mental shake. "Are we stil receiving many transmissions?"
"No, they seem to have peaked last night. Now they're slacking off. Joan told me there were only two this past hour." He frowned. "I hope these people are still there when we reach them. We got that first signal pretty far out . . .
they've had decades to destroy themselves, or be swept by a planet-wide plague."
"Jerry predicted this," Mahree said. "Or at least he mentioned that it might happen, if their technological development followed a similar path to Earth's."
"How so?"
"Well, the first radio waves strong enough to escape from Earth and head out into space were generated in the mid-1900s. They've been traveling for about 300 years now."
"Yeah, which means they're now nearly a hundred parsecs-- approximately 300 light-years--from Earth's solar system. I follow you."
"Good. The thing to remember, though, is that if we were on a ship heading to Earth and set our frequencies to pick up those old broadcasts, we'd receive the maximum number of transmissions at a distance of about 250
light-years from Earth. Then, the closer to the planet we got, the fewer we'd receive."
Rob frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
"Yeah, it does, the way Jerry explained it. It's because Earth's technology kept getting more sophisticated. Before the millennium, Earth was the
'dirtiest' radio source in its solar system. It put out far more radio waves than Sol or Jupiter. But as human- technology improved, it got 'cleaner,' although a fair amount of stuff still escapes."
"What do you mean, improved?"
"Their aim at satellites grew "more precise, and they began using technology like buried cables. When they reached that level, they didn't
'lose' nearly so many radio waves by beaming them out into the ionosphere--
unintentionally, of course."
"I see." Rob was impressed. "So the reduction in 45
transmissions we're experiencing might mean that 'System X's technology and ours have something in common."
"It's possible. The closer we get, the 'cleaner' this planet appears as a radio source. Seems to me there's a good chance that's the result of recent technological advances."
The doctor ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "Wait a minute. That first signal we received was 57 light-years away from System X.
If what Jerry's guessing is true, then their technology has advanced much faster than ours did, comparatively."
"Maybe they're smarter than we are."
Rob grimaced. " 'Maybe,' 'perhaps,' 'possibly'--dammit, I want to know!"
"We'll find out soon enough," Mahree said, looking down at Sekhmet, who was butting her arm and buzzing for attention.
"Yeah, and being impatient won't make the hours pass any faster. As long as they're still there, I guess I can wait," Rob conceded. "But it would be terrible to find that we'd missed these people by as little as fifty years."
"Have you talked to Uncle Raoul about how we're going to handle this? I mean, if we do find somebody."
"He asked my advice. I don't know whether he'll follow it."
"What did you tell him?"
"I recommended that we jettison an E-beacon with a copy of Desiree's log just before we enter the system. After all, we have to get out of metaspace before we enter the star's gravity field anyway."
"Makes sense to me. What else?"
"I also suggested that we have one of their own broadcasts ready to play back to them, so they'd know what brought us here."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Mahree objected. "Suppose that particular transmission turned out to be somebody's declaration of war? Mirroring what they sent when we don't understand it might be dangerous."
"Raoul pointed that out, so I retracted that suggestion."
"What else?"
"I said that if we see any signs of them, it'd be best for us to just sit there and let them make the first move. And that if we meet them physically, we should do it unarmed."
"What did he say to that last proposition?"
46
"I could tell he was having trouble with that
"No, they seem to have peaked last night. Now they're slacking off. Joan told me there were only two this past hour." He frowned. "I hope these people are still there when we reach them. We got that first signal pretty far out . . .
they've had decades to destroy themselves, or be swept by a planet-wide plague."
"Jerry predicted this," Mahree said. "Or at least he mentioned that it might happen, if their technological development followed a similar path to Earth's."
"How so?"
"Well, the first radio waves strong enough to escape from Earth and head out into space were generated in the mid-1900s. They've been traveling for about 300 years now."
"Yeah, which means they're now nearly a hundred parsecs-- approximately 300 light-years--from Earth's solar system. I follow you."
"Good. The thing to remember, though, is that if we were on a ship heading to Earth and set our frequencies to pick up those old broadcasts, we'd receive the maximum number of transmissions at a distance of about 250
light-years from Earth. Then, the closer to the planet we got, the fewer we'd receive."
Rob frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
"Yeah, it does, the way Jerry explained it. It's because Earth's technology kept getting more sophisticated. Before the millennium, Earth was the
'dirtiest' radio source in its solar system. It put out far more radio waves than Sol or Jupiter. But as human- technology improved, it got 'cleaner,' although a fair amount of stuff still escapes."
"What do you mean, improved?"
"Their aim at satellites grew "more precise, and they began using technology like buried cables. When they reached that level, they didn't
'lose' nearly so many radio waves by beaming them out into the ionosphere--
unintentionally, of course."
"I see." Rob was impressed. "So the reduction in 45
transmissions we're experiencing might mean that 'System X's technology and ours have something in common."
"It's possible. The closer we get, the 'cleaner' this planet appears as a radio source. Seems to me there's a good chance that's the result of recent technological advances."
The doctor ran a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. "Wait a minute. That first signal we received was 57 light-years away from System X.
If what Jerry's guessing is true, then their technology has advanced much faster than ours did, comparatively."
"Maybe they're smarter than we are."
Rob grimaced. " 'Maybe,' 'perhaps,' 'possibly'--dammit, I want to know!"
"We'll find out soon enough," Mahree said, looking down at Sekhmet, who was butting her arm and buzzing for attention.
"Yeah, and being impatient won't make the hours pass any faster. As long as they're still there, I guess I can wait," Rob conceded. "But it would be terrible to find that we'd missed these people by as little as fifty years."
"Have you talked to Uncle Raoul about how we're going to handle this? I mean, if we do find somebody."
"He asked my advice. I don't know whether he'll follow it."
"What did you tell him?"
"I recommended that we jettison an E-beacon with a copy of Desiree's log just before we enter the system. After all, we have to get out of metaspace before we enter the star's gravity field anyway."
"Makes sense to me. What else?"
"I also suggested that we have one of their own broadcasts ready to play back to them, so they'd know what brought us here."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Mahree objected. "Suppose that particular transmission turned out to be somebody's declaration of war? Mirroring what they sent when we don't understand it might be dangerous."
"Raoul pointed that out, so I retracted that suggestion."
"What else?"
"I said that if we see any signs of them, it'd be best for us to just sit there and let them make the first move. And that if we meet them physically, we should do it unarmed."
"What did he say to that last proposition?"
46
"I could tell he was having trouble with that
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