Free Anomaly by Peter Cawdron

patiently until the host species can isolate hydrogen and helium as distinct elements and start an intelligent conversation.”
    “And we're still quite young,” said Bates, picking up where Anderson left off. “From the point of view of an interstellar civilization, we've only just taken baby steps into orbit. We've walked on our moon, but everything else we've done within our solar system has been robotic, carried out at arm's length, at the very limits of our technology.”
    “Precisely,” said Teller, excited about how all these points were coming together into a coherent concept. “So the anomaly is trying to figure out exactly how much we know. It wants to know where we are at in terms of progress. It's asking as many questions of us as we are of it.”
    “And what happens then?” asked Mason. “What happens when it finds out our limitations?”
    There was silence for a few seconds.
    “Well, once it knows,” began Teller, thinking about it deeply. “When we get to the point where we can no longer complete elements in the periodic table, it will understand precisely how advanced we are. And it will work with us according to what it thinks we can understand.”
    Mason was silent, thinking about what was being said. Anderson and Bates nodded in agreement.
    “You've got to remember,” said Teller. “This really is a two-way conversation. As we learn about the anomaly, it also learns about us. This is a meeting of two civilizations separated by tens of thousands, if not millions of years of technological advancement. We just don't have any parallel. It's not like Columbus discovering the American Indians. The inequality between us is such that it would be more like Jane Goodall working with chimpanzees in the wild for the first time, only we're the chimps. I suspect it's learning more about us than we're learning about it.”
    And the furrow on his brow showed that concept worried Mason.
    “Fuck!” cried Mason. “How the hell did all this fall in my lap?”
    He held his hands up to his face, running his fingers over his temples and up through his hair.
    “All right,” he began, “this is no longer a scientific investigation. This is now a military operation.”
    “What?” cried Anderson.
    “You can't do this,” said Bates.
    Mason was already on the radio calling for troops to secure the inner area.
    “What are you doing?” demanded Anderson, yelling at Mason, the veins in his neck bulging. “This is not right.”
    Teller was silent. Susan was scared. She hugged Teller's waist while he ran his hands softly through her hair, trying to reassure her.
    Cathy and Finch backed slowly away, trying to be inconspicuous. They weren't trying to run, they just wanted enough distance to be able to talk.
    Cathy whispered to Finch. “I thought this already was a military operation.”
    “Apparently not,” replied Finch. “I don't like where this is going.”
    “Be sure to make copies,” she began, not wanting to say any more and inadvertently tip their hand.
    Troops began running in and around the trailer.
    “Why are you doing this?” asked Bates. “This is possibly the most significant interaction in the history of mankind and you want to start us off on a war footing.”
    “I'm not starting anything,” replied Mason. “But if Teller is right and that thing figures out our weaknesses and exploits them, we will be defenseless. We need to learn more about it before it figures out anything else about us.”
    “There's no reason to assume hostile intent,” said Bates.
    “You don't get it,” replied Anderson, fuming with anger. “Teller is right. This is not a meeting of equals. This is not some diplomatic mission between different countries or different cultures. The differences between us and them are so vast as to be incalculable. I mean, look at it. The damn thing can defy the laws of gravity. Hell, we don't even know what gravity is.”
    Mason looked intently at Anderson, listening carefully to