Chapter 7 — An Alien Hand

Tilloo is a young boy who lives with his parents beneath the surface of a planet in an underground habitat maintained under artificial conditions. He has heard and read about the sun and stars but has never seen them.

The passage leads from the underground habitat to the planet's surface, where the air is too thin to breathe and the temperature is so low that an ordinary person would freeze to death. Only select trained personnel equipped with special suits and oxygen reservoirs are permitted to go there.

Tilloo gets hold of his father's security card while his father is taking a siesta, slips past his watchful mother, and uses the card to open the metal door barring the passage, just as he had seen his father do.

Invisible mechanical security devices detect and photograph Tilloo as he enters the passage. His picture is sent to the Central Bureau for checking, and before he has advanced ten paces, security staff escort him firmly back home.

Tilloo's father belongs to the team responsible for keeping watch on and servicing the machines — including those powered by solar energy — that are located on the surface and make underground life possible. He survives by wearing a special suit with a reservoir of oxygen and boots designed for surface walking, and he has been specially trained for surface work.

The sun changed only slightly but enough to upset the balance of nature on the planet. Birds became extinct first, then animals, then fish. The community survived only because of superior technology and was forced to move underground to live under artificial conditions, generating power from solar energy.

A moving dot is spotted on the big TV screen — unlike a star, it is changing position, and the computer gives a trajectory showing it is heading towards the planet. It is identified as a spacecraft, which is surprising because the solar system was not known to have life anywhere else, and the planet had no space programme of its own.

The President informs the Central Committee that two spacecraft are approaching: one is already orbiting their planet while the other is still far away. He states they are believed to come from a neighbouring planet and asks the committee how they should react.

Number One (in charge of defence) says the spacecraft can be totally destroyed with missiles, or rendered ineffective after landing; he notes the craft contain only instruments, not living beings. Number Two (the scientist) recommends non-interference and passive observation, arguing it would be unwise to reveal their existence since the power and intentions of the senders are unknown.

Number Three, a social scientist, agrees with Number Two and goes further: he says surface activities should be kept to a minimum to create the impression that there is no life on the planet, noting that the surface conditions already give that impression naturally.

Tilloo presses the most prominent button on the control panel — the red one — out of an irresistible desire. This causes the mechanical hand that had extended from the alien spacecraft and touched the planet's soil to stop working. His father pulls him away and restores the red button to neutral, but the damage is already done.

At a NASA press conference, a scientist describes it as a technical malfunction in the mechanical hand that was meant to dig Martian soil for examination. The technicians later fix it, the hand resumes collecting soil samples, and NASA finds no signs of life on the planet.

The story is written by Jayant Narlikar. It connects to NASA's real Viking Mission to Mars: Viking 1 was launched on 20 August 1975 and arrived at Mars on 19 June 1976; Viking 2 was launched on 9 September 1975. The mission's two landers conducted biology experiments but found no clear evidence of living microorganisms near the landing sites.

Yes. The complete NCERT textbook PDF for Class 7 English — An Alien Hand is available free on CBSE PrepMaster. No sign-up or payment is needed; you can read or download it directly.