This is a NON TG element Science Fiction Fantasy. Follow the Amarian's as they discover radio and television signals from earth. Linaria continues to work on the radio signal discovery. Please comment on characters and flow.
 

And Now...
 
Amaria
Chapter Two
By D. L. Darrow (Sara D.)

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Chapter 2 Discoveries
 
Lin woke up the next day refreshed and ready to go, it took her a few moments to realize that it was day time. She had been used to the sun shining through her dorm room window back at school waking her up. She realized this would be something she would just have to get used to. However she was well rested and ready to start experiencing her new job. She went into the bathroom to clean up. As she came out of the bathroom she looked over to the other side of the room and saw that Anali was just waking up as well. “Good morning Anali, sleep well?” Lin asked her roommate.

“Very well, thank you and good morning to you too. You ready for your first official day of work?”

“Absolutely, I am so excited about this day.” Lin responded as she finished getting dressed for the day. She wore a grey and green jumpsuit that all the team members had been wearing the previous day. Kuval had given her three sets the day before.

Anali began getting herself ready for her day. “If you hang back for a few minutes I’ll go to breakfast with you.”

As Lin started for the door she stopped turned around and said. “Yah, ok that sounds nice.” She then walked over to the big window and once again looked off into deep space. “I think it’s more beautiful today than it was yesterday.”

“I was the same way when I first got here last year, but I have to admit, it never does get old.” Anali said as she joined Lin at the window after finishing getting dressed. She looked out the window for a few more minutes with Lin and asked. “Well I’m ready to go, shall we go eat.”

“Yes, I like the way these jump suits fit and look. They’re very form fitting.”

“You’ll learn to have a love hate relationship with them. The men like the way the fit us as well. If you know what I mean.” Anali explained the minor distractions she had caused wearing the thing.

Lin and Anali walked out the door of their room to the dining hall. As they entered there sitting at the table were Ardin and Kuval. They both had plates full of fruits and cereals in front of them. Anali and Lin grabbed trays and plated and filled up with what they wanted and sat across from Ardin and Kuval. As they sat Kuval greeted them. “Good morning ladies, how are you getting along today?”

“Fine thank you, Anali had been a helpful and a real dear since meeting yesterday.” Lin said with appreciation.

“That’s nice to say Lin, thank you. You’re nice too.” Anali said while lightly blushing.

“Well I am glad you two are getting along.” Kuval said and then turned and looked over at Ardin. “After breakfast will you take Lin to the computer center and get her fixed up and then both you two come to my office for a briefing.”

Ardin smiled and asked. “The usual computer access levels then.”

“Yes of course, and show her how to save and mark signals that will need further study as well. That should take you about an hour; let’s say we meet in my office in an hour and a half.”

“Ok sir, I take care of it.” Ardin then looked over at Lin and said. “Whenever you’re ready I’ll take you to get all of that done.

“Thanks Ardin, I’ll be finished in a few minutes.” Lin said and saw that Anali had given her a big smile and nod towards Ardin. She must think he likes me Lin thought to herself. Lin sat quietly as she finished her breakfast then she got up and Anali and Ardin followed suit. They all put their dishes away and left the dining hall for the central hub of the computer center. Once they entered Anali took her a seat at her desk and logged into her computer. Ardin motioned to Lin to sit at the computer at her desk. She sat down and waited for instructions. “So what do I do now Ardin?” Lin asked as she looked at the monitor screen sitting of the left side of her new desk.

“Well first of all we need to get you access to the system.” Ardin explained as he took the keyboard and typed his login information. Once the system had logged him on he then set up an account for Lin, as he did so she watched everything he did. Ardin then pushed the keyboard over to Lin. “Ok now just enter a password and you’ll be all set up. If you need anything printed out, the printer is right over there.” Ardin pointed to a printer on the left of the room. Once Lin entered her password Ardin instructed her on how to save files and flag them for further study. Lin practiced with a few of the newest radio recordings and when she finished the last one in the quiche Ardin showed her how to log off of the system. “Very good, you got the hang of that quickly. Well now that that is done well head on over to Kuval’s office for his brief.” Lin then stood up as the computer logged off and walked with Ardin into her new boss’s office for the second time.

As they approached Ardin smiled at Anali and told her. “We are here to see Kuval for Lin’s brief.”

“Go right in, he’s waiting for you.” Anali responded as she pointed towards the office as to direct them inside.

“Thank you Anali.” Lin said with a friendly tone. “Let’s have lunch together later and have a chat.”

