The Human Signal

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. This is true; to an extent. Certainly with no atmosphere to act as a vector, it would be quite impossible for soundwaves to reach a waiting ear. But there is so much more to voice than mere sound. The pain and fear embedded within a scream travel on much different channels, projecting through the void to reach organs infinitely more subtle. For decades, theorists have worried that it would be Earth's radio broadcasts that render it visible to those looking from beyond; but never would they have imagined that all the suffering and loss borne from mankind's endless cruelty, that all the wars and injustices and torment would prove a far more potent beacon than our greatest technology could ever be.

The unraveling began, as such things often do, with the unrelenting push for progress. A small vessel, sailing to deliver the first humans to a new planet, unknowingly pushed its way out through an infinitely delicate web surrounding Earth and into the expanse beyond. Among the crew there was nervousness, excitement, wonder… and one deadly sliver of heartache. The first mate was mourning the loss of his father three months prior, and now for the first time this pain burned white hot out into the universe. The unseen web, which had protected our planet for so long, began to crumble and wither. A slew of similar feelings exploded outwards like a shockwave, and far, far away, the attention of something was dragged across the cosmos, finally resting on the little blue and green rock, which was now screaming for attention with all its might.

***

Amelia knew she was in for a rough day when she was jolted from pleasant dreams by her cellphone blaring that godawful ringtone she'd never quite figured out how to change- at three forty-seven in the morning, no less. The first time it went off she didn’t even answer it, just let it ring its course in the hope whoever was calling would just leave a message and let her sleep. No such luck. With a groan she rolled over and scrabbled it up, answering with a muddled, “Hello?”

“Hello? Dr. Lind?”

“Yes? Speaking.” She grumbled, already feeling annoyed. A work call. Of course it was, who else at this hour? Why in God's name couldn't people keep her time zone in mind?

"This is Fred Hopkins, with the White House." It took her a moment to process this, but when she did, the dregs of sleep were cast from her mind in an instant. She sat up, pushing a loose strand of hair from her eye.

"What can I help you with?"

"A situation has arisen we believe we could use your consulting on."

"My- you sure you've got the right Doctor Lind?"

There came a moment where she heard nothing but shuffling papers, then "This is Amelia Lind? Doctorate in ethnography and intercultural communication? Wrote 'How Diversity Begets Brilliance' on the tribes of New Guinea?"

"Yes. Yes, that's me."

"Good. A car will be arriving shortly to transport you to an airfield. Please pack for an extended trip."

"Can you tell me what's going on?"

"You will be briefed further upon your arrival."

He hung up, leaving her in something of a daze. What on Earth could the Feds possibly want with her? Her area of expertise was on historical, not modern communication. If they were calling on her to defuse some sort of diplomatic incident, then they were going to be sorely disappointed.

Between her confusion and the weight of sleep dragging down her mind, Amelia almost lapsed and reached out for Drew. The bed beside her was empty of course. She knew it was empty, she felt the loneliness every night. Even after everything he’d put her through, even after she’d finally put her foot down and cut the cord, a part of her still mourned the hole his absence had left in her life. It was so easy now, to remember the good times… But those had dried up long before she'd ended things. No matter how many times she tried to remind herself that, she couldn't help the familiar little throb of pain that squeezed her heart. This time, however, and unbeknownst to her, it floated up and outwards, joining the rest as they radiated into space.

Years of working in the field had left her with the knack for getting packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. By the time the knock rattled her door she was already pacing back and forth before it, made restless by adrenaline. From there the trip became something of a blur; Amelia was spirited from place to place, never given even a cursory shred of information. She recognized DC from the plane, both from its skyline and basic inference, but after landing was just brought to a nondescript office building, whose true nature was only revealed by the several layers of security they passed through once inside. The secrecy of all this was beginning to worry her. What was so important they couldn't just bring her to an official site?

After both she and her bags were double then triple checked, Amelia was left head spinning in an austere side room. She was not waiting long before a door at the far end opened and a middle-aged woman stepped through, her grim face tightening into an expression of benevolence when she saw Amelia.

