Free 01-01-00 by R. J. Pineiro Page A

Have you been able to make any sense of its content?”
    Jackie shook her head. “That’s another thing that seems unique about the signal. It’s so polarized and of such narrow beam that you almost need to be right on the intended target on Earth to pick it up.”
    â€œSo you can detect it but can’t get a clean download of its contents?” asked Kuoshi Honichi.
    â€œRight,” she said. “Sort of like watching a car with tinted windows drive by. You see the car but not the driver or what’s in the trunk. You need to be at its destination in order to see all of that.”
    â€œWhere is this point on Earth?” asked Ishiguro.
    Jackie made a face. “That’s the last issue. Since we weren’t sure if this signal would ever come again, we focused our efforts on scanning the sky around its point of origin. We know that the signal’s headed for our planet. In fact, it looks like it’s being beamed down somewhere in the American continent, north of the equator and south of Canada.”
    â€œGreat,” said Kuoshi, throwing his hands up in the air. “That sure narrows it down! What am I supposed to tell Osaka now?”
    â€œHey!” Jackie began to get up, her index finger cocked at the corporate liaison. Ishiguro put a hand on her shoulder while rapidly adding, “We’re scientists, Kuoshi-san, working on what could be the discovery of the millennium. The only way to be successful is by cooperating with each other and understanding the difficulties of the task. Now we need your help. We think we have a good fix on the point of origin, but we need to nail down the destination. For that we will need a minimum of three satellites to perform a terrestrial triangulation.”
    Jackie exhaled heavily and remained seated, seemingly satisfied with Ishiguro’s diplomatic intervention. Kuoshi nodded.
    â€œAll right,” Ishiguro said, pacing in front of the group. “We have to do this by the numbers. Protocol is to contact another researcher with a suitably equipped radio telescope to confirm the event.”
    Kuoshi nodded. “Nobemaya. They have the best radio telescope in Japan.”
    â€œOkay. What about satellite coverage of the next event?”
    â€œWhich should occur tomorrow,” added Jackie. “Assuming that the event is following a pattern.”
    â€œI’ll have to contact Osaka and set it up with our own satellites.”
    â€œOkay. Now, Jackie, get on the phone with Nobemaya and follow it up with a detailed E-mail. If the contact is confirmed, we’ll need to inform the International Astronomical Union, as well as the secretary-general of the United Nations, again following international protocol rules for extraterrestrial contacts.”
    â€œNo,” Kuoshi said. “One step at a time. First the contact confirmation. Then we wait for instructions from Osaka.”
    Jackie stood next to her husband. “What do you mean?”
    The corporate liaison crossed his arms, prepared to stand his ground on this one. “This operation is financed by Sagata Enterprises. Our executives will decide on the appropriate course of action once the contact has been confirmed by Nobemaya. Those are the rules. If you deviate, your employment will be terminated. Now I must contact Osaka.”
    The Japanese technicians from Sagata lowered their gazes. Ishiguro held Jackie back as Kuoshi left the room.
    â€œThose … those bastards! I knew they would do something like this if we ever came across a signal!”
    Ishiguro held her from behind. “Easy, there. Easy. Let’s take it one step at a time. First the confirmation of the contact. Tomorrow we’ll also find out about the origin. Come. Let’s go get some fresh air before you have to contact Nobemaya.”
    They left the building not just to get out of the stuffy observatory room, but also to have some privacy. Ishiguro didn’t trust the