“Ok Lin, I will meet you there.”

Lin and Ardin entered Kuval’s office, as they did Kuval stood up and gestured to two chairs that were placed in front of a large wide screen monitor hanging on the right side of Kuval’s office. They both sat in a chair and Kuval pressed a button on a remote that he had pulled out of his top left hand drawer. “Ok Lin, Ardin, here is the latest radio telescope intercepts. I have flagged the first three myself, the next two are from Ardin and the last one is one you flagged just a few minutes ago. I know you flagged two more but this one is the most interesting and we will look at it first.” A list of six radio signals with date and time stamps in them were listed on the monitor. Each file name had the operator’s name, time of signal, length of signal and sequence number. Kuval then pointed at the screen and the first radio signal was highlighted, and then scrolled to the bottom of the list, indicating it in bold which selected the file name of ‘lin1040_045.rt1’. Then a large graph appeared on the screen with variations of signal strength, quality, frequency and duration of recording. Kuval asked Lin if she could explain what was displayed. “Lin, why flag this one in particular, can you explain what we see here? Go ahead when you’re ready.”

Lin took a deep breath and began. “Well sir, as you can see by the strength and duration of the wave form and the duration of the signal it appears to be radiation surge in a fluctuating frequency it is indicating a possible discovery of a rotating star.” Lin finished with assurance that she was correct. Kuval an Ardin looked at each other briefly and then over at Lin.

“That is correct Lin, very nice catch. Since the point of origin is not known you get the privilege of naming this new pulsar Lin. That’s great for you, congratulations.” Kuval said with admiration.

“Thank you, I would like to name it Verana Sol, after my mom.” Lin stated with a smile and glee.

“Ok, I will take the necessary steps in naming this pulsar as ‘Verana Sol’ and log it in.” Kuval said with a smirk.

“Can you show me how that works?” Lin asked.

Kuval motioned for Lin to come over to his desk. “Here sit at my console and I will show you how it’s done.”

Lin sat at Kuval’s desk and waited for instruction. “Ok, now what do I do?”

Kuval instructed Lin on how to prepare the documents for naming a newly discovered celestial object. He also showed her how to schedule visual telescope time so that she could take a look at the pulsar itself. The astronomers would download the images onto the server for review later so each person could share and contribute to all the discoveries on Manara. After Lin finished she stood up and thanked Kuval. “There you go Lin, now you know how to do the request. It should only take a few days for ASI to process it. You will get a confirmation when it clears. Now that that is finished you may go to your desk, Ardin will you show her how to position the radio telescope and record a few local signals for a live demonstration?”

“Ok, no problem.” Ardin said and led Lin to her desk.

Lin took a seat at her desk and Ardin began showing her how to program the radio telescope to change position. Lin realized this was a little more time consuming than just looking at the recordings that Ardin showed her earlier. Ardin had showed her the outer most gas giant planet in their solar system. She was glad for the experience. Lin had learned of it properties in school, but this was different. It was great to see the data come in live and made it more real. ‘Thanks Ardin, this is great.”

“You’re welcome Lin; now if you have any questions just go ahead ask ok. Go ahead and try it out for yourself for the next couple of hours and see what you can find.”

“Ok, thanks again Ardin.” Ardin then took a seat at his own desk and logged in. He began reviewing more of the latest recordings as he had to catch up for the time he was away on Amaria. “I think she will do fine.” He thought to himself and began working.

Lin spent the next several hours looking for and studying signals from the telescope. She was truly enjoying herself. She just hoped that the novelty would not were off and become boring after a while. Lin was engrossed in a signal that she had just found and was startled out of her chair when someone tapped on her shoulder.

“Oh I sorry Lin, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just thought you might go and have lunch.” Anali said with a smile.

“It’s ok, I guess I was occupied by this signal and did not realize you had walked up behind me. Lunch sounds great, let’s go.” With that said Lin and Anali walked out of the room towards the dining hall for some needed food. As Lin and Anali entered Amil greeted them.

“Hello again Lin, how’s your first day going, and how are you Anali?” Amil said with a grin.

“I am doing fine, thanks.” Anali said and looked over to Lin.

“I’m having a great first day, I’ve learned so much already but I have a long ways to go to learn everything.” Lin responded with a great big smile.

“That’s great Lin, we are all glad you are getting along so well so far. Enjoy your lunch you two.” Amil said as he went to the kitchen to serve the two young ladies.

