“I got nothing from you in the last 3 hours. Can you check please?”
Manfred opened his email client and looked at his sent emails folder. There was only one email sent to Tania Klum. He opened the email and it was the one he thought he had sent to Dr. Taylor.
“Holy cow, Jim! I accidentally sent that email to Tania. You remember my ex-girlfriend you met two months ago? “
“Why would you do such a thing? She is a journalist – she must have leaked the story,” said Jim getting now clearly agitated.
“It was an accident! I just sent the links and few graphs of the signal and some initial thoughts on why this signal would be from extraterrestrial source. She is not smart enough to create a story,” Manfred was explaining clearly frustrated.
“Wait Manfred...there are some people outside my office! Don't respond to any reporters or journalists. Keep your phone off. I will talk to you over Skype in a bit. Bye,” Jim was now getting really anxious.
Jim walked across the room and opened his office door. There were six reporters with video camera crew and bright lights turned on.
“Dr. Taylor - how would you comment on the recent news that your colleague Dr. Manfred Kramer has discovered extraterrestrial signals that contain videos from 9/11 terrorist attacks?”
“No comments,” Jim said and pushed through the crowd and started walking quickly through the corridor. News crews were following him asking more questions.
Jim rushed to the parking lot and stepped inside his car. He was driving fast and didn't see anybody following him. He drove towards home thinking of his next steps. Obviously the secret about the extraterrestrial signal had been leaked but he didn't understand the questions related to 9/11 and videos about terrorists. What had 9/11 to do with the signal they just received from Gliese 3742? This didn't make any sense at all.
WASHINGTON D.C.
AT 3:48 PM Eric Neumann got 3 text messages at once:
“Have you seen the news?” from his wife Janice.
“We need to talk” from Steven White
“Eric – can you come to the Oval Office now?” from the President.
Eric excused himself from the budget meeting and called Steven quickly while walking towards the Oval Office.
“Steven – what's up? I have been in a budget meeting all afternoon,” Eric asked.
“Eric – breaking news. Some German astronomer has detected extraterrestrial signals. Europeans claim they have decoded 9/11 videos of the terrorist attack. We need to prepare a statement for the President. Do you know any details about this?”
“Darn – admiral Rodgers from the NSA called me this morning. He was talking about a discovery of significant political and scientific importance. He is meeting with the President at 4:45 PM. I tried to ask for more details but he wanted to discuss this in person with the President,” Eric explained. “Hey – I need to call you back. I am expected in the Oval Office now.”
Eric Neumann stepped into the Oval Office. President Walker was on the phone and waved Eric in.
“I see. Uhum...have you confirmed these details yet?” Walker was asking. He listened on the phone and waved Eric to sit down.
“OK, let me get my team together. Can you join us as soon as possible? Looks like I need to address the nation tonight. Thanks for the heads up,” Walker finished the call and turned his attention to Eric.
“Eric – I am quite disappointed that you have kept me out of the loop. Have you heard the news?”
“Mr. President, are you referring to the news about the German astronomer detecting extraterrestrial signals?” Eric was blushing.
“Dr. Manfred Kramer, he is an astrophysicist and not an astronomer. I was just talking to Admiral Rodgers who was kind enough to fill me in with the details. Why didn't you re-arrange my schedule when a matter of this political and scientific importance came up? “
“I am sorry, Sir. Admiral Rodgers didn't provide me with any details when he called me a few hours ago.”
“Well Eric – it is your job to know all the details. Let's get the rest of my afternoon re-scheduled – we need to address this matter immediately and get our plan of action together. Get all cabinet members here immediately and get Steven here, I need to address the nation tonight” Walker said decisively.
THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON D.C.
4:30 PM Cabinet room in West Wing, the White House, Washington D.C.
Cabinet members and the President met with Admiral Rodgers, the Director of the National Security Agency. Admiral Rogers started a briefing of the day's events.
“Dr. Jim Taylor from Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York and Dr. Manfred Kramer from Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany made a scientific discovery starting at 8:46 AM EST this morning when observing microwave radio signals from a red dwarf star system Gliese 3742 that is 7.98 light years from Earth. This radio signal was originally captured using Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Dr. Taylor discovered anomalies that he could not explain and to confirm this discovery he contacted Dr. Kramer and they took action and engaged with operators of Medicina Radio Observatory near Bologna, Italy and Parkes radio telescope in Australia. They captured all together 193 minutes of data from this event, of which 163 minutes from these secondary telescope sites.”
