‘Ruins’ by Eleanor Arnason (2015)
Collected in Old Venus, Titan Books, 2015, 2016, approx. 41 pgs (253-294pg).
A safari for National Geographic takes a surprisingly political turn in this story from Eleanor Arnason. Collected in Old Venus (which is a hefty collection of short stories all set on or around the planet Venus), we are introduced to a very different Venusian landscape to the one in our own solar system. When the meteor, which struck Earth all those millions upon millions of years ago, seeded life on our planet, it also struck Venus on its way out. Developing its own flora and fauna, Venus eventually became a focus of vicious competition between the USSR and the USA, ultimately bankrupting the former and distracting the latter from the more pressing environmental damage Earth itself was facing. Now, Venus is a sort of tourist destination, but one which struggles to make enough revenue, with shanty towns and rundown settlements (of both ex-Soviet and capitalist sensibilities) dotting the edges of the huge swathes of Jurassic-like jungles and forests.
Our protagonist is photographer Ash Weatherman, a resident of Venusport, who is approached in a bar by a representative from the National Geographic, Hong Wu. He explains that the company wants “to do a story about the megafauna on Venus.” [254] We learn that Earth’s residents love learning about big animals, the scarier the better in many cases, as thanks to the “lost wilderness of Earth,” Terran megafauna is now largely confined to zoos. Venus is still wild, with flora and fauna evolved differently from our own – the planet is populated by alien creatures which formed from “single-cell[s]” and thanks to “their own evolutionary history” are unrelated to the animals of Earth. “[W]ith no cute, furry animals,” it is more akin to a pre-human Earth, with its huge amphibian-like animals, and pterosaurs in the skies above.
Jobs on Venus, in its few existing settlements, are poor or hard to find, and so tourism is an immediate boon. Knowing some guides from Petrograd (the last Soviet outpost on Venus, despite the collapsed regime on Earth), Ash agrees to help Wu’s team when they land. Venus’ unemployment isn’t the only defining factor of life on the little planet: the houses are largely made of concrete blocks, with some exceptions, and are often made by a 3D-printing process (rooms can be bought furnished and replicated on and on), which gives the human side of Venus a somewhat depressing and artificial feel. The wilds of Venus are still largely untouched, however, and uninhabited, except certain areas which are owned by wealthy companies or conglomerates. Interestingly, the CIA still own certain areas of the bush, being sinister throwbacks to the old Cold War, and something of an insult for the local ex-Soviets who refuse to trust the group still. Venus’ human side and its indigenous side are very different things it seems.
On her way back to her dingy little apartment, Ash passes some of the fauna of the planet, such as the amphibian-like pig creatures which sift through trash in an empty lot, and the scorpion-like creature, a species which is rife on the planet as a pest (often poisonous, sometimes deadly). She crushes it beneath her foot with little thought – a reminder that both human and scorpion are violent inhabitants of a largely benign planet. In her flat, we are introduced to her pet pterosaur, a little talkative creature with blue feathers, called Baby. Baby is an example of one of the more curious creatures of Venus – a dinosaur-like creature who is of above-average intelligence, talking in simple sentences like a parrot, but capable of talking back and conversing. A very cute addition. When contemplating her inquisitive little pet, she thinks to herself how the phrase “No one had expected” [259] was always quite appropriate about Venus. Venus is something of a misunderstood planet, harbouring many surprises. Its misunderstood nature is reflected in Petrograd guide, Arkady Volkov’s frequent musings that despite the planet’s similarities to Earth’s Triassic or Jurassic period, it is in neither era and that he has met many tourists who mistakenly assume the planet must be overran with Earth’s kind of dinosaurs (the pterosaurs of Venus, we are reminded, are not the same as Earth’s ancient ancestors….) [277].
This guide, Arkady, is still very much a Soviet supporter at heart, berating the USA and, particularly, the neighbouring CIA’s compounds for leaving Petrograd to rot – as well as lambasting the local council who are no longer the proud political party men they used to be. Agreeing to set up a team, Arkady hires Boris (another Soviet resident) to be driver, and Irina and Alexandra (also residents of Petrograd) as security detail. Equipped with heavy-grade weaponry and two combat vehicles called Ural 6420’s [260], they arrange to meet at Petrograd as soon as National Geographic get their team together.
The journalists for the Geographic Ash meets are not Wu, but a colleague of his called Jasper Khan* (**here a seeming editorial error appears as Jasper’s name changes to Jason later in the story – there’s no reason or introduction for this, and I assume it’s an error that wasn’t caught, as on pg 268 the character-previously-known-as-Jasper introduces himself again as ‘Jason Khan’ – so I’ll refer to him as ‘Khan’ to avoid the confusion...ok? ok…), and Khan’s colleague, a tall, four-legged, spider-like camera robot called Margaret, or Maggie, for short, who is quite sweet-mannered and gently-spoken. They fly to Petrograd by plane, with Ash bringing her pet pterosaur Baby along, and meet Arkady and co., and set off into the wilds of Venus.
