NationStates Jolt Archive

The Milky Way galaxy is a vast construct of endless numbers of stars and planets, interspersed with such astronomical curiosities as pulsars and black holes. And yet, for all this space, for all of those stars, very little of it is actually habitable by Earthly life. Too close to the galactic core and there would be too much radiation, and too many collisions, for life to form. Too far away, and there simply would not be enough heavy elements for planets to form, much less life. Even if a solar system met these specific requirements, there were still many other gambles to be played before giving Earthly life a chance to flourish. Is the star the right size, the right colour, the right luminosity? Is there a terrestrial planet the correct distance from the sun? Are there any other nearby planets which may destroy or otherwise damage it?

Not all life was 'Earthly life' though. Sometimes, one can find the most unlikely intelligence in the most unlikely places.

The system was known by most as Radilus, located in the Perseus Arm at the edge of the Milky Way, some 7,000 lightyears away from Sol. It remained unclaimed, uninhabited, and unvisited. A large white main sequence star of spectral type A1V, Radilus itself was twice as hot and almost three times as massive as Sol, precluding the possibility of Earthly life within the existing planetary system. Four planets orbited. Radilus I was a rocky wasteland, orbiting within 0.5 A.U. of the star and possessing no atmosphere it burned during the day and froze during the night. Radilus II was also a terrestrial world, though with an atmosphere of sulphuric acid and enough pressure to crush a car, it was not a pleasant place to live. Radilus III was a failed gas giant - its atmosphere had bled off into space millions of years earlier, leaving behind nothing but a super-dense planetoid in its place roughly 4 A.U. from the star.

It was Radilus IV that would prove to be interesting to any resourceful enough to determine its secrets. Roughly the same size and mass as Jupiter, it was placed just over 9 A.U. from the star and warmed by its own internal workings. It was fairly standard so far as Jovian planets went, with a fairly thick red-orange atmosphere consisting primarily of hydrogen, with large amounts of helium and quite generous levels of ammonia. It also had unusually large traces of sulphur and phosphorus. Upon particularly close examination, unusual organic compounds floated around at the very top of the turbulent atmosphere, although these were not living creatures of any kind.

In the grand scheme of things though, none of this was particularly important. Of more interest were the bursts of electromagnetic radiation that emanated from an area somewhere below the canopy of Radilus IV's atmosphere, and had done for several years now. While it was not uncommon for any gas giant to have a strong radio signature, this one was different somehow. The signals were strong and focussed, pulsed in a complicated rhythmic pattern as though generated artificially as some kind of attempt at communication. Similar in a way to the dots and dashes of Morse code, only more more elaborate, and with pauses that lasted merely a few milliseconds. Additionally, the pattern looped itself after a few minutes, starting over from scratch, repeating over and over again.

What was generating these radio waves was unclear. Only one thing was certain; they were too complex to be random flukes of nature.

The Galileo class science vessel Columbus entered the system in a brilliant bluish-white flash of light. Like the other ships of her class, most of her missions were exploration and cartography. Today, Columbus and her crew found themselves far outside of the Orion Arm. Today, they were visiting Radilus. A previous Bryn Shanderan traveler passed nearby on a trade run, and had reported strange radio traffic coming from the system. As a result, the government decided to send Columbus to investigate.


"Captain, we've entered the system. All systems are reading green."

"Good. Begin scans now."

"Sir, we're picking up a wierd radio signal. It seems to be coming from a gas giant, but appears to be natural. ...But it's also a very elaborate, deliberate signal. I don't know what to make of this."

"Well, at least we've learned that the merchant skipper wasn't drunk or lying. Take us into a high orbit over the planet and continue scanning."


As the helmsman manipulated his controls, the ship moved to enter orbit over Radilus IV.

"Bah!" said a middle aged black haired rough skinned blue eyed man standing on a utilitarian bridge lit by mundane white lights spread across a saucer shaped bridge, The man looked out in to the shimmering darkness of space, his blue eyes panning the utter vastness, he started to speak in a low obviously boring tone. "Why the hell did they have to send us out there theres nothing here!" just as he said that, the helms officer several meters away sitting on his console started picking up those waves. the helms men's smooth hands ran along the holographic control screen taping on sensor buttons and other detection equipment. he looked up to the commander with a swift movement of his head leaning back on the leather like black chair speaking in a cool collective voice.