“Based on the analysis done by Dr. Taylor and Dr. Kramer who are both established experts in astrophysics the source of this signal is not a natural phenomena. NSA analysis of the data confirms that this radio signal is coming from an extraterrestrial intelligent source. Dr. Kramer who sent an email to Ms. Tania Klum, a freelance journalist based in Berlin, made this discovery public. We don't yet know why Dr. Kramer took such action. He is a well known and respected astrophysicist with over 100 published papers. Ms. Klum then posted a link to the materials to Twitter where it was quickly shared to thousands of people around the world.”
“A Finnish citizen, Ms. Julia Koski, downloaded a copy of the captured data files and to our surprise she was able to decode the message in approximately 30 minutes. Ms. Koski appears to be very talented and has some very unusual combination of skills. Our best NSA analysts are still working on trying to replicate all details of Ms. Koski's analysis that she posted to her blog approximately 2 hours ago. The signal contains a clear mathematical pattern encoded using prime numbers. We have confirmed however, that the software Ms. Koski posted does correctly decode the message embedded in the signal.”
“The decoded message contains a seven second video clip from 9/11/2001 showing World Trade Center South Tower collapsing in New York City. This particular video clip was repeated tens of thousands of times during and after the days following the terrorist attack in 9/11 by most of the TV broadcast stations on the planet. Our NSA analysts believe that the extraterrestrials responsible for sending this signal selected this particular video clip to ensure that they will get our maximum attention. They must have observed radio and TV signals from Earth for a period of time. Given that Gliese 3742 is approximately 7.98 light years away from Earth we believe that the fact we received this signal exactly 16 years after the actual events took place is deliberate act and it does demonstrate intelligence and planning.”
Cabinet members listened to the presentation quietly. For a moment there was a deep silence in the room. They watched the all too familiar video clip that Admiral Rodgers was projecting on the screen.
“Is this message a threat towards Earth? Why would they pick pictures from our worst day just to say hello?” President Walker asked.
“Our analysts reviewed many different possible scenarios. We don't think it is a threat. This message was carefully selected on purpose to ensure quickest possible escalation to the top. We believe that the extraterrestrials do know about our culture and political structure and that they have observed Earth for decades.”
President Walker asked, “Where are Dr. Taylor, Dr. Kramer and this Ms. Koski currently?”
Admiral Rodgers replied, “According to NSA sources Dr.
Taylor was in his office at Cornell University about 15 minutes ago talking to Dr. Kramer. Dr. Kramer is based in Bonn, Germany – he was logged into his computer at Max Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy also 15 minutes ago. Ms. Koski was last connected to the Internet approximately 2 hours ago from her home address in Helsinki, Finland. Her cellphone is located in the same address.”
President Walker said “Well, don’t just sit there. We need to get them here immediately to investigate this matter thoroughly. “
“Evelyn, talk to the FBI and ask them to bring Dr. Taylor here. John, call our embassy in Bonn and ask them to bring Dr. Kramer here the fastest possible way. Also, call our embassy in Helsinki and do the same with Ms. Koski. This is a matter of national security. Use whatever means necessary to convince these people to come. James, can you provide logistics support from Air Force if needed? Keep me posted on your progress. “
“Donald, can you make sure that we have all suitable radio telescopes around the world ready to receive any further extraterrestrial communications from this source?” Walker requested.
President Walker turned to Steven White. “What is the situation with the media? If this was made public two hours ago there must be quite a media circus going on already?”
“Yes, Mr. President. There is a lot of speculation and activity already on over 50 smaller news sites and networks. I do expect to see major networks publishing breaking news any minute. I would recommend that we prepare a statement for you to address the nation tonight given the gravity of the situation. This matter is of great political and scientific importance,” Steven said wondering how he would be able to get the statement prepared in time. “Shall I notify the networks so that they can get ready for you, say at 8:00 PM EST?”
“Yes, Steven. Please do. This is our opportunity to show U.S. leadership in this unique, historical situation. Please prepare the statement and make sure it will be of highest, enduring quality. We need to position the message carefully to make the right impact. This day will be remembered as the day when humanity made the first contact with another intelligent life form in our galaxy,” Walker said feeling the gravity of the moment.
ITHACA
WHEN JIM WAS pulling home he noticed a black van across the street. As he parked his car on driveway there were three men in dark suits walking towards him.
“Dr. Jim Taylor?” one of them asked.
“Yes – I am Jim Taylor.”
“Special Agent Robert Deeley from the FBI. Sir, you need to come with us.”
“Why? I haven't done anything criminal.”
“Sir, this is a matter of national security. Please come with us.”
“Why? Can you please explain what is going on?”
