Chapter Seven part two

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            When Jane Anne reached the GSA building she was expecting one or two people to be there not what looked like an entire science department waiting for her. Carol stepped out of the crowd and hurried up to her. She took Jane Anne’s hand and began to drag her into the building and she began to talk rapidly.

            “We discovered a signal in the data we collected from the Da Vinci Satellite, a signal Jane Anne! We made sure that it wasn’t interference and that it wasn’t a signal we sent out. It’s completely alien! Do you know what that means? It means there is intelligent life out there! Actual intelligent life with the ability to send signals.

            “Well we knew there was intelligent life out there since we had a watcher and she basically proved that fact, but this is an intelligence that doesn’t hate us! Can you believe it? To make an amazing thing better the signal is ongoing, now that we know what we are looking for, it’s been showing up in other things we have received from space!” Carol was so excited she was practically vibrating.

By the time she finished talking they were in the basement of the GSA building where all the science was done. Carol dragged her right over to a giant computer which was emitting a series of beeps and tones. Carol tapped the shoulder of the man that was sitting in the chair in front of the computer and pushed Jane Anne into the seat he had vacated. She point to a section on the screen and Jane Anne immediately recognized it as computer code. She gasped.

“They are sending us a message in binary? Does this mean they have developed technology similar to our own? Have you translated what it means yet,” Jane Anne spat questions in rapid succession. She hadn’t been this excited for a part of her job in a long while. The last few months it had all been paper work, and things that people would should have been able to solve on their own. This however was amazing.

            “We have! And yes it is in binary, and we are hoping they did developed technology close tours. It’s a standard greeting basically, and best of all they’ve sent us coordinates. We are currently calibrating all of our satellites and telescopes toward those coordinates, and we desperately want to contact them. Send them a message to show them that we are here and we heard them, but therein lies our problem. Our Watcher said we weren’t to make any effort to contact any intelligent life we might find from our probe, but we haven’t heard anything from her in two years

            “This is why we need everyone here, we have to decide if we will disregard what she said, if it’s worth it to meet these aliens. While we are waiting for the other Heads of States, there is a question we wanted to ask you specifically. Can we formulate a response just in case we all decide to send a message? It’s just a hope, but we really want to,” Carol spoke with her hands gently bouncing on her feet, barely keeping herself in one spot.

            “I don’t see why not, just in case of course. You are right though, we haven’t heard anything from our Watcher in a while, and I personally think we should take the risk, because who knows when we will get another chance to meet another species, but it’s not up to me. It’s up to the Heads of State and they might not feel it’s worth her wrath,” Jane Anne spoke while still staring at the computer screen. She was enchanted, she wondered to herself if she could have the transmission sent to her, so she could listen to it again and again.

            “I don’t really want to get a cab or take the train home, is there any place near here  where I can get a good night’s sleep,” jane Anne Asked Carol who was even then on her way over to a group of scientist staring at Jane Anne with big puppy dog eyes filled with hope.

            “There are apartments on the top five floors of this building,” Carol pulled a key card out of her pocket and walked back over to Jane Anne an handed it to her, “ You can have this room for the night. I’m going to go make a few peoples day,” She smiled and turned back in the direction she was headed in the first place.

            Jane Anne nodded took the key and went to the elevator banks and head to the thirty-fifth floor where the apartment was. She took a quick bath took her night cloths out of her travel bag and went to lay down knowing she wouldn’t get to sleep anytime soon.

                                                            ***

            Mura – Jie blinked open her eyes and she was back in the Head Watchers office. It stood in front of her holding a document, waiting for her to take it. Mura – Jie knew not to speak until it asked her to. It looked like it was still angry at her. She took the document and read it. It was written in their language, and basically asked her to give the Humans the option to interact with any other species they found. She shook her head.

            “No, the humans have been searching for life in the universe for a long time. They can wait the thirteen years that are left. I do not want them interacting with any other species until I know they are ready, and they are not ready,” Mura – Jie was adamant that no other Watcher could see her failure. She had to keep some of her pride.

            “How about a compromise then,” The Head Watcher waved a tentacle over the document and its wording changed.

            “They can only communicate with other species that contact them directly,” Mura – Jie read out loud. She shook her head again.     

            “I don’t want them in contact with any other species, Head Watcher.”

            “You won’t be able to stop other species from contacting them Mura – Jie, you won’t know who you are when you are back on that planet, how will you inforce that mandate when you won’t know you were the one who placed it? How will the Humans know if something has happened the change your mind in the thirteen years you will be down there? You and I need to come up with a few ground rules you can announce to the Humans so they have a guide line and goals to work towards.” The head Watcher took the paper from her hands and slithered back towards its desk.

            “It’s time you though this thing through Mura – Jie,” it said as it pulled out a writing implement and more paper. Mura – Jie nodded and moved to sit in the chair in front of its desk, and began to think about what she really wanted from the Humans.