Dangling Conversations

by Ed Lerner

  Matthews nibbled on one of the biscuits set out by Frau Frisch. Honigkuchen? “Your web posting suggests that you had more success than the task force.”

  “Ah, but I cheated. I have a hobby to help.” He rolled into the adjoining living room and opened a cabinet to reveal a rack-mounted set of ancient stereo components.

  To a crisp, metronome-like performance of the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, Matthews reconsidered his mental dating of the equipment. The sound quality was exquisite, at least as good as that of his own recently purchased stereo. The orange glow of vacuum tubes had clouded his judgement. “I admit it, I'm a transistor chauvinist. These tubes produce a better, truer sound. How long did this take to build?”

  Frisch laughed. “I began in college and I'm not done. In these modern times I must make many of my own tubes. Later, if you wish, I will show you my workshop.”

  “So what do you find most interesting about ET's radio?”

  “Our symbols for electronic components of course differ from ET's. We learned ET's symbols early in the message, in the physics tutorial. Do you agree?”

  “I think so,” said Matthews. “I am not an expert in that part of the message.”

  “ET drew a wet-cell battery and showed it with a new icon. This is how we know his symbol for a voltage source. He made an animation of electrons moving, and another symbol, and we know how he shows current.

  “Then ET drew the simplest possible circuit: the voltage symbol in series with one new symbol. The drawing is above the most familiar of electrical equations.”

  Ohm's law, recalled Matthews: junior-high physics.

  “Obviously, the new symbol is for a resistor,” continued Frisch. “There is also a graph. It is not drawn as we would, but from context, it is recognizable: current versus voltage in the new device. The graph describes a resistor, so the plot is a straight line.”

  Matthews nodded. “We don't know how ET builds a resistor, but the circuit is so simple we were sure to recognize the new element. The real purpose of the chart was to introduce voltage/current plots, transfer functions.”

  “Indeed.”

  “And does ET use transfer-function graphs to describe all of his other circuit elements?”

  Frisch smiled. “Exactly! Later in the message such graphs define many new electrical devices. They behave like diodes, capacitors, inductors, and other familiar parts.”

  “Leaving to us to decide how the component is actually constructed.” Fascinating. “Almost any EE today, seeing a three-terminal amplifying device would assume it was a transistor. He would consider the associated transfer function drawing as a cartoon and dismiss any subtle differences from what is expected of a transistor.”

  “And only a stubborn tube-loving fossil would consider that it could be a tube, a triode.” Frisch once more tapped the tablecloth-sized printout. Despite his obvious excitement, the old EE seemed weary. “But the way ET built his very high powered amplifier section ... it is not like a transistor design. Not like a solid-state design.”

  “We should take a break. Would you mind one more question first?”

  “Please.”

  “For a large radio transmitter, are there reasons to prefer tube technology over solid state?”

  “None.” Frisch rubbed his temple pensively. “ET has many parallel antennas in his phased array, so this task could easily be done with transistors. I have given the matter serious thought.”

  That fit. There was plenty of stress among the engineers assigned to boosting the power of some Earth transmitters, just in case a reply was authorized, but Matthews had heard not one word of worry about integrated circuit inadequacies.

  Mir, thought Matthews. Antinov's advice never to underestimate what could be accomplished using only basics and brute force. “Unless ET doesn't have solid state technology.”

  Transistors and integrated circuits had revolutionized Earth, had made such sweeping changes that no one had considered that the seemingly advanced ET might not have them.

  How valuable to ET would transistors be?

  * * * *

  "The streets of Manhattan were brought to a standstill today, in a limited demonstration of Earth First's resolve.

  "Earth First has united the many communities committed to protecting our world's interests. Our voices include people of faith, supporters of national sovereignty, defenders of our planetary resources, and guardians against extraterrestrial duplicity. We come from every class, country, and continent.

  "Members of COPUOS, disband the Lalande task force, or face our wrath.”

  —Earth First communique

  * * * *

  Within minutes of leaving the Frischs’ apartment, Matthews had phoned Bridget. Within the hour, she was booked on the next flight from Geneva. She brought with Sven Olssen, the ITU analyst who had first recognized ET's radio-frequency replay.

  They began the next day with a whirlwind tour of the old city's medieval cathedral, since Frau Frisch had asked Matthews to delay his return until late morning. Her husband had been exhausted by the excitement.

  “So,” said Herr Frisch, “you return with friends today. These ideas of mine may have some merit.”

  Bridget laid a hand on the German's forearm. “Very much so. Your insights are most helpful. We appreciate your help.”

  “I wish I had insights to offer for the entire design.” Frisch pointed at the alien schematic, still draped across the dining room table. “This whole section continues to elude me.”

  Matthews laughed ruefully. “And an entire UN task force.”

  “Well, as I'm sure everyone has seen, this section provides input to the focusing and aiming circuits that drive the phased array. If so, some of this strange area generates direction information. Parts seem to do signal modulation and frequency shifting. Mostly we see what appear to be control loops. What and how they control I do not understand. It is so complex, loop within loop within loop.”

