My First Meeting with Rama 41"No, not really. But I believe you are about to be very
sweet and tell me."
"Don't be so lazy," she said teasingly, "try to figure it
out for yourself."
"Well, those things we saw yesterday. There wa s
intelligence inside; if nobody wa s there, then they were
being manipulated from somewhere. As for their ap
pearance, I couldn't tell you very much; I didn't get a
close look at them. Figuring it out for myself, the only
thing I can say is they are probably monsters from outer
space. Am I correct?"
"No, you're not. They aren't monsters. Life all over
the universe is basically the same as far as the form of
the human body is concerned. The universe is incon
ceivably large, but there are few minor differences from
one galaxy to another. These variations are mainly ones
of size and color. But then, you have those differences
right here on earth-people are black, white, red,
yellow .... "
"Oh, I see. Then if I go to Mars, I'll find the Martians
have a nose, eyes, mouth, all in a head, a body, with arms
and legs."
"Exactly. The differences are based upon atmosphere,
climate, size of the planet, kinds of foods they eat. But
life begins on a planet when it's brought to that planet by
space travelers from another planet. The same way it
sta rted right here on earth."
"You're telling me that life on our planet wa s started
by cosmonauts who came here in flying saucers?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
"What about the theory of evolution; Darwin, Cro
Magnon Man, the Neanderthal, Pitecantropus-Erectus,
all those?"
"Theories. Just theories. Has modern science come up
with an answer to the missing link yet?"
"I really don't know."