As Amil came out with their plates Rindan and Timit joined them at the table. Amil saw them and greeted them as well. “Good after noon gentlemen, I be right back with your lunch.”
“We are doing fine Amil, where’s Emil?” Timit asked as he and Rindan took their seats.

“He’s over in spire number one; he’s helping Pardja repair damage to the airlock.” He gave a stern look over at Lin. “I guess Linaria did not slow down enough and now it’s not sealing right.”

Everyone could tell that Lin had a terrified and worried look on her face. “Oh my, did I break something. Oh dear, I am sorry.” She said truly embarrassed. “I’ll go and see if they need any help.” Lin started to get up from her unfinished lunch to see if she could help. As she did everyone started to laugh, she now had a puzzled look on her face. “Why are you all laughing?” She asked the group. Then her expression changed to one of relief once she realized they were playing a joke on her. At the same time Emil walked in to the dining hall. “You guys, you got me. I was thinking my stay here was over before the end of my first day.” Emil then spoke once his laughter at Lin’s expense had subsided.

“Well it’s tradition to poke fun at the new guy here. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us. But it’s all in good fun.

Lin sat quietly then began to cry, then broke into hysterics. Emily had a look of concern thinking he had truly embarrassed Lin. He went over to her and tried to comfort her. As he knelt down beside her she looked at him and smiled. “I got you Emil; I’ve been able to produce tears on command since I was little. It only works about twice.”
My mom figured it out pretty quickly when I was young, but I’ve seemed to take the bait and fell for it beautifully.” Lin explained as she now began to laugh, Emil’s expression changed into a big smile, he stood up and took his seat once again.

“Well she’s going to fit in here just fine.” Anali said smiling at her new friend. “I think Emil was almost going to throw up there, he was so worried. Great one Lin, I’ve got remember that one. You are going to have to get Ardin with that one for sure. Maybe we will run into him on the way back.” Once everyone calmed down they all continued to eat their lunches and talked about their day so far. Lin told everyone about her earlier discovery and everyone congratulated her. After finishing lunch Lin stood up.

“I should be getting back to work now, It’s been a really enjoyable lunch, and thanks again for the welcome.” Lin said smiling at Emil. Lin an Anali walked together out of the dining hall back towards the center of the station. Once down the hall they bumped into Ardin.

“Oh good, you’ve had lunch, I assume you were welcomed properly in there?” Ardin said with a smirk.

“It was awful Ardin, they all made fun of me, I’m off to Kuval’s office now to make a complaint.” Lin said with tears in her eyes once again.

“Oh my, could they have gone overboard.” Ardin thought to himself with a worried look on his face as he suggested the particulars of this morning’s prank. “I’m so sorry Lin, they should not have pushed it as far as this and make you upset. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? It was my Idea.”

“Yes there is.” Lin said sternly, waiting for a few minutes for her payback to sink in. “You can now go and tell Kuval all about how you upset me and take the blame for all of this.”

“This girl has got talent.” Anali thought to herself, enjoying Ardin’s reaction.

Lin continued. “And further more I think you should be expelled from the station for such and outright unforgiving action.” Then she hit him playfully on the right shoulder in disapproval and giving Ardin a sick feeling and looked horribly embarrassed and sorry. “Are you sorry for this Ardin?” Lin asked overstated.

“Yes, please forgive me.” Ardin answered sweetly.

At this point Anali could no longer contain herself and began to giggle, which in turn caused Lin’s expression to change to a smile and she too could not hold it and laughed as well. Soon both of them were laughing uncontrollably in the middle of the hallway. Ardin’s expression changed immediately. “You were kidding the whole time? Why that was unfair, you are good Lin, you had me going. Yep you’ll fit in just right around here, especially around Emil and Timit. Well I guess I got what I deserved, I’m off to lunch. And Lin, very well done today so far, go ahead and get another couple of hours on the telescope and then we will get together later and see what you’ve come up with.”

“Ok Ardin, thanks for the laugh.” Lin said as she and Anali walked away towards the center once again. As they arrived Kuval came out of the door and said hello.

“Hello ladies, enjoy your lunch?” Kuval asked with a questioning look. “Having fun at Ardin’s expense I presume?”

“Yes, Lin here got everyone at lunch and Ardin just now. She got all of us pretty good.” She smiled at her friend, Lin returned the smile.

“Well I guess I will hear all about it as I am off to get lunch. Lin I have an area of space I would like you to look at over the next couple of weeks, it’s an area we’ve not studied yet. I sent the coordinates to your work station. See you two ladies later.” Kuval said as he left for lunch.

