The 13th Science Fiction MEGAPACK®: 26 Great SF Stories!

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The 13th Science Fiction MEGAPACK®: 26 Great SF Stories! Page 40

by Lake, Jay


  Another graphic appeared, its blue border suggesting that it came from the shopping-list portion of the message. Dean saw a chemical reaction in which the presumed question-mark character represented a catalyst. Beneath the reaction was a line of three other symbols.

  Matsumoto went on. “Here is a typical frame from the shopping list. It certainly seems plausible that ET is asking if we can identify a catalyst for this chemical reaction. On the next line are the ‘us’ and ‘them’ symbols, Earth and ET, separated by something we didn’t recognize at first: a vector symbol from the early physics tutorial. We think it is used here to show direction.”

  In short, the line read: “Earth to ET.”

  Flick. Another blue-bordered graphic appeared. It, too, showed a chemical reaction, seemingly for a fuel cell. A question mark again stood where a catalyst would be indicated. Beneath that were the us, to, and them symbols—but with one key difference: the direction of the vector was reversed.

  “In addition to what Dean called ET’s shopping list,” said Matsumoto, “we think ET has sent us a catalogue.”

  * * * *

  From the Earth First chat room.

  All_Politics_Is_Local: The $%^#!! UN is still moving toward a reply to ET. How can they be stopped?

  Stop_World_Government: See your verbs, dude? Passive voice! UR the problem. What can *you* do?

  All_Politics_Is_Local: I’ll bite. What can I do?

  Radical_Dude: Be in New York when COPUOS meets next. Earth First is organizing mass demonstrations, with support from around the world. If the UN doesn’t change course, we’ll show them that the Battle of Seattle was only a tea party. Earth’s precious resources are for Earth!

  All_Politics_Is_Local: I have been properly rebuked and reeducated. Earth First!

  Radical_Dude: Amen to that!

  * * * *

  Call it barter, which sounded primitive, or trading intellectual property, or very long-distance e-business. By any name, the task force had finally answered the question, “What does ET want?”

  He wants, it would seem, to learn useful things from us.

  Though something like this had been suspected for days, since Dean and Bridget’s ferry ride, it was more persuasive in Matsumoto’s concise briefing. Consensus quickly jelled on the interstellar trading scenario. Speculation swirled about how the system could work. More heat than light was being generated.

  Matthews coughed for attention. “Koji, could you bring back your first chart?” The image Matthews had requested popped up. “I’m going to climb out on another limb.”

  “As we keep re-learning, ET is very systematic. So why do electronics reappear after the shopping list and catalogue? Koji, might the indigo area be a new tutorial or trade goods?”

  “We see no new symbols in the indigo region, so I would not think it is tutorial. We also found none of the ‘us to them’ or ‘them to us’ phrases, so I do not think indigo relates to trading.”

  “As I expected.” Matthews pushed back his chair, feeling the need to pace. “One of the few things ET already knows about us is that the signals we send, or more accurately leak, are so weak he can barely hear us. That’s pretty clear from the time-lapsed replay of what he’s heard. Surely if ET had extracted any information from Earth’s radio leakage, instead of just our dial tone, he’d have sent a bit of it back to let us know.

  “ET’s transmitter is far more powerful than anything on Earth, or it’s capable of incredibly focused beamcasting, or both. So, another speculation. I bet that the indigo material, the electronics, is a transmitter design. There’s no reason for ET to ask to trade until we learn to speak intelligibly.”

  “Perhaps I can complete the decoding,” added Matsumoto. “If we grant Dean’s speculation, a meaning might also be placed on the last portion. At a high level, as I said, the part of the message coded in violet derives units of measure. This appears to include time intervals and a radio frequency.

  “If Dean is correct, the last part of the message may be telling us when and where ET will be listening for our reply.”