  They sat staring at the schematic. After a while, Sven said, “If this were software, I'd call it spaghetti code. Everything is intertwined.”

  “While we're admitting to odd associations, I can top that.” Bridget traced a circuit loop. “I'm reminded of something far more venerable. Maybe it was seeing the old cathedral this morning, but loops within loops bring to mind wheels within wheels. Pre-Copernican astronomy: deferents, epicycles, and equants.”

  Matthews’ mind turned neither to software nor Ptolemaic astronomy. Something in the schematic, or in the comments about the design, reminded him in some way of challenges he'd faced before the task force.

  That was when the metaphorical light bulb of enlightenment switched on.

  CHAPTER 11

  With only twenty days remaining until ET's reply window opened, COPUOS scheduled a task-force review to decide whether and how to respond. Rampaging Earth First protesters delayed the session's start by a day.

  The USG summarized the task force's progress since the last COPUOS review. Completion of reading ET's message. An overview of the catalogue and shopping list. Specific reply windows proposed by ET, the first only nineteen days away—the opportunity after that, two years away. The immense benefits of obtaining ET's offered technologies. Earth's unfortunate lack of answers to ET's questions. The race to enhance Earth's largest transmitters so that ET could detect a signal and not just the carrier wave.

  Then it was Matthews’ turn.

  “Many have expressed surprise, and some disappointment, that ET's message is commercial in nature. That approach has come to make sense to me. Our task force has not been an inexpensive undertaking. Radio telescopes are not inexpensive instruments. Adapting transmitters for interstellar use, sacrificing the use of spectrum ... these are all very real costs. Governments have historically found SETI a hard investment to justify. Dialogue with another star, however intellectually stimulating, can quickly come to seem less worthy of financial support than today's natural disaster or international incident.”

  Em
otionless faces looked back at Matthews, diplomats all skilled at internalizing their reactions.

  “Can humanity maintain a purely intellectual conversation in which answers to our questions will come, at best, after a sixteen-year delay? Will we maintain financial support for such a dialogue? I don't presume to speak for Earth; that is the responsibility first of this committee, and, based on your recommendation, for the entire United Nations. ET, however, has reached a conclusion for his society: communications with Earth are to be self-supporting.

  “So ET constrained our decision: there must be value to him in our reply. Perhaps we can also learn about each other's cultures, but only if our relationship works economically.

  “Here is the crux of our problem. ET has more sensitive radio receivers than we, more powerful transmitters, better telescopes. His knowledge exceeds ours in the areas, chemistry and materials science, in which he solicits our contributions. While there may be exceptions, potentially trade-worthy technologies in our most advanced laboratories, we are entangled in ownership issues here on Earth.

  “The question becomes, simply: what do we have to trade?”

  Ambassador Smythe of Belize cleared her throat. “It is a rather delicious irony that the developed world's knowledge is not commercial.”

  Matthews ignored the barb. “We've all felt hampered throughout this investigation by how little we know about ET. Well, ET knew less about us when he sent his message than we now know about him. Recognizing how ET jumped to conclusions about Earth may help us be more realistic about him.

  “Effectively, ET could hear us whispering, but not make out anything we said. We presume ET sent us a transmitter design because he inferred from our weak transmissions that Earth couldn't talk any louder. That's incorrect. He offers us his sophisticated chemistry, and apparently feels, with no basis that we can see, that our chemistry must be comparably advanced. That is also wrong.

  “The transmitter design is the single largest part of the message. Analysis of the design has been enlightening. It is a more powerful transmitter than humans have cared to build, but we could build a transmitter that powerful if we so chose. The Undersecretary-General has explained how we are working to do just that. The interesting fact about ET's radio design is not its power, but rather something it took a while to recognize.

  “It appears that Earth's electronics technology is far superior to ET's.”

  * * * *

  "Rioting Earth First demonstrators, unsuccessful at preventing the COPUOS hearing for a second day, have shut down areas of Manhattan up to two miles from the UN. Arrests now exceed two hundred. Sympathy protests are causing lesser disruptions in London, Canberra, Tokyo, Berlin, and Paris.

  "Undeterred by but surely not unaware of the violence, the Lalande task force and the committee that oversees it continue to debate whether Earth will reply to ET.”

  —AP World News

  * * * *

  The USG called a ten-minute break after Dean's revelation. Coordinating diplomats was like herding cats: thirty minutes later, the head count had only crept back to a quorum.

  “I worked at a satcom company before joining the task force, and that background provided a useful insight.

  “To be pocket-sized, satellite-capable phones must avoid big batteries and antennas. We put the satellites in low Earth orbit to minimize power requirements for the phones. In these orbits, satellites constantly move in and out of sight. It takes a lot of software to sort out which satellite should handle a particular call, and when to hand off a call to another satellite. Meanwhile, the Earth rotates under the satellites, bringing different ground stations into play.”

  “Yes, yes, Dr. Matthews.” Ambassador Smythe stood in the doorway, back from her extended break. “I'm sure your former employer appreciates the advertisement. It isn't clear that ET would be impressed.”

