A Simple Truth (11 page)

After much deliberation the three decided that a complete ban on relaying any of the music would be best, with just one observer at each station listening for the verbal message which it was hoped might soon come in.  The only snag was what reason to give.  Louko came up with the best solution.

"Why not tell the truth
?"
h
e proposed, "
o
r a slightly bent version of the truth.  If we announce that certain frequencies present in the music have been causing harmful effects to a small proportion of the population under prolonged exposure we are justified in discontinuing further transmission until extensive tests have been done.  If we say that headaches or nausea have been claimed then plenty o
f people are sure to back us up;
people have symptoms like that all the time and are only too happy to have something to blame them on.  Also, if we stress that the number of people involved is small then there's little chance of a scare being generated."  He sat back, pleased with himself.

"Great
,"
said Penrose with satisfaction, "then other stations are less likely to try to receive the transmissions independently.  I had thought that if we stopped relaying the music without a good reason then someone else would."

"Right, that's settled then
,"
put in Hoghton, "it's a sensible solution and if we all stick to the same story then it shouldn't go wrong.  If evidence is asked for we can say that people have been phoning up about it, to an extent that justifies further investigation and playing safe in the meantime.  At worst we'll only be accused of over-reacting.  No one will suspect the real reason I'm sure."

The business resolved Hoghton returned to his bed and Penrose to his supper.  The Finnish telescope was the one receiving at the moment so it would be Louko who would bear the brunt of the criticism when the relay system was shut down. 

That was fitting thought
Penrose;
after all it was Louko's idea!

***************

Dag Fransson watched Jean's fingers moving deftly over the interferometer control panel.  She was at home here.  She could handle computers, mathematics and radio astronomy with ease, but at handling people she was less adept.  It was now four weeks since Lincoln had left her in command, but the stress had started to show after only a week.

She was a good scientist, of that there was no doubt.  But the inevitable clashes and minor disputes soon started to take their toll on her.  She tried to conciliate and settle things in as fair a way as she could but usually managed to make things worse.  People were a mystery to her.  It was greatly to her credit therefore when
two
week
s
ago she had announced that although she was in acting command of the base she was handing over control of all but strictly scientific matters to Ted Blackler.  Ted was the eldest member of the team, a respected and fair-minded man, much better suited to settling domestic and personality differences amicably than was Jean.  He and his wife had been at the base since it first opened.  They were regarded as something akin to uncle and aunt by the younger team members and for that reason criticism from Ted was generally better received than from Jean.  In such a closed environment the relationships were much closer to family-like than
to
businesslike
,
and in any family friction is inevitable.

Jean had recognised her own inability to be scientific leader as well as head of the family and had at the same time recognised this latter quality in Ted.  Things were running smoothly now.  It was an unusual situation but it worked well and suited everyone.  Even Jean herself had accepted Ted's judgement against her in a recent argument over use of the interferometer.  After the source position mystery had developed she had monopolised its use.  This had somewhat upset Harry Jefferson who had been engaged on more general but essential work elsewhere.  Jean's preoccupation had forced him to postpone his own work indefinitely.  Ted had considered the matter and decided that Jean's monopoly was unfair and that they should share the instrument equally.  All eyes were on Jean when at first she appeared a
s though she might overrule him;
she could claim scientific priority, but all would have known that to be an excuse.  Eventually she thought better of her initial impulse and backed down.

That little gesture had done more for her image at
Mendeleev
than all her scientific work, outstanding though that was.  Now the
two of them were
the best of friends and Harry had become as bound up as Jean in the curious nature of the signal source.  They were invariably found together, speculating, arguing or observing, but always engrossed in their joint preoccupation.  In fact their association rapidly became something of a local joke, reference to the terrible twins or Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee required no clarification.

Detailed measurements were taken every few hours so that a precise picture of the signal source and its movement were beginning to emerge.  It was clear that the source was oscillating back and forth about the star at colossal speed.  It
s
behavi
our was
nothing like
that of
a planet and they began to suspect that either different sources were being used for each transmission or that some unknown refractive process was at work creating the illusion of movement.  There was no question of measurement
error;
the results were consistent with each other day by day so they were no longer concerned whether earth cared to check or not.

They were still unconcerned when Geoff called Jean over to the
communication
console to speak to Don Higham.  Don's manner showed that the music had indeed been responsible for his good humour.  He had not quite fully resumed his usual impatient self but was well on the way.  He did not pass on the information himself although that was what he had promised.  He merely gave the number of Alf Tull at Yakutsk who he said had made the required measurements and then broke the connection without further comment.

Jean felt that she ought to speak to Tull.  Confirmation was now unnecessary but it might be interesting to hear what reaction the Yakutsk Observatory staff had had to the peculiar source behaviour.  Strangely Tull did not display any degree of surprise at his results but just quoted the co-ordinates matter-of-factly.