“Dr. Lind. I’m glad you could make it on such short notice. I’m Nancy Reynolds, head of sciences for the Oakwall project.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Amelia said, slightly relieved. She found she could often rely on a fellow academic far better than bureaucrats or administrators, and a female one doubly so. “I trust you’ll be briefing me on why I’ve been called in?”

“Of course. I’m sure you have many questions. If you’d just follow me… You can leave your bag, someone will bring it to your quarters.”

Amelia fell into step beside her, feeling uncomfortably grubby in front of Nancy’s clean cut presentation. But then, if they'd wanted her looking nice, then they could have called her in at a reasonable hour. The halls they passed through were scuttling with people, all wearing the same urgent and strained expression. Once they had descended several floors, however, the crowd thinned. Upon leaving the elevator they'd had to pass through yet another security checkpoint, and despite these guards apparent lack of armaments, they gave a distinctly more menacing impression than the ones covering the door.

"Heavy security." Amelia remarked, in an attempt to tease out any details about what was going on.

"You'll get used to it." Was all Nancy said in response.

Amelia pursed her lips, letting her eyes wander in search of clues. There wasn't much, but- Hold on, who was that? That man who'd just passed by, she was sure she recognized him. But where…

When it hit her, she did a double take, craning her neck around to prove herself wrong. "Huh. That's funny." She murmured aloud. "That guy looks like the spitting image of the captain for that Mars mission."

"Keith Bower?"

"That's the one. Sibling?"

"No."

Something in her tone unsettled Amelia. "Coincidence then? I mean it can't be… The ship is millions of miles away by now."

"The... The Voyageur has been returned to Earth. I promise you," she insisted as Amelia opened her mouth to protest, "everything will make sense soon. More sense, at least. You'll just have to see for yourself, there's no other way to explain it to you."

They entered a large briefing room, which felt oddly empty with just the two of them. Amelia picked a seat towards the middle, and just for a moment was a college freshman once again, settling in for her introductory lecture classes. Nancy slid into a chair beside her, dimming the lights with a remote and bringing the screen online.

“This video was captured approximately half a million kilometers from Earth.”

The screen blinked to life, displaying a grainy field of stars. For a moment the picture seemed static, then a streak of lilac light erupted into view, widening into a great nebulous chasm. It was an unsettling spectacle, made all the eerier by the utter absence of sound. From the depths of the chasm an object glided out, a metal sphere so perfect and shiny it could've been edited in. The lilac glow faded, and the sphere was lost to the darkness of space.

"Is this…" Amelia began, after a moment of stunned silence. "Is this what I think it is?"

"First contact? Yes, we believe so. Although by who, or what, we cannot say at this juncture."

“So we haven’t made any sort of official contact yet? Where is their ship now?”

“In orbit at the far side of the moon. And yes, they have sent us a transmission. It is because of this that we brought you in.”

"What did they say? What do they want?"

"We're currently unsure. They haven't taken any hostile action, besides transporting the Voyageur and her crew back to Earth. Even then, they are wholly unharmed. From the nature of their transmission, we believe there is still a significant communication barrier, which they seem eager to try and overcome.”

“That’s-” Amelia faltered, at a loss for words over the magnitude of this revelation. But despite the thousands of possibilities blooming in her mind, a shred of realism couldn’t help creeping in. “But I don’t see how I’ll be of much help. My field doesn't even begin to touch on this.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Your book is already one of the best resources we have for this situation. That being said, there is another factor.”

“Which is?”

“In their transmission, they asked for you. By name.”

***

Amelia shivered as she waited inside the test chamber. It was empty save for herself, but just beyond the glass and white walls was an array of scientific instruments, around which researchers and officials clustered like disturbed ants. It was absolute chaos out there, but within these walls, she felt oddly at peace. Perhaps the roughly two hours sleep she’d gotten last night was keeping her sedated. Cruel irony, that she'd tossed and turned so much over something she was now so calm for. This was it. The true first meeting. This chamber had been established between Earth and the mysterious orb overhead as one of over a hundred different ‘contact points’ around the globe, where all the emissaries chosen by their visitors would meet… well, she would just have to see.

