Rendezvous with Rama

When Jimmy regains consciousness, he’s surprised to find a large creature that resembles a crab consuming the remains of Dragonfly. The creature doesn’t notice him, allowing Jimmy to watch it from afar. The creature isn’t actually eating Dragonfly but is systematically deconstructing it with claws. It stores pieces of Dragonfly on its back.

Jimmy shows Hub Control footage of the crab before it finishes demolishing Dragonfly. As the crab scans the area for leftover metal, Jimmy realizes that it’s a robot fitted with mechanical tools. All its parts simply remind him of animal design.

Jimmy follows the crab to see what it will do with Dragonfly’s parts, which include his water and emergency rations. Once he gets close enough, Jimmy retrieves his rations from the crab. They reach one of three large craters on the southern continent, designated “Copernicus.” Copernicus is a well filled with green water. The crab dumps its contents into the well and then starts walking toward Jimmy. Jimmy instinctually thinks that the crab intends to harm him, but it is indifferent to his presence. Jimmy is embarrassed by his assumptions.

Jimmy returns to the lip of Copernicus and sees something moving along one of the three ramps. He can’t believe his eyes as the figure suddenly vanishes. Since Jimmy doesn’t believe in ghosts, he chooses not to report the phenomenon to Hub Control.

Surrounding the path back to the southern cliff is a series of fields set out like a checkerboard, each made of different material. Jimmy passes a square made of quartz crystals. The next square is covered in hollow columns and is impassable. The next squares are made of woven wire and tessellated tiles.

Jimmy passes a square made of slippery material and then one made of sponge. After passing a ploughed field, Jimmy sees a fence surrounding a square. Inside this fence are two more layers of fences. Discerning no way to enter this square, he climbs over each fence and looks at the small hole in the center of the square. The hole breaks into three tunnels. He guesses that the hole is an elevator shaft.

Stretching to the south are leveled fields, all barren. Jimmy tries to take a soil sample, but an impenetrable sheet of plastic stretches over the fields. Behind them are wire trellises that are equally barren except for a single, bright flower. Jimmy doesn’t know if he’s merely imposing his knowledge of flowers on the phenomenon, but he considers its presence a miracle.

Jimmy wants to take the flower for himself, but it’s contained within a pattern of rods. He strips off his clothes to fit through the pattern. He manages to get inside but finds the trip back out more challenging. As he approaches the flower, he wonders why he wants to possess it. He considers various explanations, from its novelty to its reminder of flowers on Earth. Reaching the flower, he decides that it isn’t part of Rama’s design: The flower grew unexpectedly, justifying the act of picking it. He picks the flower and two leaves and then starts to retreat from the grid pattern. The remainder of the plant slinks back into its roots, making Jimmy feel that he killed a beautiful thing. He justifies that if he dies on Rama, then it’s right to take the flower.

the cliff to sending an EVA propulsion unit up with a rescue line. The crisis becomes news across the solar system, driving people across all the settlements to offer possible solutions. Dr. Perera sends a suggestion that shocks Norton. When Mercer confirms that Perera’s solution might work, Norton wonders how to tell Jimmy about it. Mercer suggests waiting until the last minute to give him instructions.

The Resolution sails to the southern cliff with six crew members, led by Norton. When they’re close to the cliff, Norton informs Jimmy that he must jump off the cliff, relying on terminal velocity to break his fall. Norton gives him further instructions for a delayed parachute drop, diminishing his velocity by the time he reaches sea level.

Jimmy tosses his flower down to the sea for his crewmates to retrieve. He then leaps off the cliff, using his shirt as a makeshift parachute. At the last moment, he abandons his shirt and stiffens his body as he plunges underwater. He swims up and eventually reunites with the Resolution crew. Norton gives Jimmy freshwater to rinse out any seawater he has accidentally ingested.

The Horns on the south pole reactivate, rotating fire beams into a cone-shaped light. When the lights stop, Hub Control reports that a violent earthquake shook Rama’s Northern Hemisphere. The Resolution crew sees that the earthquake has caused a tidal wave, which is now quickly approaching them.

Norton confirms that the Endeavour is all right following the earthquake. The ship reports that it’s fine but that Rama’s movement patterns suggest a change in trajectory as it approaches perihelion. Norton gives Barnes command of the Resolution. Barnes deftly navigates through the wave so that the ship can escape being caught in its wake.

