Solaris

Once alone, Kris takes off his space suit and takes a shower. He wonders what caused the chaos on the space station and feels troubled by the death of Gibarian that morning. At the same time, he is excited to investigate a planet discovered 100 years before he was born. Kris begins to review what he knows about Solaris and why it is such a unique focus of scientific study. When Solaris was discovered, it seemed ordinary, except for one feature:

Solaris became the center of attraction for all observatories concerned with the study of this region of space, for the planet had in the meantime showed the astonishing faculty of maintaining an orbit which ought, without any shadow of doubt, to be unstable (17).

As scientists studied Solaris, some came to believe that the planet was a living entity that avoided falling into its two suns by simply holding its place between them. Kris details a number of researchers, scientific studies, and expeditions to the planet meant to determine if it was living, and if so, whether or not humans could communicate with it. Despite a number of experiments, there was no definitive response from the planet. Many researchers decided Solaris was a primitive form of life, a waste of time. Kris learns from recent reports that Gibarian and Sartorius irradiated the ocean with powerful X-rays in a dangerous, illegal way according to human conventions; their experiment was unsanctioned.

In preparation for his appointment with Snow, Kris goes to Gibarian’s room. In the midst of its disarray, he finds a tape recorder with a lengthy message. He takes it as well as a cryptic note referring to a book called The Little Apocrypha. As Kris leaves the room, he encounters a tall Black woman in the hallway who silently passes him into the room. He is stunned by this stranger.

Kris goes to the radio room, where Snow sits eating a canned meal. He decides to keep his encounter with the woman to himself, as he wants to see what he can learn from Snow. The two have a competitive conversation in which each tries to discover what the other understands about what is happening at the station. Snow confronts Kris about going into Gibarian’s room, and Kris confronts him about the woman. Snow reveals Gibarian died by his own hand, but refuses to explain who the woman is and where she came from.

Following his encounter with Snow, Kris reluctantly returns to Gibarian’s office. He decides he must find the book detailing early exploration of Solaris. Though the office is a mess, he finds the book, which details an accident. Someone underlined the name of a helicopter pilot named Berton, who survived the accident but refused to fly out over the ocean again. Afterward, Kris decides to go to the laboratory. Sartorius has barricaded himself and refuses to acknowledge he is inside. Kris threatens to break the door, forcing Sartorius outside. Their heated conversation is interrupted when someone inside the laboratory makes loud noises, and Sartorius cries out and dashes back inside.



Kris decides to find Gibarian’s body in storage. There, he is astonished to see the tall Black woman, alive, lying with Gibarian’s body. Concerned that he is losing his mind and perhaps hallucinating, Kris decides to test himself by doing a series of calculations and checking them against the station’s computer.

After a refreshing night’s sleep, Kris wakes the next morning and realizes someone is sitting on his bed. He recognizes Rheya, his 19-year-old wife who died by her own hand after an argument 10 years ago. He believes he is dreaming. Rheya moves closer to him, leans down, and kisses Kris. He asks why she has come to him, and she says she does not know. As their conversation continues, he realizes this is no dream, that this “Rheya” is a person who resembles Rheya perfectly. Kris rolls up the sleeve of her dress and sees the dot left by the hypodermic needle she used to end her life.

Kris fears this visitor may attempt to harm him. However, Rheya is placid and confused about what is happening. She asks if something has happened, if she became ill and lost her memories. Kris says she has been slightly ill. He searches for something to tie her up with. As he tries to hold her arms behind her back, she easily throws him aside. When Kris tries to leave the room without her, she refuses to let him go, saying she must remain in his presence.

Kris finds medicine to drug Rheya and tricks her into drinking it. After waiting half an hour, he realizes the drug has no effect. It dawns on him that he could lock Rheya in a shuttle in the launch bay. She follows Kris to the launch area, where he tells her to get inside one of the storage shuttles that locks from outside. He locks her in and has a couple hours to think about what to do. However, the shuttle begins to shake. Kris realizes he must launch it, or Rheya will tear it apart. Though the fire of the launch scorches him, he sends the shuttle into orbit.