"Donald Moffitt - Genesis Quest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moffitt Donald)

again.

For now, he said simply, тАЬWe would have much to learn from the very existence of such a message.
And more, doubtless, from the message itself.тАЭ
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The visitor listened to his sleeve for a moment. After a suitable interval he posed the question in his own
voice, a little less rudely than it probably had been asked. тАЬAnd how will you know that you have not
been deceived by natural phenomena, as you were before?тАЭ

The director sent a ripple of laughter down his arm. тАЬOne of your touch brothers is very astute. The
incident he refers to took place in the early days of radio astronomy, when our observations were still
planet-bound. I was hardly past my apprenticeship at the time. A stellar radio source was found whose
pulses were so regular that it was thought at first to be an artificial signal. Today, of course, we know
about such things as neutron stars. We wonтАЩt jump tothat conclusion again.тАЭ

тАЬAnd if you find nothing at all?тАЭ

тАЬThen weтАЩll try another galaxy.тАЭ

Across the dome an aproned assistant waved a signal, and the director forestalled more questions by
saying, тАЬWeтАЩre aiming now. Look outside. ItтАЩs a sight you wonтАЩt want to miss.тАЭ

Beyond the transparent wall the surface of the moon seemed to writhe like a live thing as the closely
packed bowls all turned simultaneously to face in anew direction. The silent rumble of the vast collective
movement could be felt through the floor of the observatory itself.

And the world changed, never to be the same again.

The first signals were detected almost at once. They were found mostly in the part of the spectrum
between the hydrogen and hydroxyl radical lines, where theory had long predicted that water-based life
would be apt to concentrate its communication efforts.

An excited assistant hurried up. тАЬWeтАЩre locked onto them now. ThereтАЩs remarkably little frequency drift.
TheyтАЩre also utilizing the first harmonic of the hydrogen frequency.тАЭ

He passed over a touch pad that was beating rhythmically with repeating data. The director pulsated
with emotion. тАЬThe very first time!тАЭ he murmured to himself. тАЬWeтАЩve found them the very first time!тАЭ

HeтАЩd forgotten completely about his visitor, who was still sharing his thoughts through a patch of contact.
A diffident query reached his consciousness: тАЬCan you be sure?тАЭ

тАЬEh? Yes. ItтАЩs unmistakable.тАЭ He thrust the throbbing datapad at him. тАЬHave a look at this. ItтАЩs the first
ten prime numbers тАФ counted out plainly in a steady rhythm and sitting in the middle of what looks like
an ongoing message in binary code. ThatтАЩs to get our attention. ItтАЩs their beacon. IтАЩm willing to bet that
itтАЩs repeated every few minutes.тАЭ