"commander, Sensors are picking up a ship and some signals half a light year away, it seems to be coming from that system in grid zero five mark eight three ten one, any orders?" The commander sighed thinking to him self there was finally some thing out here worth investigating, it had been so long since they made first contact with any race or at least came close to it. he looked to his helms officer and said in a rough commanding voice with a simple nod "Set a course and engage Hyper warp jump.."

The helms officer nodded and responded with "Aye sir" quickly brought up the engine controls and began pressing the holographic buttons his hands moving quickly over them. The six hundred meter long intrepid class variant of the excelsior class light cruiser gently shimmered in to the darkness of space, its long ominous body pushed forth by its drive engines, it came to a stop, the rough coarse metal hull reflecting light off of it, suddenly a few meters in front of it, a crackling gate of lighting and Turbulence opened ripping space apart wildly and violently, arcs of lighting shooting out, the ship floated in suddenly its body turned in to orbs of glimering white and blue energy that were sucked in to the massive gate, making it collapse back in on it self with an energetic almost explosive noise.

Several hundred thousand kilometers from the planet and unknown ship, another large gate opens with the same crackling energetic noises as before, ripping space with blue and white shimmering light, the condensed orbs reformed in to the large rough hulled ship that it once was. The ship starting floating towards the planet following the signals and a scan of a ship, its large ominous hull gloomed over gently pushing it self scanning the unknown ship in front of it as well as the singals.

Commander Martian slone sighed he looked to the communications officer he nodded, that nod made the officer open a communications frequency on all know channels and types of communications. with that the Commander started to speak in a diplomatic but strong voice.

"This is the UCS Intrepid to unknown ship and people, we are hear as the diplomatic and scientific missionary for the united colonial alliance of the federal union we do not come with hostile intent, and look froward to speaking with you" the channel cut. The commander sighed and fell back on his chair with a frustrated boring sigh one of his hands up to his chin as he though, it was a waiting game now time will only tell.

( http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d110/USFU/UCSExalcuiber.jpg

[[Explorer fleet 5]]
"Why did we have to be assigned out here sir?"
"Because we are explorers.... even in these barren areas."
Several minutes later the com officer spoke up.
"Probe 8876545 is detecting a atrifical varience the the fourth planet's magnetic field."
"Change course." Soon the fleet headed to the system. Several minutes later they emerged in the system and proceeded to a polar orbit of the gas giant.

An unprecedented occurrence. Artificial vessels constructed from heavy elements capable of cruising the stars arrived at Radilus, for the first time in history. Never since the formation of the solar system itself had such vehicles been in such close proximity, let alone so close to one of the planets. It was as though dust was stirred from the system, as a waft of pure 'new' enveloped the entire area.

The significance of the event certainly seemed to register with the unusual signals emanating from beneath the atmosphere. Upon being sent a reciprocating transmission the pulses of electromagnetic radiation stopped completely, after several years of continuous looping. It was several minutes before a concentrated wave of electromagnetic radiation began to sweep from below, touching everything above, as though some kind of RADAR system had swept across them. Once the beam stopped and disappeared there were another few moments of inactivity, perhaps trying to decide what it had seen.

Finally, the pulses started again. This time, however, they were different. The pattern was radically altered, as a completely new sequence of pulses began to spread out from the planet, with a new set of timings and arrangements. If it had been in any doubt before, it was no longer - this was not a natural occurrence. Someone or something was sending those radio pulses, and judging by the change in pattern, they were probably trying to send a message.

[Get Back Up thar, ye Mangy bushwhackin' Post!]

The DSS Pegasus and her escort fleet jumped into the outer edge of the Radilus system on the way back to New Oa. They were passing by when their comm. officer detected radio signals followed by sensors reading massive EM pulse directed at various ships taking orbit around the planet. The Pegasus proceeded to slot itself into orbit with the other ships as the escort fleet continued to stand watch at the edge of the system.

"Send a general hail out to anyone who might be listening," Admiral Maxwell said.

"Aye, sir. Channels open," Lt. Archer said as he tapped his holoscreen.

"This is the Dominion Starship Pegasus of the Dominion of the Emerald Flame. We have some interest in the radio signals the planet is producing and if no one has any objections we'll be sticking around to make some scans. If anybody has a problem with that my comm officer will be standing by. Thanks for your anticipated cooperation," Maxwell said with a grin.

