Stanislaw Lem: The Invincible

They had left behind the molten metal lump that had been part of the spiry ruins. It had turned into a solid body that hung like a broken wing over the path they had taken. Now they stopped in front of a complicated object consisting of several arms that came together at the center. A gap opened up in the forcefield marked by two light signals. They approached the strange object. Seen at close range, it presented a scene of confusion. The facade of the building was formed by sheets overgrown with metallic tufts. These slabs were supported from the inside by pillars as thick as tree trunks. There was still some kind of order at the outside surface. The men peered inside, illuminating the tangle with the help of powerful searchlights. Utter chaos was created as the forest of poles branched out in all directions, gathering in thick knots from which metallic twigs sprouted in every direction. It reminded the men of a huge wire tangle made up of cables twisting in millions of different fashions. They tested the structure for electric currents, traces of polarization, magnetism and finally for radioactivity; but they failed to detect anything.

The green light flares that marked the entrance into the tangled area were flickering in the wind. Air masses blew through the steely thicket, got caught inside and whistled eerie chants.

“I wish I could figure out what this damned jungle is supposed to be!” complained Rohan as he rubbed the sand off his sweaty skin. He was standing next to Ballmin on top of the flying scouter robot. A low railing before them rose several yards above the “street,” a sandy triangular dune between two converging ruins. Way down below they could see their vehicles and the men, like a set of miniature toys. They were craning their necks to gaze up at Rohan and Ballmin.

The scouter robot floated along. Now they passed over an uneven, torn area full of sharp, jagged metal peaks that were occasionally covered by triangular plates. These plates were arranged in an irregular fashion, jutting out at various angles, sometimes bent aside, sometimes turned upwards. This permitted occasional glances into the dark interior. Yet the tangle of rods, intersections and honeycombed walls was so dense that the sun’s rays could not penetrate to the bottom. Even the bright cones of their searchlights were swallowed up by the gloomy abyss.

“Tell me, Ballmin, what is that damned jungle supposed to be?” asked Rohan once more. He was furious. He had kept rubbing the sand off his face and now his forehead was reddened, his skin smarted, his eyes were burning. On top of it all he would shortly have to make his next report to the crew back at the spacecraft. He had no idea how he could describe what they had encountered here.

“I’m not a clairvoyant,” replied the scientist. “I’m not even an archeologist. Not that an archeologist could tell you a great deal here either. It seems to me — ” Suddenly he fell silent.

“Go on. Finish what you were going to say.”

“This doesn’t look like any dwelling or the destroyed houses of any humanoid creatures. Do you see what I mean? The only thing I could compare it to would be a machine of some kind.”

“A machine? What type of machine? A computer, maybe?”

“What gives you that idea?” countered the planetologist laconically. The robot made a left turn. It was flying close to the metal poles which were jutting out from the bent slabs. Several times the robot almost touched the crazy black network.

“No, no electric circuits to be seen. Or did you notice any switches? Insulators? Anything that might be part of an electronic brain?”

“Maybe they weren’t fireproof. There could have been a fire here. After all, this is nothing but ruins,” replied Rohan. But his voice lacked conviction.

“Who knows? Maybe you’re right,” admitted Ballmin unexpectedly.

“But what should I tell the astrogator?”

“Why don’t you let him see for himself and transmit the whole deal here by television?”

“That can’t have been a city,” said Rohan, suddenly summarizing his thoughts about what he had seen here.

“Most likely not,” agreed Ballmin. “At least not the kind of city we know. Nothing that corresponds to our notion of what a city should be like. No human beings, nothing resembling us could have dwelled here. And since the life forms we found in the ocean here were similar to those back home on Earth, it would be logical to assume the same thing for any living organisms on the mainland.”

“Yes. I keep racking my brains. None of the biologists will commit himself to make a statement. What do you think about that?”

“They don’t want to talk about it, because it simply seems too improbable, as if something had prevented life from becoming established on land; as if the aquatic creatures had never been permitted to leave the water.”

“There might have been some reason for that — a nearby super-nova explosion, for example. The Zeta of the Lyre constellation is known to have been a nova several million years ago. Organic life on the continents may have been annihilated by radiation, while life survived in the deeper regions of the ocean.”

“If there had ever been radiation, we would still be able to find traces of it, but there is practically no radioactivity in the soil of this part of the galaxy. Aside from the fact that evolution would have moved ahead during the several million years since. You wouldn’t expect any vertebrates on land, of course, but the more primitive forms should be present. Didn’t you notice the total absence of any life forms in the littoral zone?”

“Yes, I did. But what does that mean?”

“A great deal. Life usually originates in the shore regions of the oceans, and migrates to deeper waters only afterwards. It can’t have been any different here. Only something must have chased it away from the edge of the sea. Something must be preventing it from going on land.”

“What basis do you have for your conclusions?”

“The fact that the fish were frightened by our probes. On all the other planets I have known, animals were never afraid of machines. They are not afraid of things they have never seen before.”

“Do you mean to say the fish have seen some probes before ours?”

“I couldn’t tell you what they have encountered. But why else would they need a magnetic detector sense?”

“I really wouldn’t know, damn it!” grumbled Rohan. He regarded the torn metal garlands and leaned over the railing. The bent ends of the black metal rods trembled slightly in the robot’s slipstream. Ballmin used long pliers to pinch off some wires sticking out from a tunnel-shaped opening.

“Let me tell you,” he continued, “there could never have been very high temperatures around here; otherwise you would find traces of oxidation on these metal surfaces. So much for your hypothesis about a fire having caused this destruction.”

“Any hypotheses would fail the test here,” muttered Rohan. “You know, I just can’t see the connection between this maze and the fact that the Condor has vanished somewhere on this planet. Everything is dead here.”

“That can’t always have been the case.”

“Maybe it was alive a thousand years ago, but not just a few years back. There is nothing else for us to do here. Let’s return to the convoy down there.”

They did not exchange another word until the robot landed in front of the green signal lights. Rohan ordered the technician to let the television cameras roll and transmit a report to the Invincible,

He and the scientists withdrew to the cabin of the lead vehicle. They released additional oxygen into the air supply of the tiny room, then they ate and drank coffee from their thermos bottles. The white light of the overhead fluorescent lamp felt pleasant to Rohan’s eyes after the red daylight of this planet. Ballmin spat into a paper napkin; it was some sand that had insinuated its way into the mouthpiece of his breathing mask and gritted between his teeth.