[ IP ] Heart of Eden

`` No, this will not do. This will not do *at all*!'' 
 
 Commander Stirling stared at the ruptured Seedpod, still hovering on its Podkletnov thrusters at the penultimate landing stage. The natives had constructed their rude temple around it. The temple lay at the heart of the planet's lush jungle: perfumed breezes, the sweet rustle of leaves, cool drops of falling water, so reminiscent of the lost primal days of Earth. `` Eden'', breathed his companion. 
 
 Stirling fumed. `` This is a class I breach. We've *terraformed* a planet with a native civilization.'' 
 
 Science Specialist Hu stroked his beard thoughtfully. His habit of doffing helmet the moment the microbe scan was done annoyed Stirling to no end. `` This planet seems to have no microorganisms. Everything we see is DNA-based. None of these plants is really an Earth species, but they contain proteins related to Earth plants. There do n't seem to be two biospheres at work here.'' 
 
 `` Then who built the temple? ``, Stirling asked. 
 
 `` I do n't know. But what if we are not the only species studying uninhabited planets? They might have brought the Seedpod to an outpost to study it, and breached the contents.'' 
 
 `` Impossible! These are the high-diversity equatorial coordinates the landing algorithm would have selected. This feature was constructed around it.'' 
 
 `` True. More importantly, we have n't seen the natives. We do n't know that they are alien at all. Until we find aliens somewhere, they are an extraordinary explanation.'' 
 
 `` What else could they be?'' 
 
 `` I have been thinking about it. You know that the Seedpod contains optimization facilities: in vitro selection, aptamer-based modular protein design, and a library of hazard resistance programs?'' 
 
 `` So? These only fine-tune the organisms the Pods release.'' 
 
 `` Well, the implementation is biotechnological. What if a suite of adaptation tools itself is what was released?'' 
 
 `` They ca n't adapt indefinitely, blindly. There is a maximum speed at which life can evolve, and they have no template.'' 
 
 `` But what if there is a template - what if they had access to the Seedpod's databases?'' 
 
 Stirling paused a moment to think that through. Certainly there were biological transponders used in human medicine. If they could download the sequences... 
 
 `` You mean these natives might be human?'' 
 
 `` Maybe. The sequence was in the computer. But they may differ from humans as much as these plants differ from Hawaiian flora.'' 
 
 The four-man crew had a long history together. Stirling did not actually need to issue the order to return to the ship, nor did he need to tell Hu to run back the hundred meters. 
 
 To the place where the bodies of their crewmates waited for them. 
 
 To the roar of the rocket engines as they completed their final countdown. 
 
 There was no explaining how the aliens had accessed the ship, or blocked communications, or hacked into the systems, or overpowered their friends. 
 
 `` You might as well lose that helmet'', Hu said. 
 
 This was their home now. It came with sweet air, pure water, a passable shelter, and even food. A thousand unknown plants surrounded them. Many of them bore fruit, and the equatorial summer would never end. 
 
 Hu bit deep into the first fruit he had selected. `` Devoid of toxins... not of flavor!'' He handed one to Stirling, who took an exploratory nibble. 
 
 `` If this is a Garden of Eden, do you suppose there is a Tree of Life and a Tree of Knowledge?'' 
 
 Hu stroked his beard. `` Well, the lifeforms did develop with a versatile toolset for communicating with the pod... and the natives did manage to get the access codes for the ship somehow...'' 
 
 He stared at the fruit. And the Seedpod. He thought about a race so driven to spread its seed that it literally sent ships to the stars to prepare them for someday human colonists. What would the offspring of such a race be like? Would they evolve, prepare themselves for the chance to do the same to Earth? Were they studying him now, to learn more about how humans think? 
 
 `` I do n't know'', he said.