"Think they'll go for it?" Lt. Commander Tack questioned.

"I'm hoping no one considers this the Holy Grail or some such thing. Otherwise this could turn pretty bad at any given point. Best wishes though, right Tack?" Maxwell said, smiling again.

"One big intergalactic family. I'll work on some replies to any of the other ships that may contact us," She said running her hands over the holoscreen in front of her.

"I'd expect nothing less from the Diplomatic officer. Judging by the transponder signals I don't think we've come across many of these people so it would be nice to get to know some of them. Maybe we could work together on decoding these signals..." Maxwell said settling back into his chair and deciding what to do next.

OOC: I do so enjoy a good mystery. ^_^

The ship floated dead silent in space as another ship entered the area, its rough hull emphasized by the shimmering glow of the nearby sun, the ship ominously floated over the others its hull lights blinking off and on as it floated in orbit. The commander sat back in his chair his eyes peering out in to th ominous shimmering void of space his hands placed on the armrests of his chair. the con officer was scanning the area, he Immediately noticed the radio signals from the planet and then the ships that jumped in, he quickly moved his head over to the commander and started to speak.

"Sir we're detecting incoming vessels, we're also getting some communication from the planet , what are your orders?" the commander jumped up looking around the mundanely lit rough chrome bridge, his eyes peered as he sighed saying with a split second of thinking. "Open a hailing frequency to the planet and those ships, keep the sheilds on stand by"

The con officer nodded saying with a soft voice "Aye commander"

Suddenly he tapped his holographic console, his hands moving gently over the shimmering glassy smooth buttons. a message was sent as before.

This Is the UCS Intrepid, we represent the united colonial alliance of the federal union, please state who you are the message cut off , and the crew lay silent, the commander sat back in his chair his hand to his chin as he waited his eyes panning the planet and new ships on the view screen. the ships engines emitted a white and bluish glow as it held position.

If there was an intelligence behind the radio pulses, it clearly had no idea what to do with a long, continuous stream of radio containing audio files, as opposed to the codified pulses of raw EM radiation it was squirting out. Once more the pulses stopped for a few moments, as though those behind it were considering what to do with the new transmission. Shortly thereafter the pulses began again, and the pattern remained unchanged. Another sweep of EM radiation passed them by at the same time, as though a second 'RADAR' scan was performed.

Having no further luck, the pulses stopped. Completely. No more EM radiation was emitted from the planet aside from its own natural EM field. For a while it seemed as though whatever had been sending them had given up, after all these years. They had finally found something that clearly wasn't natural, and they could not get through to them. However, it was not so.

The pulses began again after almost half an hour of silence. This time, however, the pattern was different. First there were two pulses in very rapid succession, then a long pause. Then there were three pulses in similarly rapid succession, and another pause. Then five pulses, then seven, then eleven, then thirteen, then seventeen, then nineteen... the number of pulses continued to escalate in that fashion.

((AHA! I figured out the code! They're all prime numbers! Meaning that the beings on the planet are at least on par with modern mathematics! What's more, anyone who's smart enough can communicate with them by using the same coding wavelength, except with divisible numbers!))

"Admiral, we're getting a signal from the planet again. I think it's broadcasting prime numbers, sir," Lieutenant Archer said as he checks over his console, "Yeah, it's definitely a prime number sequence."

"Alright. How long til we can get an actual communication with them?" Admiral Maxwell asked as his hands gripped the arms of his command chair with anticipation.

"Doesn't work like that, sir. Knowing they have prime numbers is like knowing all the words to a language without knowing how to structure them in a sentence if that is indeed their form of communication. We'll know more when the planet tries to communicate again," Lieutenant Commander Tack said.

"Fine. But at least transmit the prime numbers on the same frequency so they know we get the point," The Admiral conceited.

The Pegasus sends a focused radio beam at Radilus IV containing the same prime number sequence.

"Message sent, Admiral," Lt. Archer said.

"Now we wait," Admiral Maxwell responded.

((AHA! I figured out the code! They're all prime numbers! Meaning that the beings on the planet are at least on par with modern mathematics! What's more, anyone who's smart enough can communicate with them by using the same coding wavelength, except with divisible numbers!))

(OOC: Congratulations, the cookie has been sent via express air mail.)

