Page 10 - Unlikely Stories 3

Recall Mission

“This is the situation, professor. Twenty-three years ago our radio
telescopes detected activity originating in the solar system of Proxima
Centauri. At that time the existence of Proxima b was not known, but
we inferred that such a planet had to exist. The signal’s discovery was
not made public, to avoid panic. It was immediately understood that
our own electromagnetic emissions were conversely perceptible on
Proxima b. The distance from Earth, as you are aware, is 4.25
lightyears. That delay would be the same for us and the alien world.
The question immediately was this: had they received our signals
before we received theirs? And what should be our response, in
either event?”
The professor’s jaw dropped. He regretted giving up smoking.
“Couldn’t their transmissions be decoded? That would make all the
difference.”
“Precisely. We set our best cryptanalysts and linguists on it
immediately. The data was spotty and beset with the same sort of
noise and crosstalk our myriad broadcasts produce. It would take
years to understand it. Our reaction, if we were not to wait for
definitive translation, would have to be based on other
considerations.”
Corncracker paused to gauge the effect of his words on Dreyfuss.
“That meant turning the problem over to researchers in game
theory and creating a calculus of decisions, all of them subject to
assumptions about civilization on Proxima b. What were the odds of
their being more advanced? If so, had they been able to listen in as
we began use of radio waves a century ago? What would they think
of us? Our history, both of peace and war during those years, might
be interpreted variously by intelligent beings with their own cultural
biases and historical experience.”
“I take it,” said Dreyfuss dryly, “that inaction was not an option.”
General Hawke interrupted.
“Professor, policy is made based on the information available
within the window of opportunity. Granted that the size of that
window, if unprecedented, is itself a function of that same data, we
really had no choice but to act quickly.”
“And we are not here to second-guess a decision made a quarter of
a century ago,” said Barkenbeit, “but to implement a new one. But let
the administrator bring you up to speed.”
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