Before making landfall, the Resolution crew sees a starfish emerge from the water. Its spoked arms remind Jimmy of the crab he saw, but two of the arms appear to have been broken off. Flanking the starfish are two other creatures, resembling giant lobsters. The lobsters deconstruct the starfish into smaller pieces. Norton orders Barnes to get them back to shore. Once they make it back to safety, Norton resolves that no one will ever sail the Cylindrical Sea again.

Norton institutes new protocols to ensure his crew’s protection from the Raman creatures. He installs one crewmember in the Hub as an observer, watching out for any new developments from afar. This last measure doesn’t prove useful at first since a new creature, resembling a large, three-legged spider, enters the camp just before Norton, Rodrigo, Calvert, and Ernst are scheduled to sleep.

The spider’s fast movements make it difficult to visually track. It roves around the camp, registering every piece of equipment it can find. Ernst suggests catching the spider. Norton discourages this, unsure of how intelligent the spider may be or how it might interpret that action. The spider leaves, and Norton alerts all the crew members across Rama to the presence of the spider, though no one reports anything unusual. Norton warns everyone not to start an unintentional conflict between humanity and the Ramans.

Hours later, hundreds of spiders appear all over Rama’s plains, including the south continent. New York is the only landmass exempt from their presence. Ernst is eager to examine a spider for science but respects Norton’s directive. Norton is convinced that the spiders are surveyors, though it’s unclear what they’re searching for. One of the spiders falls down the vertical face of the Hub, allowing Ernst the chance to study its corpse, just as she hoped.

The spider is easy to dissect. During her examination, Ernst lets out a yell that startles the simps.

At the next meeting of the Rama Committee, the Hermian ambassador is absent. This worries Bose, considering the ambassador’s earlier sentiments.

Professor Davidson speaks up, presenting his conclusions on recent developments. He theorizes that, following the earthquake, Rama is reorienting itself to become part of the solar system. Dr. Solomons elaborates by affirming the earlier suggestion that Rama either navigates orbits through the use of internal gyroscopes or uses a Space Drive propulsion system that flaunts the laws of physics.

Dr. Perera speaks up next, reporting Ernst’s findings about the spider. It’s composed of organic material and light metals. When Ernst dissected the spider, she was startled by a collection of energy cells she found inside the creature, which drives the conclusion that the spider is more robot than animal and that its purpose is to monitor its surroundings. Considering the spider alongside the crab, starfish, and lobsters, the committee members agree that Rama has a hierarchy of robots based on function. While they don’t yet have enough information to explain the robots’ origin, they hope that the Endeavour will soon encounter more complex creatures and glean new insights.

Executive Officer Kirchoff informs Norton of an urgent message from headquarters. Norton immediately recognizes the seriousness of the message, which he can’t read immediately since the code for encrypting the message is back on the Endeavour. Norton instructs Kirchoff to discreetly retrieve his codebook. Kirchoff soon tells him that he’ll personally come down to Camp Alpha to bring Norton the message.

Rousseau stands watch at the Hub, having volunteered for the observer role because of his fascination with telescopes and the spectacular view of Rama. He spends his time entertaining fanciful thoughts about the regions of Rama. With the appearance of the spiders, his role has been renamed “Biot-Watcher-in-Chief,” referring to the informal name the team has given to all the robots, “biots.”

Rousseau creates informal subcategories for the biots. The crab that Jimmy encountered on the south continent is a “Scavenger,” while the lobsters are “Sharks.” In addition, he has identified “Window Cleaners,” biots that are spotted polishing Rama’s six long suns. Newer species emerge on the south continent, though they’re too far away for Rousseau to categorize them. He theorizes that they’re preparing Rama for the reemergence of the Ramans, though when and from where remain uncertain.

Kirchoff emerges through the air lock, catching Rousseau’s attention. Rousseau thinks that Kirchoff is abandoning his post, but Kirchoff hands him a can labeled “CONCENTRATED ORANGE JUICE.” He asks Rousseau to deliver the can to Norton while he returns to look after the Endeavour. Rousseau uses a targeted low-gravity drop to send the can to Camp Alpha.

Norton retrieves the can and reads the urgent message hidden inside. It indicates that Mercury has launched a high-speed vehicle that will reach Rama in seven days. The message suggests that the Endeavour’s crew evacuate Rama as soon as possible. Norton intuits that Mercury’s vehicle is a missile. He destroys the message, wondering what to do next.