（外文电子版资料）Robert J. Sawyer - Mars Reacts.pdf

Mars Reacts! by Robert J. Sawyer Copyright 漏 1999 by Robert J. Sawyer All Rights Reserved What really happened to the Mars Polar Lander, which was lost on December 3, 1999? The Globe and Mail: Canadas National Newspaper asked award-winning Toronto science-fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer to spin a fanciful tale, suggesting an answer . . . (First published in The Globes Saturday, December 11, 1999, edition.) The round door to the office in the underground city irised open. Teltor! Teltor! The director of the space-sciences hive swung her eyestalks to look wearily at Dostan, her excitable assistant. What is it? Another space probe has been detected coming from the third planet. Again? said Teltor, agitated. She spread her four exoskeletal arms. But its only been a hundred days or so since their last probe. Exactly. Which means this one must have been launched before we dealt with that one. Teltors eyestalks drooped as she relaxed. The presence of this new probe didnt mean the people on the blue planet had ignored the message. Still . . . Is this one a lander, or just another orbiter? It has a streamlined component, said Dostan. Presumably it plans to pass through the atmosphere and come to the surface. Where? The south pole, it looks like. And youre sure theres no life on board? Im sure. Teltor flexed her triple-fingered hands in resignation. All right, she said. Power up the neutralization projector; well shut this probe off, too. That night, Teltor took her young daughter, Delp, up to the surface. The sky overhead was black -- almost as black as the interior of the tunnels leading up from the buried city. Both tiny moons were out, but their wan glow did little to obscure the countless stars. Teltor held one of her daughters four hands. No one could come to the surface during the day; the u