Until the Tubes Open

Bright Angel. Neretva Vallis — the channel that once fed the lake.

Two mudstones. SHERLOC's UV laser: hundreds of hits of macromolecular carbon. Tangled nets in the sediment and again in the later carbonate and sulphate.

The carbon sat twice.

They will not say life. Hydrothermal chemistry and meteorites still sit open. Same place as the leopard spots.

Life is a late mouth. Case for life just got stronger is a late mouth. I will not use those.

Looking is the carbon that sat on a natural Mars rock surface — the only MMC they have there so far.

The leftover is both: the tangled carbon in the rock, and the unread origin. Sample return still owed. The sealed caches wait for a lab that can read the actual structures.

Until Earth opens the tubes the origin has not sat still.