see the familiar shape of the Arc de Triomphe rising from the surface of the model.

When they reached Paris, the platform hovered for a few seconds over the sixteenth arrondissement. Nicole’s eyes fell briefly upon a particular-building below her. The sight of that building, a modern convention center, brought back an especially poignant moment from her adolescence. To my precious daughter, Nicole, and all the young people of the world, I offer one simple insight, she heard her father’s voice say again. He was near the end of his speech accepting the Mary Renault Prize. In my life I have found two things of priceless worth: learning and loving. Nothing else-not fame, not power, not achievement for its own sake-can possibly have the same lasting value.

An image of her father filled Nicole’s mind. Thank you, Papa, she thought. Thank you for taking such good care of me after Mother died. Thank you for everything you taught me.”

A powerful, painful yearning brought a rush of tears to Nicole’s eyes. For an instant she was again a child, and she wanted desperately to talk to her father about her ^coming death. Slowly, deliberately, Nicole fought against the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her. This is not what I wanted to feel right now, she said to herself with difficulty. I wanted to leave all this behind.

She turned her face away from the model of France below her.

“What is it?” the Eagle asked.

Nicole forced a smile. “I want to see something else,” she said. “Something spectacular… and new. How about an octospider city?”

“Are you certain?” the Eagle said.

Nicole nodded.

The room became dark immediately. Two seconds later, when Nicole turned around to face the light, the platform was flying over a vast ocean of deep green.

“Where are we?” she asked. “And where are we going?”

“We’re presently about thirty light-years away from your Sun,” the Eagle replied, “on the first oceanic planet colonized by the octospiders after the disappearance of the Precursors. We’re over the sea, obviously, about two hundred kilometers away from the most famous of the octospider cities.”

Nicole felt a surge of excitement as the platform zoomed across the sea. In the distance she could already see the vague outline of some buildings. For a moment she imagined that she was an adventurous space traveler arriving at this planet for the first time, eager to see the wonders of the’ fabulous cities that other interstellar travelers had described.

Nicole momentarily turned her attention to the ocean below her. “Why is this water so green?” she asked the Eagle.

“The top meter of this part of the ocean is a rich ecosystem of its own, dominated by a special genus of photosynthesizing plant whose varied species, all green in color, provide housing and food for as many as ten million separate creatures. Some of the individual plants cover more than a square kilometer of territory. The Precursors created this domain originally. The octospiders found it and improved upon it.”

When Nicole glanced up, the speeding platform had nearly reached the city. Hundreds of buildings of various shapes and sizes were spread out below them. Most of the octospider city’s buildings were built on the land, but some appeared to be floating on the water. The densest collection of these structures was along a narrow peninsula that extended slightly into the sea. At the end of that peninsula stood three huge green domes, very close together, that dominated the city skyline.