Speechless, Hunt and Caldwell continued to watch as the view changed once more. This time it showed something that at first suggested a medium-size ape from the gibbon or chimpanzee family. Closer examination, however, revealed differences that set it apart from the general category of ape. The skull construction was lighter, especially in the area of the lower jaw, where the chin had receded back to fall almost below the tip of the nose. The arms were proportionately somewhat on the short side for an ape, the chest broader and flatter, and the legs longer and straighter. Also, the opposability of the big toe had gone.

Danchekker allowed plenty of time for these points to register before continuing with his commentary.

"Clearly, the creature you now see before you belongs to the general anthropoid line that includes both man and the great apes. Now, remember, this specimen dates from around the early Miocene period. The most advanced anthropoid fossil from around that time so far found on Earth was discovered during the last century in East Africa and is known as Proconsul. Proconsul is generally accepted as representing a step forward from anything that had gone before, but he is definitely an ape. Here, on the other hand, we have a creature from the same period in time, but with distinctly more pronounced humanlike characteristics than Proconsul. In my opinion, this is an example of something that occupies a position corresponding to that of Proconsul, but on the other side of the split that occurred when man and ape went their own separate ways—in other words, a direct ancestor to the human line!" Danchekker concluded with a verbal flourish and gazed at the other two men expectantly. Caldwell stared back with widening eyes, and his jaw dropped as impossible thoughts raced through his mind.

"Are you telling . . . that the Charlie guys could have . . . from that?"

"Yes!" Danchekker snapped off the screen and swung back to face them triumphantly. "Established evolutionary theory is as sound as I've insisted all along. The notion that the Lunarians might have been colonists from Earth turns out indeed to be true, but not in the sense that was intended. There are no traces of their civilization to be found on Earth, because it never existed on Earth—but neither was it the product of any parallel process of evolution. The Lunarian civilization developed independently on Minerva from the same ancestral stock as we did and all other terrestrial vertebrates—from ancestors that were transported to Minerva, twenty-five million years ago, by the Ganymeans!" Danchekker thrust out his jaw defiantly and clasped the lapels of his jacket. "And that, Dr. Hunt, would seem to be the solution to your problem!"

Chapter Sixteen