  Dean decided to overlook both gibes. “Because satellites move along their orbits and ground stations rotate with the Earth, there are continuously varying Doppler shifts over various links. The software must adjust.

  “You'll recall that ET's signal maintained a constant wavelength. Achieving that constancy took correction in real time for the relative motion of ET's star and our sun, for the orbital motion of our planets, and for the rotation of our planets. The calculations resemble those with which I am familiar from the design of satellite constellations.

  “Our analysts have closely studied ET's transmitter design. Two observations surprised them. First, ET's electronics are based not on transistors and integrated circuits, but on vacuum tubes. That was astonishing enough. The second conclusion was more amazing. ET does not employ digital computing.”

  Scattered whispering had erupted in the gallery at the mention of vacuum tubes; the comment about computing elicited even less seemly murmuring. The chairman glared at the small audience. “If necessary, I will clear the room of all staff and invited guests.” He motioned at Matthews to continue.

  “I reviewed my background only to make a point: Doppler correction is familiar to me. The geometry can be messy, but the correction is easily programmed into a standard digital computer. ET has a distinct analog control loop for each component of motion: his planet's orbit, his planet's rotation, Earth's rotation, and so on.” More precisely, and of doubtful interest to the diplomats, ET's transmitter employed coupled feedforward servo controls.

  “ET's system works, or we would never have heard him. Still, by our standards his approach is extremely cumbersome. Each correction factor is provided by a physically separate circuit, involving many vacuum tubes. Tubes are inherently unreliable devices, compared to transistors. That makes his circuits prone to component failures.”

  Crowd noise and the sound of gunfire—from rubber bullets, Dean silently hoped—repeatedly punctuated the briefing. Scowls began exceeding sympathetic expressions as the din rose repeatedly. Had Earth First overplayed its hand?

  He pushed on. “ET's most advanced technologies appear to be chemistry and materials science. In these areas ET clearly exceeds our knowledge. But ET does not know what he does not know: solid state physics. He probably never seriously investigated digital computing: our pre-transistor computers were unreliable novelties, room-sized monstrosities with less computing capability than my wrist watch. Digital computing simply isn't practical without solid-state devices.”

  Once more the roar of angry protesters made speaking difficult. The supposedly multicultural demonstration seemed to have found one voice: obstructionism. Resistance to change. An inarticulate remembrance of his time on the Media committee nagged at his subconscious.

  Dean took a deep breath. “At this time, I'd like to introduce the task force's recommendation. We should respond to the Lalande message, starting transmission in seventeen days as per ET's request. We should order from ET's catalogue.

  “For prepayment, we propose to ignore ET's shopping list. We would instead send introductory instruction in computing and the design of some simple solid-state devices. It need not include anything proprietary. Our accompanying catalogue will be for more advanced device designs and digital algorithms.

  “We would be surprised indeed if ET failed to find these new technologies far more attractive than anything he has requested.”

  * * * *

  In a logical world, the presentation was complete. In this world, the fun had only begun. As Roberto Ramos, the Chilean ambassador, was being recognized, Dean spotted Alex Klein's prearranged gesture identifying a planted question.

  “Dr. Matthews. A point of clarification, please. Is the task force proposing that Earth's trade goods be elementary computing and electronics techniques?”

  “That's correct, Ambassador.”

  “Technology we all,” and here the ambassador's arm sweep encompassed the many nations comprising COPUOS, “have mastered and moved on from.”

  “Yes. ET's science appears not to have gone in those directions.”

  “And in return for our decades-old te
chnology we can expect to receive advanced chemical knowledge. In effect we get something for nothing.” Ramos thumped the table. Around him, many ambassadorial heads were nodding. “How can we lose?”

  “Who are ‘we’ that cannot lose?” The question came from the task force's nemesis, Ambassador Smythe of Belize. “Who obtains this advanced chemistry?”

  “If I may?” It was Khaldun ibn-Saud, ambassador and crown prince of Saudi Arabia (and, Matthews suspected, another Klein ally). “All of our universities have listened to ET. When he responds, all will do so again. We shall all get the new technology.”

  Another outburst from the street interrupted the discussion. Li Zhou Huang, the Chinese ambassador, narrowed his eyes. Despite its extreme understatement, the facial expression left no doubt how Li felt about the disorder. Of course, Dean remembered, his government still rationalized the Tienanmen Square massacre. Talk about cultural differences.

  The physicist's mental alarm triggered again. Putting his trust in his subconscious, he gave less than his full attention to the debate. The ambassadors were talking to each other now, rather than questioning him, anyway. Cultural differences. Cultural sensitivities.

  As controversy raged, the message decoding remained unchallenged. The potential benefit of the proposed swap was uncontested. The subliminal text of Matthews’ briefing, that ET would get technology inferior to what the less prosperous countries had already mastered, seemed to have converted a few ambassadors. That was one cultural sensitivity addressed...

  What was his subconscious poking at?

  A steady stream of objections, orchestrated by Ambassador Smythe, pressed what seemed to be the last counterargument to a reply. Who is this ET? Why is he so secretive? What are his motives? Stripped of all pretense, the obstructionist case was simple xenophobia.