It was a beautiful spring day. Dim sunbeams illuminated the two figures seated at the control console at the Space Intelligence Research Center.
- No signal? Lieutenant Ping asked.
"Patience," Captain Ling replied, "we have six more hours."
- Are we sure we'll get a signal today?
- Certainly, the signal always comes during the spring equinox.
Lieutenant Ping mused. Twelve years ago, the first signal from the Sin-Hai galaxy was received. For hundreds of years, traces of intelligent life in space have been searched for. The first problem is how to distinguish logical information from cosmic noise? The solution was found in mathematics. Fibonacci number sequence is selected. Signals at frequencies 2, 3, 5, 13, 89, 233, 1597, 28657, 514229 Hertz were sent into space. Will anyone in space understand this question? Because if he understands, it means that he can think and count. And he will know the answer. The answer came - a one-second signal with a frequency of 433 494 437 Hz. It was the day of the vernal equinox, March 21, 358 EPR (the Age of Reason Reign). Since then, scientists have worked tirelessly to establish the rules of the language in which it will be possible to communicate with unknown beings. Dictionaries of basic concepts and test texts in various languages were shipped into space. A year ago, such a degree of agreement was reached that it was decided to send texts that are the foundation of human civilization to unknown beings. So: Plato's Republic, Sun Yat Sen's Three Principles, and the Charter of the World Bank of China.
Captain Ling stretched and looked at the screen that displayed the current news. Crowds of people gathered at the Gate of Heavenly Peace Square - Tiananmen Guangchang.
"A celebration of joy," Lieutenant Ping sighed.
"The joys of spending money," said Captain Ling.
Lieutenant Ling looked at him closely. Captain Ping was one of the center's oldest employees. It was known that he had a very thorough education.
"Captain, tell me what it was like in the old days," he asked.
- In how old?
- Well, BC.
Captain Ling looked thoughtful. Before Christ. This was the era counted in the years of AD - your year. Yours? What Lord was that about? Nobody knew for sure and nobody wanted to find out. It was an era of chaos and randomness. A society fragmented into fighting ethnic groups. Decay and decadence.
- Have you studied history and philosophy, Captain?
- Yes, but I stopped at the right time.
Lieutenant Ping turned his head. Some have mentioned that Captain Ling spent several years in a re-education camp. But that did not take away the sins of youth. He has not been promoted for 20 years. Apparently the rank of captain was the pinnacle of his career.
- And now I celebrate the joy of spending money.
- It's logical. Because the joy of spending is the drive for the joy of earning.
- And the joy of earning is the drive to work.
- Under the loving care of the World Party of China!
"Amen," Captain Ling muttered.
- What did you say, Captain? Lieutenant Ping asked.
- What? I? I didn't say anything. I think I'm having a hiccup, Captain Ling replied.
They both fell into silence. This was the trouble with Captain Ling. Those cryptic comments that showed some irony. What about ironic? Life was simple and happy. For example, today's Feast of Joy - a march in front of the stands where the leaders of the nation sit. And then everyone will get an extra share of Soma - pills of joy. And the joy of earning money - Lieutenant Ping has just paid the installments for furnishing the apartment. There is still a debt for the apartment. Does Captain Ling have any debts? Probably not. How old can he be? Certainly over 50. The Government Bank made sure that all debts were paid off before reaching the age of termination of employment. People who finished their work were placed at the disposal of the Department of Peaceful Old Age. There it was assessed whether their life was worth living.
- Captain Ling, who came up with this saying: uncontrolled life is not worth living?
- Ancient thinker Sok-ha-teh.
In some cases, however, Captain Ling was invaluable. Lieutenant Ping sometimes thought about these words, and felt anxious. What if the department decides it's not worth it? Will they give you extra Soma lozenges? Or maybe some other?
- Is!!! Captain Ling jumped up in his chair and stared at the marks on the screen. He pressed the emergency button alerting management and flipped the text onto the Ancient languages - Latin, Old Greek, Egyptian… Hebrew. Hebrew!? Yes! A translation was displayed on the screen. It looked like an instruction:
1. You will have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not invoke God's name in vain.
3. Remember the holy day ...
- What is this? What does it mean? Chaotic questions rang out. Colonel Dong interrupted.
- Calm! He exclaimed in a loud voice. - Calm!
He pressed a button on the control panel and the big screen went blank. A murmur of disappointment ran through the room.
"Calm down," Colonel Dong repeated, "this is not the time and place for pointless speculation." The text has been sent to the Office of Thought Research, the correct interpretation will be made public soon. And now I am asking everyone to leave the room, I remind you that the Festival of Joy begins in an hour.
People moved slowly towards the exit. Only two duty officers remained in the room.
- Did you get any of this, Captain? Lieutenant Ping asked.
“Well, Colonel Dong was as cool as ever.
- Yes, but I mean this text. How it was? Won't you have other gods before me? Where it is? - Lieutenant Ping moved the cursor to restore the previous screen contents.
- What the heck?
- What is it, Lieutenant?
- I can't go back to the previous session. Oh, the whole conversation log is also empty.
A new message appeared on the screen:
- End of shift.
- What about listening to signals from space? Lieutenant Ping asked.
Before he finished these words, the answer appeared on the screen:
- The Space Intelligence Research Project is closed. The signals from the Sin-Hai galaxy were not from sentient beings. It was just a cosmic noise.
"The stone tablets have been shattered, too," muttered Captain Ling.
- What did you say? What was shattered?
- What? I didn't say anything, I said I had hiccups today.
1. Fibonacci sequence - CLICK.
2. Soma - pills of joy - a term taken from A. Huxley's book -The Brave New World.
3. The original quotation from Socrates is: ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ. Polish wikipedia translates it as - Unexplored life is not worth living. large screen on the wall. The hall was filled with employees of the Center. Everyone was looking at the incomprehensible signs.
"Quick translation," Colonel Dong growled.
- Language identification - appeared on the screen - Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, English, Spanish ... The names of the most important languages moved in the margin of the screen with each icon with a sad face. There was a certain consternation in the room. After all, it seemed that an agreement had been reached last time. The Sin-hai beings were able to understand the test texts sent to them in Chinese, Arabic.