The journalists with Irina and Alexandra in one vehicle and Ash, Arkady, Boris, and Baby in the other, drive towards an outpost to stay for the night, filming as they go. Ash muses aloud to Arkady about why she was hired in particular, wondering if National Geographic is just as interested in Venusian human life too, and Arkady notes that Venus’ split between the “Ishtar Terra” and “Aphrodite Terra” territories (and its respective American and Russian influences) is likely a good tourist grab too. It becomes very clear that Arkady and Boris, as pro-Lenin as they are, they are also very pro-tourism and anything to boost those numbers is a win-win.
On the way to the wilds, they pass “agricultural land: bright green fields of modified Earth crops,” [263] and through the heavy rain they see the bright luscious greens of the Venusian forests, closed off for security reasons by large metal fences (which helps to keep the more dangerous fauna in, and keep non-permitted humans out – we’ve learned that many sections of the wild are owned by companies who don’t want prying eyes, whilst mine fields from the Cold War are still an issue in guiding tourists safely from zone to zone).
It is when they reach the first outpost, a comfortable concrete building surrounded by an electric fence, to protect the inhabitants from dangerous wildlife, that the first sign that something sinister is going on is revealed. Boris is certain someone has been staying in the building in the tour company’s absence [267]. He later emerges triumphant, holding a big scorpion, which, after snipping off its head to prevent its harming any of them, reveals a small chip inside: “a tiny silver bead. Barely visible silver wires radiated out from it.” [273] Arkady and Boris explain that the CIA are suspected of still spying on their Soviet neighbours – introducing a conspiracy that Petrograd and Aphrodite Terra are being left to rot in poverty, driving ex-Soviets to American-ran Ishtar Terra and Venusport for work instead [272]. The CIA, it is surmised, have sent some of their agents to bug the outpost and the scorpion is just one of their bio-experiments, creating creatures outfitted for spying [274]. A morbid thought.
They set off the next morning and Ash suggests they take the journalists somewhere more exciting – something they can really film and photograph – but Arkady is reluctant to go off-course. “We are thinking about that,” he says, cryptically. “But not today.” [275] They film some more of the animals of Venus, particularly the larger wild pterosaurs, though Arkady reveals despite the odd dangerous crocodile-like species, there are few Apex predators on the planet: “Apex predators are always rare,” he explains. “This is not Earth in the Jurassic.” [276] Venus remains misunderstood even by disappointed Khan, who hoped for something more exciting. Margaret the robot, however, seems to be enjoying herself, which seems to say a lot about the contentedness of the machine over the humans around her: “Maggie was perfectly content, in spite of the lack of drama.” [276]
The second outpost is devoid of scorpion spies, and we learn more about Venus: that it has few natural resources, being too expensive to ship them back besides (“the shipping costs were ridiculous” [277]), and though “some people retired to the gated communities near Venusport,” the over-arching poverty of the place and its being “empty of humanity” [277] has left Venus is an odd purgatory of being potentially very wealthy and attractive to the inhabitants of the dying, troubled Earth, yet is largely abandoned and seen as a money-pit by the ruling classes. There’s an understated sadness I felt in this too: a largely benevolent wilderness at risk of being exploited by more humans, and yet humanity needs something to save it too. A larger political landscape is shown in moments like this, and, though fleeting, they colour the world-building perfectly.
Arkady’s tour the next day goes off-trail, much to Ash’s surprise, and they come to what seems to be a series of rings of stone, sharp to the touch, and alien in appearance. Shocked, the crew take photos, whilst Arkady muses that in mapping it looked more like a series of craters than purposeful structures. Arkady explains that they had heard of some excavation in the area a long time ago but “Moscow said exploration could wait.” [279] By the time the men of Petrograd were ready to go look at the anomaly, “the CIA was in the area.” [279] It doesn’t take long before the team is confronted, however, by a hologram of a soldier, who gives them a rather lacklustre threat that they are surrounded by guns. Shortly after, a vehicle emerges, with CIA operatives inside, who arrest the crew and take them to their nearby HQ. Something of a turn of events, and before the ruins can really be fully explored, they are spirited away to an even stranger location.