“This is about the material your colleague Dr. Manfred Kramer published on the signal you discovered earlier today. We urgently need your assistance and co-operation, doctor. We need you in a briefing in Washington D.C. We have a jet plane waiting for you,” agent Deeley explained.
“Right now?” Jim asked and saw a van with Channel 5 News logo driving towards his house.
“Yes, right now Dr. Taylor. Please come with us,” agent Deeley said with a firm voice.
“OK. Let's go then,” Jim said in order to escape another news crew and their questions. He was still confused and wondering what had happened, but hoped that he would get some clarity in Washington D.C. Apparently some high-ranking government officials were recognizing the importance of this discovery.
Jim walked with the FBI agent to the black van. The van took off and immediately headed towards the airport. At the airport they drove to the private jet departure area. Agent Deeley walked him to the waiting jet plane and Jim stepped in. Five minutes later the jet was on its way from Ithaca to Washington D.C.
HELSINKI
IT WAS AFTER midnight in Helsinki when Julia woke up. Somebody was knocking at her door. She got up and peeked through a peephole – there were two men in dark suits outside of her apartment. They looked like military personnel with shaved heads and muscular bodies. Not Finns based on their clothing style, though.
Julia asked without opening her door “What's up? Who is there? Kuka siellä?”
“Ms. Julia Koski?” asked the man with a clear American accent.
“Yes. I am Julia Koski”
“Ms. Koski – I am special agent Jack Owens from the United States Embassy. We need to talk to you.”
“Why do you need to talk to me?” asked Julia still keeping her door shut.
“Ms. Koski - this is a matter of national security for the United States. Could you open the door please? ” said agent Owens.
“Can I see some identification please?” asked Julia opening the door a bit but kept the security chain attached.
“Here is my passport and identification card Ms. Koski. We really need to talk to you urgently. I think you might know why, ” agent Owens said.
Julia looked at the U.S. passport and ID card issued by the U.S. Embassy - they both looked real. She had seen U.S. passport before, as her uncle Ville Koski was a U.S. citizen living in Virginia. Agent Owens had a southern accent; he sounded much like her dad's friends from Dallas, Texas. Julia sometimes had difficulties reading people but Jack Owens seemed trustworthy.
“OK. Come in. Sorry it is a bit messy here,” Julia said opening the door and handing over the passport and ID card back to agent Owens.
Two men entered Julia's apartment, took their shoes off (Julia was delighted that they were well trained on Finnish customs) and sat down at a kitchen table.
“Ms. Koski, we are here because of the blog entry that you posted to the Internet about 2 hours and twenty minutes ago. We have orders from the highest level of the U.S. Government to ask for your assistance and we would like you to join us for a briefing in Washington D.C. - we have a private jet waiting for you at the airport.”
“Is this because of that stupid hoax that this Tania Klum person tweeted about? I just looked at the files and decoded the message. It was really not that difficult,” said Julia and thought that perhaps she shouldn't have downloaded the files. Perhaps they were supposed to be secret?
“Am I in big trouble now?” she asked with a concerned voice.
“No ma'am. You are not in any kind of trouble. The U.S. Government is asking for your assistance. We would need to leave soon – the jet plane is ready for departure in 30 minutes. Can you pack some clothes please – we will take care of everything else,” agent Owens said and tried to calm down Julia.
Julia was thinking for a moment. She had one project that she was working on but that could wait a few days. A trip to the U.S.A in a private jet sounded great. She might use the opportunity to visit her uncle living in Virginia.
“OK. I will come. Give me 5 minutes and I will pack my stuff,” Julia said. She went to her bedroom, changed quickly and took a fresh pair of jeans, T-shirts and underwear and a nice dark dress in her backpack. She also took her passport, laptop and iPhone. She texted her dad “a quick visit to the East Coast, xoxo”.
45 minutes later Julia Koski was on her way from Helsinki to Washington D.C. She was enjoying this new experience in a private jet. “Not a bad deal for 30 minutes of hacking,” Julia was thinking.
BONN
MANFRED KRAMER WAS getting worried. He had not heard back from Jim for over an hour. He had opened Google News and found his name on the front page. He read a few articles and apparently Tania Klum had posted the details of his email to Jim Taylor in Twitter and some Finnish hacker managed to download the Gliese 3742 FITS files and decode a message that contained a video clip from 9/11 showing the World Trade Center tower collapsing. That didn't make any sense at all - why would the extraterrestrial signal coming from some 8 light years away contain such a message?
Manfred was thinking what to do next. He could stay in the office and continue to analyze the signal. It was getting late and Manfred realized that he had not had anything to eat since morning. He decided to go out and have a quick
bite before coming back to the office.
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