  CHAPTER 9

  A side effect of Matthew’s new assignment was more time spent in New York. The steering committee met often, with only the furthest-away members telecommuting. His house plants took it hard, but otherwise it worked well. In particular, it gave him the chance to better bond with the other steerers. His new routine of a morning jog with Vladimir Antinov was pure bonus.

  Pounding along a Central Park track, Dean saved his breath for keeping up with the fanatically fit general, while Antinov did the speaking. Each run brought a revelation and the always useful reminder one learned more by listening than by talking.

  Today Vladimir was pondering a new press release from Dean’s former committee fellows. His perspective was always an eye opener, as different from Dean’s industrial viewpoint as Dean’s was from the academics and bureaucrats who dominated the task force.

  “Good technique, my friend, divide and conquer.” The Russian didn’t appear to be sweating. “Analyzing as much of the message at once as possible makes sense.”

  “In my world, we call it parallel processing.”

  “The labs back home say it is an interesting approach.” He referred to what had indeed proven to be a transmitter design.

  Dean considered, reminded of his favorite evasion. As in: this casserole is interesting. “More surprising than interesting.” Pant, pant. “Curiously complex.”

  “You should think like a Russian.” When the physicist made no reply, Antinov continued. “Consider Mir. I loved seeing the faces on your astronauts when they first came aboard. They were in shock about Mir. So primitive. So klugged.”

  “Kludged?”

  “Yes, thanks. Kludged. Despite our kludging, or maybe because of it, USSR had a space station twelve years before one piece was launched for a NASA space station.” He jogged in place at the crest of a hill while the huffing American caught up. “The best is the enemy of the good enough.”

  “My brain is not at its best when bouncing.”

  “You Americans believe advanced capability requires advanced technology. You think ET’s solution must be simple and elegant.” They zigged off the path to pass some mere power walkers, then zagged back on. “You never think of Mir.”

  “So.” Matthews was out of breath. “You’re … saying … brute force.”

  “Perhaps. Of course, I would not know an elegant radio design if it shot at me. I only suggest that you consider it.”

  “Food … for thought.”

  “Only five kilometers. You would not survive a real run.” Antinov pointed to a coffee shop. “Come, we’ll get some real food.”

  * * * *

  “The University of California at Berkeley announced the discovery at the end of the ET message of a deadline for Earth’s response. Dr. Enrique Ramirez, of the Department of Computer Science, stated that ET has requested that Earth begin its reply 97 days from today.

  “A UN spokesman confirmed that its task force had been seeking an independent validation of a similar translation. The spokesman would not speculate what answer the task force might recommend, or even whether a response was under consideration.”

  —GlobalNet Evening News

  * * * *

  With time running out before a pre-reply COPUOS review, and the authorization vote Alex Klein predicted the task force would lose, Matthews widened his search for ideas.

  After hours of chat-room exploration and web surfing, Matthews encountered “A note on amplifiers in the Lalande 21185 transmitter design” by a Joachim Frisch. Dean clicked on the URL and started scanning. As an aura of professionalism emerged, his reading slowed down. Searching on the author, Dean found nine papers in refereed engineering journals, although the most recent was ten years old.


  His second review was very slow and deliberate. He was reminded of, and thought deeply about, Vladimir Antinov’s comments about Mir.

  It was early evening in Frankfurt. Hoping that Herr Frisch was not out enjoying the Oktoberfest, Dean started to dial.

  * * * *

  From the SETI Conspiracy chat room.

  Suspect_Everyone: So now there’s a pressing deadline to answer ET … Who else smells a six-legged, bug-eyed rat?

  42_is_true: How convenient! ET spies on us for 30+ years and we get a few months to reply. What’s the rush?

  Suspect_Everyone: The rush, my naive friend, is to stampede us. Remember that the UN already pushed through a treaty allowing only *them* to answer ET. The vote to reply will be one more pretense why we “need” world government.

  Remember_Seattle: They’ve made a losing gamble. Once we delay them past the deadline, the whole pretense lapses. Join Earth First at the barricades in NYC.