“How are you doing?” Nancy buzzed in over the intercom. "Ready?"

“Ready.”

“You remember all our stances?”

"Yes."

Amelia had spent most of the morning listening to bureaucrats drone on about official policy and diplomatic positions, often in an annoyingly pedantic tone. She had smiled and nodded, as she’d often done in such situations, while inwardly gearing herself up for the meat of the matter. Initial communication itself. It was not an easy thing; every assumption had to be thrown out at the door. What could be a sign of goodwill for one culture could be an insult to another, a friendly greeting could be a declaration of war, a pleasant remark could be a declaration of love. The fallacy, of course, was that successful communication relied on both parties understanding this barrier, and working in their own way to overcome it. She could only hope that any civilization advanced enough to master interstellar travel was also sophisticated enough not to jump to any conclusions about Earth or her people. And the mere fact that they’d chosen emissaries across so many different cultures was already a greatly heartening-

“It’s time.” Nancy’s voice interrupted her thoughts. "Contact in ten… nine… eight…"

A mist of lilac light began to form in the middle of the chamber, condensing into an ever more distinct rift. Amelia could almost feel the scientists outside collectively losing their minds as a slew of data poured in from the anomaly, but her eyes were fixed firmly at its center.

Slowly, something began to slide into view. Amelia strained her eyes to see, but the light was just so bright…

Then, just as before, it evaporated. In its place remained a sleek metal pod, roughly two feet tall, hovering statically at eye level.

Amelia's excitement at being the first to lay eyes upon an alien being caught in her chest. What was this? Another messenger? A transport for a particularly small species? Could this race even be robotic in nature?

Undeterred, she made to speak, but her voice came out hoarse. Clearing her throat, she tried again, repeating the words she'd rehearsed so many times.

"Hello voyager. On behalf of the Human Race, I bid you welcome to Earth. It is our hope that this momentous occasion can lead to much peace and cooperation between our two peoples."

No visible change came over the pod, but she got the distinct impression it was studying her. Then a voice spoke, resonating all around her. "You are Doctor Amelia Lind?"

Despite her great effort to maintain composure, her eyes couldn't help widening in surprise. Not only did it speak in perfect English, but it even sounded human. The cadence, the inflections, the tone… Countless subtle details she'd been expecting to sound off, or alien, just… weren't. Going beyond even that, the voice sounded familiar, like a comforting blend between her brother's, and her doctorate professors, and her favorite cartoon character growing up.

"That's right." She responded, keeping her face neutral. "May I ask to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

Two lights like eyes blinked on at the top, followed by a line which suggested a mouth. "You may assign whatever name to me that best facilitates communication."

"Alright." She said slowly. They hadn't briefed her on this. "How about… No, they'd probably be furious with me if I chose a Star Trek character. What do you think of… I don't know, Ted?"

"Ted?"

"I always liked Ted. And it's an easy name to talk too."

"Good. I hope we will have a productive time together."

"In regards to that, what is the nature of your mission? Why Earth? Why me?"

“We seek to foster communication with your world. Among the candidates we surveyed, you have been determined as among one of the best to learn from.”

“So you seek knowledge?”

“Correct. I wish to work with you to learn about your species and culture. It is my hope that together, we might find an amicable solution.”

"A solution? To what?"

"Your planet's ongoing act of aggression.”

“Aggression? What aggression? We’ve done nothing to you!”

“Incorrect. You acts have brought us much pain.”

“But what have we done?” Amelia pled, heart racing. Had Nancy lied about this being first contact? Had the government been taking preemptive actions against these aliens?

“I am unsure the reason, the mechanism, or how to translate it so you can understand. That is a goal for our partnership. Once we have attained full understanding, then we may begin to work on the solution.”

“Alright.” Amelia said shakily. “What sort of solutions do you have in mind?”

“If your acts of aggression are intentional, we may attempt to negotiation or enforce a peace.”

“And if they aren’t? What then?”

“I believe further answers will be unconducive to diplomacy. Now; shall we begin?”