Lin and Anali took seats at their desk and continued their work. Lin looked at the coordinates Kuval sent her. The coordinates were in quadrant seven in the southern sky. An area that held many mysteries as the station had the only telescope capable of viewing this part of the sky. A telescope was under construction for just this endeavor but had fallen into some technical difficulties. This must be why Kuval wants me to study this area, to get a head start until the new ground telescope was finished in the next few months. Lin spent the better part of the next few weeks learning all that she could about this area of space and cataloging all that she discovered along the way. She would report to Kuval and Ardin at their daily meetings. So far nothing out of the ordinary had been found. Lin fell into a routine over the next two weeks. Anali and Lin had become fast friends along with Emil and Timit. Everyone on the station was getting along well working towards a common goal. Lin’s routine was welcome as she was really enjoying all that the station has to offer. It had just become her fourth week on Manara and Lin was steadily working on an area of space she had been studying all this while but in an unexplored area of it. She soon began adjusting the frequencies of the telescope and got excited when she discovered something exciting on a high band frequency. It looked close to what Amaria had using in communications circles but a few decades out of date. She immediately tagged the signal for further study and recorded it for about thirty minutes. Astonishment and curiosity overcame her as she stopped the recording. She got up from her desk and went over to Ardin. “Hey, I’ve found a very interesting and puzzling signal in quadrant seven. The one Kuval’s having looking at over the last couple of weeks. I think we should let him know.”

“Sure, ok. You have the file number handy?” Ardin asked with excitement leading the way to Kuval’s office. So far for the past few weeks Ardin and Lin had worked together well and could almost anticipate each other when it came down to a discovery noteworthy enough to present for naming, certification and Kuval’s attention. Ardin opened Kuval’s door and Lin followed him in.

“Yes, I have it written down on this pad.” Lin answered showing Ardin the white pad of paper she had in her left hand.

“Come in you too, I assume you have something to show me.” Kuval asked with anticipation, every time they had come in together there was yet another great discovery. To date, together they had found two planets of Amaria size, one red gas giant star and a super nova.

“Yes Kuval, our local discovery hog here has yet another file for us to look at.” Ardin said with a smile towards Lin. “I have yet to look at it, but Lin’s expression when she came over was enough of an excuse to show you for me.”

“Ok then, have a seat and we will take a look at it. I’ve already screened it briefly as soon as Lin flagged it. I must say, what you have found is extraordinary Lin. This could be a find of a life time if we are right.” Kuval grabbed the remote from his desk and then pointed it at the screen on his wall. The signal was now clearly displayed with all the data elements in a column on the ride side. “I immediately saw why you flagged this signal Lin, It is indeed very interesting.” Kuval then looked over to Ardin. “What do you make of it Ardin.”

Ardin studied the data from his seat, his expression changed to that of surprise as he stood up as to get a better look at the data stream. “You have got to be kidding me.” Ardin said with hesitation in his voice and then looked over at Lin. “Do you realize what you have found Lin? This signal is from a non terrestrial source, not from around here for sure. I my word, this is fantastic.” Ardin said with excitement.

Lin could feel a tingly sensation from her feet to her head as she realized what Ardin was saying, she has stumbled on an alien signal. That meant there work was going to pay off at last. She was now shaking with excitement as she was sure Kuval and Ardin must be, they both had great big smiles and then they both sat back down. Lin could not sit, she was still too excited. She looked over to Kuval and asked. “Are we sure this is not a naturally occurring radio signal Kuval?” Lin asked to be the voice of reason and not to jump to a conclusion to quickly.

“Yes, it’s defiantly not from our neighborhood, we will have to get everyone in on this one, figure out the distance and possibilities are endless. We need to tread lightly as not to cause alarm before we know what this means and is.” Kuval sated with more excitement than he could bear and took a drink of water from a glass that was on his desk. “Ardin will you go ahead and have Anali get a meeting together with everyone and I will disseminate tasks for everyone to accomplish. Lin you stay here in the meantime and we’ll look at this signal anew and see if there is more to it.” Lin pulled up her chair closer to Kuval’s desk; Kuval then had the live feed from the radio telescope liked to the screen on the wall. At the same time Ardin left the office and walked over to Anali’s desk to have her request the meeting. Kuval and Lin studied the live feed for several minutes until Ardin’s return. As Ardin entered the office again he told Kuval that everyone would be in the office shortly. Kuval then stood up turned the monitor off and motioned for Ardin and Lin to join him at a closet on the left side of the room, as he opened the door he handed each of them two chairs, they both got the idea and set the chairs up in a semi circle around the display screen on the wall. Kuval pulled out five more chairs, as Lin and Ardin finished setting up the last of the chairs Celine and Dania the two computer technicians arrived and walked into Kuval’s office.

