The Cloud - 8. Chapter 8

“Site K”

Secret US Government Lab

Nevada Desert

Dr. Turner sat at the head of the conference table. The rest of the Bio-Sciences Team was all present and the odor of coffee was thick in the room. No one wanted to begin. The situation was just so bizarre.

Turner began by saying, “We’re here to make a recommendation to the military in regard to how they should respond to the cloud. Does anyone else here feel like that’s the most ridiculous task they’ve ever been assigned?”

There were a few laughs around the table.

Hart finally said, “They could try to nuke it, but it’s wider than Russia and the Pacific Ocean combined. It’s a coherent gas cloud- how would you even hurt it? They could target individual organelles but there are so many and there appears to be a great deal of redundancy. In attacking the thing, they could trigger some kind of involuntary response that we can’t anticipate.”

Dr. Jan Tullos, a microbiologist from Vanderbilt, spoke up and said, “Another good question is: How is it supposed to hurt us? It’s a gaseous creature that lives at a much lower pressure state than our atmosphere. Were it to try to enter our atmosphere, it would be torn to shreds.”

Van Morrison of Ohio State, another microbiologist, added, “We need to remember that the creature is packing a lot of chlorophyll. There is no precedent in nature for a photosynthetic predator. I honestly don’t see it being a threat.”

Tullos said, “On the other hand, if it is a space cabbage, why is it apparently maneuvering toward earth?”

Cassidy said, “This animal… Or is it a plant? It evolved in space. I doubt that we can really look for terrestrial analogues. Has everybody seen the latest high-resolution spectrographic analysis?”

Hart opened a report on the table and read, “RNA, proteins, sugars, salts...”

Turner sighed and said, “The more we learn about it, the more familiar it appears.”

Cassidy countered, “With all due respect, gentlemen, I’ve never encountered a cabbage that can take off at speeds approaching three quarters of light speed and then maneuver between star systems. It may look like a cabbage, but there’s a hell of a lot more going on with this thing than we know. We could study something like this for decades and still not understand what makes it tick.”

Turner said, “OK guys: I need a consensus. The military is pushing us for a decision. Do we think that it’s dangerous?”

Tullos replied, “Anything that we say at this point isn’t even a very educated guess, Rob.”

Morrison said, “I’m going to vote for harmless. I’ve never even seen predatory behavior from photosynthetic microorganisms. I don’t think we’re going to see it from this one.”

Hart said, “I’m inclined to agree. I don’t think it’s a threat.”

Tullos said, “I just don’t know, but I’m leaning toward harmless.”

Finally, it came to Cassidy. The whole table was looking at him. “As an evolutionary biologist, I think in terms of how an organism evolves within its environment, and I’m having a hard time coming to grips with this one. It lives in a vacuum where the temperature hovers just above absolute zero. It must live for eons because it apparently travels between the stars. I can’t even begin to guess how it evolved or where it came from. I doubt that it is predatory, but it would be foolish to underestimate anything that can live in that environment.”

Mike Bernardi, a biologist from Georgia Tech, spoke up and said, “Maybe we are looking at this the wrong way. The two key drivers of animal behavior are food and procreation. Everything else is just an adaptation. I’m thinking this creature is coming into the inner solar system to charge its batteries between stars. Think about it: how long has this photosynthetic creature been in the long dark of interstellar space? It has to be hungry.”

Tullos laughed and said, “Well, that’s not exactly a cheery thought.”

“It’s photosynthetic, sunlight is its food source, logically it won’t bother us”, Bernardi persisted.

Cassidy said, “It makes sense from a behavioral standpoint. What about the other biological imperative?”

Bernardi said, “Procreation?”

Cassidy sat back in his chair, “What if it’s like a salmon? What if it has been here before? What if something is driving it to come back?”

Bernardi said, “To what… spawn?”

Nervous laughter went around the table, but Cassidy wasn’t done.

“Humans as a species have only been around a hundred thousand years or so. Modern man has been around even less. Recorded history is what- two thousand years, give or take? A life form like this might even be immortal. We should expect Mother Nature to show us all sorts of things that we’ve never seen before. I’m going to agree with the consensus. I think the life form will be harmless. We should approach the upcoming encounter as an opportunity for discovery. And recommend that we send the civilian population to shelters.”

Turner said, “Well that’s it then. I’m going to recommend to the President that the military take no provocative action against the life form and that all prudent Civil Defense precautions be taken. Do we have any dissenting opinions?”

Turner looked around the room and none of the scientists spoke up.

“OK ladies and gentlemen. Good work and let’s all get some rest. The President’s announcement will be Wednesday at 1200 our time. Be thinking about how we can study this creature. Something tells me that it may be the most important discovery of our lifetimes.”