My Library

20. INCONCLUSIVE After all these years, I still do not know how and why this departure from the "norm" took place. On the surface, there is no easily determined cause. Medical and mental sciences offer no certain answers, which has made me alternately resentful, sad, and thankful: resentful in that my faith in the scope and breadth of modern scientific achievement has been badly shaken; sad because full-scale development of directly related knowledge is not likely to come in my physical lifetime; and thankful for the few scientists of our time who are brave enough to consider objectively concepts which may negate years of study as well as long-ingrained religious and ethical beliefs. Therefore, if no current scientific theory fits without an inordinate amount of pushing, pulling, twisting, and squeezing, it seems reasonable to propound a premise that does seem to work. After all, one can prove that man is nothing more than a few gallons of tainted water. Only extreme pressure is needed to fit the phenomenon to the theory. The following premise, unacceptable as it may be to our present state of enlightenment, deserves consideration. No other offers more explanations and leaves less unanswered. This is not to say that it is necessarily valid; only future events can determine its validity. Conversely, there is no known theory to prove it false. The basis of the premise is certainly not original here, but its application is. Question: What happens to the laboratory animal once the experiment is completed? In a universe populated with sentient beings of great variety, the planetary environment germinating life follows a typical pattern. The prime requirement is a diffusing and restraining shield that envelops the entire planet. When this shield has formed through the normal evolution of planet matter, the fundamental requirement for animate life is present. The shield is composed of gases and liquids of sufficient density to (1) deflect, filter, and/or convert radiation from the parent and nearby stars to a point of tolerance needed for animate life; and (2) maintain internally generated planetary heat at an average level within the limits required for the biochemical process. Once developed, the shield permits only filtered light and reduced radiation to reach the surface of the planet. Visibility is limited strictly to nearby objects on the surface, and vertically to less than one tenth the diameter of the planetary