This turn in the story takes away from some of the wonder and natural intrigue, but does bring in another element: the ongoing political divide of Venus, and the very secretive parts of it. The CIA headquarters are in the side of a huge rock-face, which consists of glassy rock tunnels running inside, lit by man-made light, and dotted with ancient fossils throughout; the rock being the same sort of material as the odd spiralling structures they just saw. Inside, the team is ferried to an office (Ash noting its one of the 3D-printed designs she’s familiar with – so much for American wealth here, it seems [283]), where they meet the two head agents of the excavation: Brian, and androgynous Mike. The two agents, clearly over-worked, and largely bereft of a workforce, demand to know why the team is there when a deal was set with Petrograd to keep out prying eyes (Arkady’s suspicions of his countrymen’s dalliance with capitalist intrigue proves correct). Their interview is cut short when a large non-toxic scorpion crawls over the rock walls into the office, terrifying phobic Brian, and humouring lackadaisical Mike. After it is squashed, Arkady accuses the agents of using spy-scorpions to spy on Russian workers, using the one found in the first outpost as an example [286]. The conflict becomes more heated when Boris and Arkady further accuse the CIA of lying when one of them lets slip that the CIA simply suspect two breeds of scorpion are cross-breeding, making their local pest problem worse: an impossibility if you know the local fauna [286-7]. “‘They must have wanted something that could live in sewers and the crawl spaces of buildings,'” Arkady put in. “‘And that was toxic. It sounds like a weapon that could be used against Petrograd.'” [287] After a scuffle, the agents are over-powered, despite their insistence that the CIA is due to quit the area anyway, and the team leave the ruins, with Margaret and Khan ready to show the world(s) their ongoing exposé. [289] So much for the fauna think-piece!
On the drive back to civilisation, Ash has more questions than answers. The headquarters setting in the ruins was bizarre enough, but alongside the strange structure they briefly saw…if it wasn’t man-made then who could have made it? There is no life on Venus which is so advanced…which could only mean that another visitor must have arrived before humanity did. Signs of a third kind of life, something advanced at that, haunts her thoughts: “Ash could feel her heart beating rapidly. Her mouth was dry, and she was shaking. Fear fighting with amazement. She had been inside ruins built by aliens.” [289] Arkady finally lets slip that Boris and he had known what the structure was all along – they never suspected it was just a crater, but knew that it was a sign of further extraterrestrial life: “we don’t know what they are. Ball courts? Fishponds? Temples?” [291] Boris and Arkady explain that they planned to have the journalists write their exposé as “the entire solar system pays attention to the National Geographic,” [290] and that it will only increase visitor numbers and boost Petrograd’s waning economy. “Do you have any idea how much money Petrograd could make from tourism if we had authentic alien ruins?” [290] The two reveal that, a while ago, a small alien figurine was recovered, depicting a bipedal creature, similar in shape to a human but quite different in appearance, and that it has been kept in Petrograd’s museum for some time in secret [290] – further evidence of alien visitation on Venus, but also more impetus for foreign trade to the forgotten town…
As they head back, Ash begins to wonder if the figurine, ignored for so long, is really just fake, or if “[Moscow was] afraid it. Would fear have made them put it in a museum and forget it?” [293] The ruins and circle are harder to fake – sure, they could be a long con, yet there was something so otherworldly about them… Thinking on troubled Earth, she wonders what a discovery would even mean to them there: “what difference would knowledge of them make to Earth, shambling towards destruction?” [294] And what happened to those visitors? Despite all her musings and worries, Ash’s story ends as Baby the pterosaur coos, “Turn light off. […] Sleep.” [294] Big questions, put to bed.
The story here is no doubt a strange one. I loved the images of the flora of Venus and the bizarre animals that roam its lush surface. The worldbuilding here is strong and imaginative and the towns of Venusport and Petrograd are so well described that it’s almost hard to not imagine Venus is this remote wilderness retreat after all. An afterword clarifies how Venus’ daytime hours are closer to Earth and Mars +/- 24hr cycle thanks to the meteor’s knocking it onto a different course, and the idea of Venus being a contested Cold War territory is entertaining too. I do wonder also if Boris and Arkady are nods to (personal favourites of mine) the Strugatsky Brothers, science fiction writers during that Cold War period, who wrote Roadside Picnic and Hard to be a God; the former of which I was reminded of with the guides and the use of zoning in more dangerous areas. The story seems to waver for me a little with the introduction of the CIA agents, who at times seem a little too quirky, when the undercurrents of the novel had such a sinister and suspicious tone. The ruins which give the story the title, and its later dramatic reveal that Venus has likely had another invasive alien species visit it, were intriguing, but the story ends before Ash’s questions can be answered, or these themes explored more. A larger novel set on this version of Venus would not go amiss! Overall, a strange but powerfully imaginative story, presenting a breathing and real-feeling Venus, one full of wonder and mystery, but one that is also being torn apart by very human squabbles.
Superkick Writes 
Great post 😊
LikeLike