"Thank you Mr Tu
ll.  T
ell me, what
do you
think of this position
?"
s
he enquired, attempting to elicit some reaction.

"It's more or less what we expected
," h
e stated flatly.

"What?  Well just how far out from the star do you make the source?"  Jean's hackles began to rise quite distinctly.  The man must be a fool if he expected results like that.

"
The lateral displacement is
j
ust under
point one second of arc, corresponding to about 50
million kilometres
, though of course the true distance is likely to be substantially greater than that.  We'll have a better estimate when we've been able to confirm the orbit
."

Jean looked again at the co-ordinates she had been given.  Sure enough they were close to Procyon, very close.  She had assumed that they would correspond to her own and had not studied them until now.

"Why, what were your own figures Ms Forsyth?"

Jean did not know what to say or to think, she left his question unanswered but asked a series of her own.

"Are you absolutely sure of your results?  When did you take them?  Did you verify them
?"
she demanded in quick succession.

"Steady on.  Ah
,
yes
,
we are sure of the results, they were taken this morning only two hours ago, and three separate checks were made, all consistent.  You seem a little surprised?"

"Yes, I am
surprised;
these results don't correspond to our figures at all, no
,
not at all.  Look I'll have to think about this, I'd rather not discuss it further now.  Thank you again for your assistance Mr Tu
ll, o
ut."

With that she broke the connection and left a confused man wondering what all the fuss was about.

Jean did not like puzzles.  Mysteries yes, but puzzles she found tedious.  There must be some error of measurement.  But what could she do?  Call the man a liar?  Her results had been consistent for a long time so it must be the Yakutsk ones that were wrong.

"Did you follow all that
?"
she asked of Harry who had been leaning on the console during the conversation.  Harry was deep in thought.

"Harry!"
s
he shouted.

"Oh, what?"

"Did you follow the gist of the conversation
?"
s
he repeated with mock patience.

"Yes, I got the message.  We have an anomaly wouldn't you say?"

"No, I'd say they've done their sums wrong."

"
Mm,
"
w
as all Harry would offer in reply.

Harry could be very annoying sometimes, thought Jean.  What other conclusion could there be?  Mistakes had been made before and this was just another of them.

"We'll request confirmation from the other earth stations but meanwhile I suggest we continue with our own observations."

No response from Harry.

"Do you agree
?"
s
he demanded.

"Oh, yes, sure, look can you do without me for a while Jean?"

"Why?  Oh I suppose so.  You're no use in this state anyway."

Harry left Jean to her frustration.  With him gone she calmed down a little and continued her work as before.  By the time he returned she was her usual self again.

"Hi Harry.  Sorry I
was a bit sharp earlier
.  Friends again?"  She looked towards him and smiled, but stopped smiling when she saw the stony expression on his face.

"Look at this," h
e said thrusting a diagram in front of her.

"Those results from Yakutsk are correct and so are ours, we have become so used to our own assumptions that we've failed to see the obvious.
  It's not the source that's in orbit it's us.
"

Jean couldn't quite grasp what Harry was saying but began to feel afraid.  He had worked out the truth and didn't like it
,
that was plain.

"Slow down Harry, what does all this mean?" 

Harry pointed to the drawing.  On it at the bottom was a small circle and an even smaller one next to it.

"The earth,
"
h
e said pointing to the larger of the two circles.

"The moon,
"
i
ndicating the smaller.

"Our source position
,
"
p
ointing to a line drawn from the moon towards the top of the paper and missing another circle by a
couple of
centimetres.

"Yakutsk's source position
,
" indicating another line drawn from the earth to the upper circle but much closer to it.

"Procyon,
" p
ointing at the uppermost circle.

Jean had no further need for explanation now.  It was all clear, much too clear.

"And the true source
,"
s
he said softly, putting her finger at the point where the two lines crossed.  She felt real fear now.  She felt cold and clammy and perspiration began to form on her skin.  Her legs felt suddenly weak.

"Oh God
,"
she whispered,
"
o
h
my God."

Geoff North was used to the pair of them arguing and so hadn't paid much attention when Harry came back into the room.  But now he looked over to where they were standing.

"Jean, what's the matter?"
h
e asked mov
ing quickly
towards
her.  "You look as though you could faint."

Jean's head was spinning and she felt sick.  She looked up at him like a frightened little girl and said softly "Geoff, the aliens, they're almost here."

When Geoff recovered from the shock he and Harry set about some detailed calculations.  After about five minutes they had made a rough estimate of the distance from earth and then from the rate of change of position calculated the speed of approach.

"Looks like they're about one point six billion kilometres away and moving at about
eleven
hundred kilometres per second
,"
announced Harry gravely.