Several months of silence had passed, with no new activity coming from the curious gas giant. It almost seemed as though whatever had been sending the electromagnetic pulses had disappeared, but this was an inaccurate assumption - as if nothing had happened, the pulses started up again, sending out the first fifty prime numbers on a loop, over and over again, for reasons which remained unclear.

A small, saucer-shaped vessel, Brain Jar often found the more arrogant species of the galaxy laughing at it as they locked weapons--until her plasma cannons sent the miscreants packing. Ironically, for all its bluster, the ship was holy ground, with a temple at its center, and her owner, a cyborg known only as the Metal Man, practiced a pacifist, tolerant, monotheistic religion.

He had been traveling home to earth when and encounter with some space pirates had left his ship badly damaged. He had pulled into the nearest star system, a supposedly uninhabited place called Radilus, to get source material to make repairs. That was when things got interesting.

First, there were radio signals from a planet that couldn't possibly support terrestrial life. Then, there was a mess of other ships--all much larger and, with the damage she had taken, much better armed than Brain Jar--orbiting the planet. As he came in, the Metal Man noted that at least two of the ships had indicated non-hostile intent--if they were being honest.

The cloaking device wasn't working--there were too many holes in the hull--and, with his jump drive gone and his warp drive failing, the Metal Man couldn't afford to leave and go somewhere else. He would just have to join the crowd and hope for the best.

"Attention all interstellar ships. I am the Metal Man, piloting Brain Jar. I am here to seek materials to repair my ship. My intent is not, repeat, is NOT hostile. Any assistance you can offer would be appreciated."

He hoped that none of them would get greedy. Though small, Brain Jar was quite technologically advanced. Its energy sources and information technology had been of particular interest to several space-faring species. Some had been peaceful enough that he had shared. Others he had needed to escape from.

Turning to the planet, he quickly picked up on the signals.

"Prime numbers, eh? Let's see if they're further along than merely counting."

On the same frequency, he beamed some numbers of his own toward the planet: the first fifty digits of pi (test for geometry); the first fifty digits of Euler's Constant (infinite series, perhaps some calculus). Then he repeated the numbers just to make sure that the inhabitants of the planet got them.

Then, he waited for responses--each in its own time and manner.

Once the message from the saucer-shaped craft had penetrated through the thick, orange soup of the gas giant's atmosphere and reached whatever it was that lurked there, the pulses fell silent once more. Much time passed as though in quiet contemplation, as though the source of the pulses had to take some time to consider the information they had received and construct an appropriate response.

Sure enough, some two hours later, the pulses began once again in rapid succession, not only repeating the numbers that had been sent down originally, but also continuing the sequences for an additional fifty digits each. Once this rather lengthy series of pulses was completed, they went back to the original rhythmic sequence which they had started with, as though the source expected those above to understand it better now.

They adapted quickly. The Metal Man had needed to add two characters to their alphabet: one for zero and one for a decimal point. He had also made a small concession to his would-be friends and allies around the planet: after observing the markings on their ships, he had decided to use base-10 arythmatic rather than his familiar base-16. The intelligence on the planet had picked it all up with no problems. Still, he had expected it/them to send a partial listing of e (basis of logarithms)--he had deliberately omitted it to see if it/they would catch the "mistake." It/they didn't.

So...it/they had a sufficient mathematical background to make it into space. It/they had technology capable of detecting visitors in orbit. Why was it/they staying on the planet? Would this have something to do with its/their inability to complete complex sets?

He could understand why it/they wasn't in the database that Species One had left him when he had originally escaped their clutches in Brain Jar centuries ago: like him, they weren't a big enough fish to be worth the frying--by Species One standards. This did not dissuade the Metal Man. What he didn't understand was the signals that were coming from the planet. Something with that kind of mathematical ability should be able to make itself understood. He'd fed the signals into his translation software and they was driving it crazy. It did not help that they had provided no reading key at the beginning of their transmissions--as he had done with his new alphabet in his own attempts to contact it/them. Since it/they had sent prime numbers, the software had even tried several sum-of-prime codes. Nothing.

On the subject of nothing, the Metal Man had heard exactly that from the Intrepid, the Pegasus and the various and sundry vessels of Explorer Fleet Five. He had sent obligatory identification and salutation messages. Nothing had come back. This served to remind him that he wasn't there on a first contact mission. He had a sick ship to heal, and the best place to get the material he needed for that process would be in the shadow of the system's first planet. A mass survey had indicated that it had the kinds of ores that he would need to complete his repairs.