“What the big news?” Celine asked of group.

“Lin has discovered something big, have a seat and I will explain once the other have arrived.” Kuval instructed them.

Celine and Dania took a couple of seats in the front close to the screen as they did the rest of station crew necessary began to arrive. The five engineers, Fianne, Niara, Athia, Pardja and Quint all arrived and took seats close together, followed by the astronomers Rindan and Timit all of them began to talk back and forth wondering why they had been called into a meeting with everyone. Generally if a signal or discovery needed conformation it was just sent to the operators for further study. After everyone was seated and calm Kuval stood up behind his desk. “Welcome everyone, I have called all of you here today to first let you know that Lin here has discovered something astounding, also to inform you of what we need to accomplish over the next few days. That being said, first all current projects are suspended until further notice without my prior approval, second, no outgoing communications are to be made with the same restriction, thirdly, I need everyone on their toes with this one. Finally here is the signal. Kuval turned the monitor back on with the remote. Everyone’s attention was now directed towards the screen as they were all curious about what Lin had discovered. “As you can all see at this point, Lin found a radio signal with a frequency close to that of what we on Amaria used decades ago. Also you can see by the strength and modulation of it indicated a great distance away but a powerful enough source to reach us. This radio signal has data in it. Which you all now realize the implications of such a discovery by now? So here are you assignments hence forth. Lin and Ardin are to start searching for and recording more of the signal, Celine, Dania, I want you to dedicate all computer memory to recording and backing up the signal; you may request additional computer storage from home as necessary. Fianne and the rest of you engineers I need you to make sure that Celine and Dania have uninterrupted power, and help with deciphering the data portions of the signal and assist Timit and Rindan in their distance and point of origin calculations. Timit, Rindan that’s your task. I’ll let that information sink in for a few minutes.” Kuval then sat down and watch as everyone erupted into mass congratulations to Lin and questions as well.

After several minutes Kuval stood once again and excused everyone from his office, Anali came in shortly after and helped Kuval put away the chairs with Lin. As Lin finally walked back to her desk she felt a little overwhelmed with the attention she had received. There was now a lot of pressure on her. As she sat Ardin noticed from his desk that Lin look apprehensive. “It’s going to be ok Lin; we will all help you in figuring out what this is and how to proceed from there ok.”

“Thanks Ardin, I will do my best to help in any way I can.” Lin said a little apprehensive. She felt that her contributions to come would be hard to come by and was wondering if Kuval had indeed made the right choice.

“Listen Lin, you have already contributed greatly so far, your skills as a researcher and scientist has surfaced since you came here. You should be proud of your accomplishments. No one could have done better than you.” Ardin told her and he meant it.

“You are the best Ardin, I feel better now. I guess I am just a little overwhelmed, but what you said helped. I know I will be able to help. I am excited beyond anything before this.” Lin responded to Ardin smiling and excited with what was to come. “I guess we should get back to work huh?”

“Yes, we certainly should. I’ll get started with your last recording and you get to the live feed and see what else you can find.”

Lin and Ardin had been working at their desks for several hours when Celine walked up to Lin’s desk thrilled with something she had found out. “I’ve found something interesting in the data; it indicates that there is defiantly more here. I have been working on a portion of the signal for over an hour and I came up to show you what I found, if I may?” She said indicating to Lin’s terminal and then opened a file she was referring to. “Here’s what I have been working on. As you can see here in the data portion there is a variation in signal strength, frequency and modulation, it indicates an audio track to the data. I was unable to decode that portion as of yet but here, listen to what I have extracted from the recording so far.” Celine pulled up the audio she had and played it for them, at first only static could be heard, but soon you could hear vocalization in the sound. It was defiantly speech of some sort. “As you can here it is something talking here, it’s a language far different from any here but you can hear the changes in pitch indicating educated speech patterns. There is more, I have the computer extracting more. It took about a half hour to extract this much.”

