History
Nothing is known of the pre-history of Mercury before the arrival of the Terrans. There is evidence of an ancient, long-lived race of silicon-based life-forms, but their day had passed long before the Terrans came (Shannach-The Last). The only intelligent forms of life found on Mercury were small furred humanoids, who lived a Stone-Age existence among the rocks of the Twilight Belt by hunting the rock-lizard.
The Terrans who came to Mercury were primarily involved in exploiting Mercury's rich mineral resources under the auspices of various companies, such as Mercury Metals and Mining and the similarly named (if not identical) Mercurian Metals. Few of them were adequately prepared for the rigors of the life; the brutal climate of Mercury, its swings between heat and cold, its electrical storms, and its severe exposure to solar radiation caused a terrible mortality. Terro-Mercurians tend to have ebony-black skin and dark hair, by which they can generally be recognized throughout the Solar System (Shadow over Mars; Queen of the Martian Catacombs).
Read more about this topic: Mercury In The Fiction Of Leigh Brackett
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Regarding History as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of States, and the virtue of individuals have been victimized—the question involuntarily arises—to what principle, to what final aim these enormous sacrifices have been offered.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“America is, therefore the land of the future, where, in the ages that lie before us, the burden of the World’s history shall reveal itself. It is a land of desire for all those who are weary of the historical lumber-room of Old Europe.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passé abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)