With that, he contacted his co-conspirators, informing them of his findings and his course of action. He estimated that it would take about three weeks, Terran standard time, to get the job done. He promised to keep in contact and to be available if need be, but he had business to tend to.

Brain Jar moved deeper into the solar system.

Build
Upon
Many
Posts

OOC: I was hoping not to give anything away via OOC; but it's going to take a shuttlecraft or somesuch descending down into the atmosphere towards the source of the signal to really come close to discovering what is down there - without giving too much away, the source of the signal is currently at its limit of communication at these sorts of ranges.

A week and a half later, Brain Jar was in much better shape--no thanks to the flotilla around Radilus IV. He had turned Brain Jar so that its bottom half was facing toward the sun, extended solar collectors and moved the ship so that one of them was in the sunlight. By setting Brain Jar to slowly revolve, so that one collector was in the light while the other was in the shadow of Radilus I, he was able to keep his equipment from melting down in the intense glare of radiation. Thus, he had taken on enough energy to generate some of the material he needed without resorting to mining the planet. It saved a great deal of time. Repairs were almost complete--and the Metal Man was ready to devote some time to the small matter of Radilus IV.

There was no way around it. If he wanted to find out what was going on, he was going to have to go in. He had suits that could survive that kind of environment for extended periods--perhaps a few standard months--but he didn't have anything that could descend through that atmosphere and then reach escape velocity when the full effects of the big planet's gravity made themselves felt. He finally settled on taking the design from an escape pod and massively upgrading the power and maglev systems. Even that could only go about halfway through the atmosphere, and only had a 90% chance of making it back.

He had settled on The Box as the suit to wear. It did not appear humanoid, but, where he was going, the Metal Man didn't think that it would matter. It was rectangular in shape--like two cubes, one on top of the other. A circular patch about a quarter of the way down on the front provided cloaking and shielding, while manipulator arms and other tools could emerge from a dark patch near the bottom of the suit. Plasma cannons and columnized electron beams could extend from the center region if necessary. A sensor package--a small dome on the top, now modified to use sonar and radar in lieu of vision--and another massive maglev upgrade made it workable in the environment that the Metal Man anticipated on Radilus IV.

It/they were in for quite a surprise. It/they hadn't scanned him the way it/they had scanned everybody else. That was another curious omission for something that was ostensibly intelligent. An AI perhaps--and a flawed one at that?

Maybe, just maybe, some of the others would be able to help.

Slowly at first, with repair drones still at work on the last patches of her hull, Brain Jar began to make her way back to the planet and its flotilla. As soon as she was close enough so that radio waves took less than five minutes to reach them, she sent out a message:


Ladies and Gentlemen:

I'm going into the atmosphere of Radilus IV for a closer
look at whatever's down there. My best carrying vessel
can only make it about halfway down into the atmosphere.
Would anyone be interested in sharing technology in an
effort to produce something more effective--or in the
possibility of going along for the ride?



OOC:

TMM has some of the best translation software that there is. It should be able to divine the general purpose of the message coming from the planet--a warning? A welcome message? A shopping list (don't laugh--Radilus IV could have someone trapped on it and they could be asking for aid to help them get away)? It would influence TMM's choice of gear to know this. TG me if this is too much to give away to the whole group.

Who cares about acrostics?

BUMP

Radilus IV, after a brief explosion of activity, once more returned to its state of dormancy for a long time. Many months passed since the last series of radio wave pulses, and as before there appeared to be no signs of life. Her red-orange atmosphere, swirling peacefully as it had done for billions of years, had become an uninteresting gas giant once again, deserving no special attentions.

Today would be different, however. An incredibly rapid burst of electromagnetic radiation pulses, tenfold stronger than any that had previously been recorded from the strange world, shot out from beneath the gaseous atmosphere of Radilus IV and into space. Relentless, the rapid series of pulses seemed to convey much more information than in previous attempts, but as the radio waves were not actually transmitting any kind of files or data, but simply using the actual radio pulses themselves to communicate, deciphering it would prove nigh-on impossible. Whomever was behind them seemed determined to make themselves heard again, however.