第19部分(第3/7 頁)

nalyzing　the　flight　data　summaries　on　the　flight　deck；　＇＇121＇＇　looking　at　the　star　fields；　and　I　know　where　the　black　hole　is　located。〃

〃Ted；〃　Beth　said；　〃the　sphere　opened。〃

〃It　did？　When？〃

〃A　few　minutes　ago。　Then　it　closed　again。〃

〃What　did　the　monitors　show？〃

〃No　biological　hazard。　It　seems　to　be　safe。〃

Ted　looked　at　the　screen。　〃Then　what　the　hell　are　we　doing　here？〃

Barnes　came　in。　〃Two…hour　rest　period　is　over。　Everybody　ready　to　go　back　to　the　ship　for　a　last　look？〃

〃That's　putting　it　mildly；〃　Harry　said。

The　sphere　was　polished；　silent；　closed。　They　stood　around　it　and　stared　at　themselves；　distorted　in　reflection。　Nobody　spoke。　They　just　walked　around　it。

Finally　Ted　said；　〃I　feel　like　this　is　an　IQ　test；　and　I'm　flunking。〃

〃You　mean　like　the　Davies　Message？〃　Harry　said。

〃Oh　that；〃　Ted　said。

Norman　knew　about　the　Davies　Message。　It　was　one　of　the　episodes　that　the　SETI　promoters　wished　to　forget。　In　1979；　there　had　been　a　large　meeting　in　Rome　of　the　scientists　involved　in　the　Search　for　Extraterrestrial　Intelligence。　Basically；　SETI　called　for　a　radio　astronomy　search　of　the　heavens。　Now　the　scientists　were　trying　to　decide　what　sort　of　message　to　search　for。

Emerson　Davies；　a　physicist　from　Cambridge；　England；　devised　a　message　based　on　fixed　physical　constants；　such　as　the　wavelength　of　emitted　hydrogen；　which　were　presumably　the　same　throughout　the　universe。　He　arranged　these　constants　in　a　binary　pictorial　form。

Because　Davies　thought　this　would　be　exactly　the　kind　of　message　an　alien　intelligence　might　send；　he　figured　it　would　be　easy　for　the　SETI　people　to　figure　out。　He　distributed　his　picture　to　everybody　at　the　conference。

Nobody　could　fig