Read Online Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Free Book Online
Authors: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera
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likely hypothesis: the satellite is sending a signal to the planet, and we’re catching bounce-back. Fuck, I’m sorry. I really thought . . .’
‘Lain, are you sure?’
She cocked an eyebrow at him, because he was not joining in her dejection. ‘What?’
‘The satellite is communicating with the planet,’ he prompted. ‘It’s not just a bounce-back of the distress call – it’s something longer. A different message sent to the planet than for the rest of the universe.’
‘But it’s just on a loop, same as . . .’ She slowed down. ‘You think there’s someone down there?’
‘Who knows?’
‘But they’re not broadcasting.’
‘Who knows? It’s a terraform world, whatever Vitas says. It was created to be lived on. And, even if the satellite is nothing but a call for help these days, if they seeded the world with people . . . So maybe they really are savages. Maybe they don’t have the tech to receive or transmit, but they could still be there . . . on a world specifically made for humans to live on.’
She stood up suddenly. ‘I’m off to fetch Guyen.’
For a moment he looked at her, thinking,
Seriously, that was the first thing you thought of?
But he nodded resignedly and she was off, leaving him to listen in on the newfound contact between satellite and planet, and try to work out what it signified.
To his great surprise it took him very little time to do so.
‘It’s what?’ Guyen demanded. The news had brought along not just the commander but most of the Key Crew as well.
‘A series of mathematics problems,’ Holsten explained to them all. ‘The only reason it took me as long as it did was that I was expecting something more . . . sophisticated, something informative, like the beacon. But it’s maths.’
‘Weird maths, too,’ Lain commented, looking over his transcription. ‘The sequences get quite complicated, but they’re set out step by step from first principles, basic sequences.’ She was frowning. ‘It’s like . . . Mason, you mentioned extra-solar listening posts before . . . ?’
‘It’s a test, yes,’ Holsten agreed. ‘An intelligence test.’
‘But you said it was pointed at the planet?’ Karst stated.
‘Which raises all kinds of questions, yes.’ Holsten shrugged. ‘I mean, this is very old technology. This is the oldest working tech that anyone anywhere ever discovered. So what we’re seeing could just be the result of a break-down, an error. But, yes, makes you think.’
‘Or not,’ Lain put in drily. When the others just stared at her, she continued in her snide tone: ‘Come on, people, am I the only one thinking it? Come on, Mason, you’ve been trying to get the thing to notice you for how long now? We’ve rounded the star on our approach to the planet, and you’re still drawing blanks. So now you say it’s setting some sort of maths test for the planet?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘So send in the answers,’ she suggested.
Holsten stared at her for a long time, then glanced sideways at Guyen. ‘We don’t know what—’
‘Do it,’ Guyen ordered.
Carefully, Holsten called up the answers he had compiled, the early problems solved easily on his fingers, the later ones only with artificial help. He had been sending plaintive signals to the distant satellite for hours. It was simple enough to dispatch the string of numbers instead.
They waited, all of the Key Crew. It took seven minutes and some seconds for the message to reach its intended destination. There was some shuffling. Karst cracked his knuckles. One of the science team coughed.
A little over fourteen minutes after sending, the distress beacon ceased.
2.4 POOR RELATIONS
Portia’s people are natural explorers. As active carnivores with a considerably more demanding metabolism than their forebears, too many of them in one place will quickly over-hunt any home territory. Traditionally their family units fragment often; the females who are weakest, with the fewest allies,
‘Lain, are you sure?’
She cocked an eyebrow at him, because he was not joining in her dejection. ‘What?’
‘The satellite is communicating with the planet,’ he prompted. ‘It’s not just a bounce-back of the distress call – it’s something longer. A different message sent to the planet than for the rest of the universe.’
‘But it’s just on a loop, same as . . .’ She slowed down. ‘You think there’s someone down there?’
‘Who knows?’
‘But they’re not broadcasting.’
‘Who knows? It’s a terraform world, whatever Vitas says. It was created to be lived on. And, even if the satellite is nothing but a call for help these days, if they seeded the world with people . . . So maybe they really are savages. Maybe they don’t have the tech to receive or transmit, but they could still be there . . . on a world specifically made for humans to live on.’
She stood up suddenly. ‘I’m off to fetch Guyen.’
For a moment he looked at her, thinking,
Seriously, that was the first thing you thought of?
But he nodded resignedly and she was off, leaving him to listen in on the newfound contact between satellite and planet, and try to work out what it signified.
To his great surprise it took him very little time to do so.
‘It’s what?’ Guyen demanded. The news had brought along not just the commander but most of the Key Crew as well.
‘A series of mathematics problems,’ Holsten explained to them all. ‘The only reason it took me as long as it did was that I was expecting something more . . . sophisticated, something informative, like the beacon. But it’s maths.’
‘Weird maths, too,’ Lain commented, looking over his transcription. ‘The sequences get quite complicated, but they’re set out step by step from first principles, basic sequences.’ She was frowning. ‘It’s like . . . Mason, you mentioned extra-solar listening posts before . . . ?’
‘It’s a test, yes,’ Holsten agreed. ‘An intelligence test.’
‘But you said it was pointed at the planet?’ Karst stated.
‘Which raises all kinds of questions, yes.’ Holsten shrugged. ‘I mean, this is very old technology. This is the oldest working tech that anyone anywhere ever discovered. So what we’re seeing could just be the result of a break-down, an error. But, yes, makes you think.’
‘Or not,’ Lain put in drily. When the others just stared at her, she continued in her snide tone: ‘Come on, people, am I the only one thinking it? Come on, Mason, you’ve been trying to get the thing to notice you for how long now? We’ve rounded the star on our approach to the planet, and you’re still drawing blanks. So now you say it’s setting some sort of maths test for the planet?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘So send in the answers,’ she suggested.
Holsten stared at her for a long time, then glanced sideways at Guyen. ‘We don’t know what—’
‘Do it,’ Guyen ordered.
Carefully, Holsten called up the answers he had compiled, the early problems solved easily on his fingers, the later ones only with artificial help. He had been sending plaintive signals to the distant satellite for hours. It was simple enough to dispatch the string of numbers instead.
They waited, all of the Key Crew. It took seven minutes and some seconds for the message to reach its intended destination. There was some shuffling. Karst cracked his knuckles. One of the science team coughed.
A little over fourteen minutes after sending, the distress beacon ceased.
2.4 POOR RELATIONS
Portia’s people are natural explorers. As active carnivores with a considerably more demanding metabolism than their forebears, too many of them in one place will quickly over-hunt any home territory. Traditionally their family units fragment often; the females who are weakest, with the fewest allies,
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