  CHAPTER 10

  The stretch limo of the American UN mission was twenty minutes late in retrieving Matthews. Traffic crawled, snarled by picketing Earth Firsters. Despite the unruly crowds, Dean could have made faster progress on foot.

  “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I appreciate your flexibility, since my calendar doesn’t offer much.”

  “You’re welcome, Mr. Ambassador. What can I do for you?”

  “Please, we’re alone. It’s just Alex. I wanted to advise you of an issue in regard to your recent inquiry.”

  Matthews didn’t speak diplomatese, but in his experience an issue was never a good thing.

  ET’s shopping list and catalogue, when decoded, had been much alike. All sixteen entries on the shopping list were related to chemical reactions and materials science. The catalogue hinted at fifteen catalysts and materials; the sixteenth entry promised a superior optical telescope design.

  It was commonly interpreted that ET would swap any item from his catalogue for any item we supplied from his shopping list. The problem was with comparative skill levels: ET’s wares and the new solutions he sought were both mostly unfamiliar to the task force’s chemists and chemical engineers. Lots to ask for; nothing to trade.

  ET’s shopping list included catalysts for fuel cells. There had been a long-shot chance that the US national labs had related unpublished work. Alex’s office had agreed to expedite a DoE query for Dean.

  “First off, no luck with the national labs. I’m told, in fact, that the example ET used to define ‘fuel cell’ is potentially better than anything we have.

  “On the other hand … my good friend, the Secretary of Commerce, was contacted discretely by two key constituents, if you know what I mean. The corporations they represent may each have one of the catalysts sought by ET. The research is not yet ready for patent application.”

  Key constituents, presumably, were campaign contributors. “Will they share information with ET? Do they understand the impracticality of obtaining payment from him?”

  They grabbed armrests as the limo braked suddenly. Three protesters in bug-eyed-monster masks with Devil’s horns had darted in front of the vehicle. Their waving placards asked, “Do I look trustworthy?”

  Klein grimaced at the street theater. “Barter is awkward, as is the delay. Sixteen years round-trip? That’s not the real issue, however.

  “Sending technology to ET means a turnover to the task force for encoding and transmission. Neither company trusts the UN to keep proprietary technology secret here on Earth.

  “Federal purchase of the technology has been mentioned, but we’re talking billions. A purchase probably couldn’t happen in time, even if it were the right thing to do.”

  Matthews looked glumly out blackened, one-way limo glass. More and more demonstrators streamed past the trapped limo towards the UN. “Look at this crowd. Can they spell Luddite?”

  The ambassador snapped shut his briefcase. “The major economic powers all want the ET technologies. We’ve been trying hard to freeze COPUOS membership until after the natural milestone of an authorization to reply. I expect to lose the procedural vote on that membership freeze today.

  “We have nothing to trade, long odds of getting a reply authorized are about to get worse, and the clock is running out. Your Luddites are the least of our problems.”

  * * * *

  “I became interested in a report from the Analysis group. As they had determined, there are obvious subassemblies for signal modulation and amplification. There is an impressive design for focusing and steering a beam using a phased-array antenna, like we use for radars. It is elegant work.”

  Joachim Frisch tapped the printout spread across his dining room table. The schematic was roughly two meters by three. It had been printed on letter-sized stationery and taped together. “And then we have this complicated mess.”

  Frisch was a frail, grey-haired gentleman of seventy-three years. He’d never fully recovered from a car crash two years earlier, and was wheelchair-bound. Until his retirement, he had been a customer-support engineer at the big German electronics firm, Siemens. He still did free-lance consulting, troubleshooting others’ designs and suggesting improvements.

  “Forty years moving from customer to customer, application to application, builds a skill set. I thought that mastering yet one more design, even an alien one, would be easy. I’ve seen many radio circuits in my time.”

  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.

 

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