Read Global Warming Fun 2: Ice Giants Wake! Page 23
CHAPTER XI
A Conversation with Jerry Green
"WE UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION AND WILL NOW ATTEMPT TO CONTACT JERRY GREEN TO SEE IF HE IS INTERESTED IN DISCUSSING THE MATTER WITH YOU," said the jants, after Ed succeeded in contacting them, outlined the situation, and explained his request. Their thought patterns seemed slower and weaker than before, and based on his experience with jants the previous winter, Ed realized what was happening. As the ground they lived in grew colder they were becoming lethargic.
Ed followed their thoughts and located this particular jant colony just outside of Giants' Rest, near where they must have disembarked from the U-Haul truck. It was located several feet underground below the root system of a large tree, safely away from the worst of the freezing cold. It was probably the best established jant colony on the Reservation, and had enough still active workers for their collective mind to function.
Perhaps due to their stupor, Ed was able to tune in to their internal chattering better than ever. They were considering how much energy would be needed to communicate with the nearest off-Reservation jant colony, and trying to decide if it was worth the expenditure. They would need considerable energy to survive the long winter. On the other hand, they thought that Ed and the Mohawks were interesting subjects of study, and therefore didn't want them to die yet.
Yet? Is that truly what they are thinking, Ed wondered?
"HELLO ED!" came Jerry Green's warm greeting, through thoughts transmitted via the vast jant telepathic network. "THE JANTS TELL ME THAT YOU MAY HAVE DISCOVERED A SILICON-BASED LIFE FORM."
"I HAVE? WHY SILICON?"
There was a several second delay. Jerry was evidently very far away. How many jant colonies and millions of jants were supporting this conversation, Ed wondered?
"GOOD, PLEASE KEEP YOUR STATEMENTS SHORT, ED RUMSFELD," interjected the local jants, in the interim. "BROADCASTING SO FAR EXPENDS MUCH ENERGY."
"I OVERSIMPLIFY," thought Jerry, "BUT THAT'S MY INITIAL CONJECTURE. MINERALS SOMEHOW BEGAN TO REPRODUCE AND PROLIFERATE WITHIN AND USING NATURAL CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES AS A STARTING FRAMEWORK."
"WHY?" asked Ed, providing as short a question as he could come up with.
"WHY NOT?" responded Jerry, after the expected pause. "OUR CARBON BASED LIFE FORMED WHEN COMPLEX CARBON-BASED MOLECULES BEGAN TO REPLICATE THEMSELVES, WHY SHOULDN'T SILICON-BASED MINERALS DO THE SAME?"
"WHY SILICON?"
Pause.
"IT HAD TO BE SILICON AND/OR CARBON TO GET TO THE LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY REQUIRED. SILICON ITSELF CAN'T SUSTAIN THE COMPLEX STRUCTURES THAT CARBON DOES IN FLUID OR GASEOUS ENVIRONMENTS, BUT IN COMBINATION WITH WELL ORDERED MINERAL STRUCTURES PERHAPS IT CAN. ALSO, THE FACT THAT THESE CREATURES INHABIT SILICON-RICH GRANITE SUGGESTS THAT SILICON AS WELL AS CARBON IS IMPORTANT TO THEM. IN ADDITION, SILICON MIGHT HAVE FACILITATED THEIR DEVELOPMENT OF SOME SORT OF INTELLIGENCE."
"HOW?"
Pause.
"EVER HEAR OF SILICON VALLEY, ED? THESE LIFE FORMS ARE OBVIOUSLY MASTERS OF MINERAL MANIPULATION. MAYBE THEY CAN DOPE SILICON WITH VARIOUS ELEMENTS THAT HAVE LOOSE ELECTRONS TO FORM STRUCTURES WITH VARIOUS ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES TO FORM THEIR OWN INTERNAL COMPUTER CHIPS. MAYBE CARBON IN THE FORM OF GRAPHENE SHEETS OR NANOTUBES PROVIDES ELECTRICAL AND INFORMATIONAL CONNECTIVITY THROUGHOUT THEIR CRYSTAL DOMINATED BODIES. ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND ITS MANIPULATION IS NEEDED FOR THEM TO CONTROL THE IONIC BONDS OF MINERALS AND TO POWER THEIR COMPUTER-LIKE THOUGHT PROCESSES."
Ed wasn't sure what the hell Jerry had just told him but he would pass it on to the others. "SMART ROCKS? ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
This time the pause was twice as long. "I'M MERELY SPECULATING ABOUT THIS ASTONISHING DISCOVERY FROM THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY, ED, BUT THAT'S MY BEST GUESS. PERHAPS THESE CREATURES ARE ESSENTIALLY LIVING COMPUTERS. IF THEY MOVE ABOUT AND HAVE FEELINGS THAT YOU CAN DETECT TELEPATHICALLY THAT CERTAINLY IMPLIES HIGHLY COMPLEX INFORMATION PROCESSING THAT IS FAR MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN PROVIDED BY OUR CURRENT COMPUTERS."
"WHERE WOULD THEY GET ELECTRIC POWER?" Ed asked.
Long pause.
"GOOD QUESTION. THEY MAY FAVOR COLD WEATHER BUT THEY NEED ENERGY FROM SOMEWHERE. IN THIS UNIVERSE NOTHING CAN ESCAPE THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS. THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO MANIPULATE MINERALS TO FORM BATTERIES TO TEMPORARILY STORE ENERGY BUT THOSE WOULD NOT BE ULTIMATE ENERGY SOURCES. THEY MAY COMBUST CARBON LIKE WE DO WITH OUR FOOD, AND POSSIBLY THEY COULD BUILD THEIR OWN SOLAR ENERGY PANELS, BUT I DOUBT THAT WOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH ENERGY FOR THE EFFECTIVE LOCOMOTION OF HEAVY ROCK BODIES. ALSO SOLAR PANELS WOULD DO THEM NO GOOD WHEN THEY ARE BURIED IN ROCK MOST OF THE TIME.
"ANYWAY, ALL THAT WOULD PROBABLY STILL NOT PROVIDE ENOUGH ENERGY TO POWER GIANT STONE MONSTERS THAT WALK ABOUT THOUGH SOME SUCH SOURCES MUST HAVE BEEN IMPORTANT TO THEIR ORIGINS AND EARLY EVOLUTION. I SUSPECT THAT THEY HAVE SINCE LEARNED TO TAP THE ENERGIES OF NUCLEAR DECAY. I WOULD CHECK TO SEE IF THEY ARE RADIOACTIVE."
The suggestion rocked Ed. Radioactive? What the hell! "SWELL, JERRY! THE JANTS HERE TIRE, AND WE NEED TO CUT THIS CONVERSATION OFF. ANY OTHER QUICK ADVICE?"