Both Ardin and Lin looked at Celine with amazement realizing what was in the signal. “I can’t believe this, this is incredible. Lin you are going to be famous. Ardin told them both. “Wow…… that is all I can say, wow.” Ardin was animated with excitement for all of them, he could hardly contain himself. As he looked at Lin he could tell by her mannerisms she was the same.

“This is wonderful news Celine, thank you for brining this to our attention. Kuval said as he walked up to Lin’s desk. No one had noticed him walk up. “Lin you should be congratulated again, this discovery will certainly change our planets view of the universe. I am certain you will be famous as Ardin said.” Lin gave them all a hug in appreciation.

“I am so happy that this has happened, you guys have helped me learn all of this since I arrived on Manara. I am proud to work with all of you; this is going to be a team effort. I don’t want to take all of the credit. Celine is the one who found the audio track, and I am sure everyone else will contribute to it as well.” Lin explained.

“That is very kind of you Lin, are you sure about this?” Celine asked Lin.

“Yes I am. Kuval will you wait and don’t announce this until we have more and then report to ASI our discovery.” Lin asked indicated everyone at the station.

“Of course, if that is what you want, then that is what will happen. You will ultimately get the credit for the initial find as that part is already done and logged in the system. But everyone else will share in the findings.” Kuval explained to them.

“Thank you Kuval, I feel much better, the butterflies in my stomach have finally stopped doing somersaults.” Lin said with a smile as she sat back down at her desk, Celine grabbed a chair and began helping Lin with the live feed. Lin began to see there was more and more coming in. After recording the signal for more than an hour Lin and Celine decided to take a break for dinner. Lin invited Anali and Ardin to join them. As they sat eating their dinner Emil took a seat at the table and asked about what all the excitement today was about.

“What’s going on today, everyone seems to be in a great mood but very busy at work. No one came in for lunch today.” Emil asked confused, normally no one missed a meal on the station.

“We have found a very interesting radio signal today and have been very busy analyzing it. I guess all of us were too engrossed in what we were doing and missed lunch.” Lin explained to Emil.

“Oh I see what type of radio signal did you find?”

“We can’t discuss the particulars yet; we are still unsure ourselves and are still working on it.” Celine told him. “I sure you will hear all about it soon enough.”

Lin cool tell Emil was a little disappointed about not being told what was going on. “Emil, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you about it, it’s just Kuval told us to not to talk about it too much.”

“It’s ok, you can tell him Lin.” Kuval said as he walked into the dining hall. “We can trust everyone on the station.” As Kuval grabbed himself some food from the kitchen Lin and Celine let Emil in on what had happened up to this point.

“Wow, that’s amazing Lin you should be very happy about you discovery.” Emil stated with a smile.

“I’m not going to take all of the credit; I’m going to share in the fame with everyone here.” Lin told Emil. “I’m sure Amil and everyone else will hear about this very soon.” As Lin finished speaking Dr. Binaji walked in.

“What’s everyone talking about? I heard a rumor.” Binaji asked everyone in dining hall.

“Well have a seat and I’ll tell you all, Anali will you contact everyone and tell them I would like a full staff meeting here in five minutes.” Kuval instructed realizing now would be a good time to inform everyone at once.

“Sure thing Kuval, I’ll get on it right now.” Anali then stood up and went to the communications panel next to the door of the kitchen. She pressed the intercom button for an announcement. “Attention all station personnel there is a full staff meeting in the dinning all in five minutes.” Anali made the announcement and repeated herself to make sure it was understood.

“Thank you Anali, we will just wait for everyone to get her then I will explain everything.”

Emil could not contain his anticipation as the doctor looked at him for answers. “It’s great news Binaji, great news.” In the next few minutes all of the staff arrived and took seats at the dining tables.

“Well I guess some of you are now wondering why you have been called here.” Kuval began to explain the events of the day. Once he finished the full story everyone congratulated Lin on her discovery. Lin’s face turned red in embarrassment as they did this. “Now that all of you know what’s expected I would like all of us to meet in central and report on any further findings as I am sure all of you including myself will be working late.” Kuval told the group. Dinner progressed for the next hour as everyone was updated on their individual progress so far. Everyone went back to their stations once dinner was over. Everyone including Lin worked late into the night. Several hours later one by one all staff member began to depart to their rooms as everyone was now tired from the day’s events.

Lin was sitting on her bed trying to unwind a little when Anali came in. “What a day huh Lin, I am exhausted, you?”

“You bet I am. I’m going to bed now.” Lin said as she lay down on her bed she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Lin woke up the next morning feeling much better and was sure today would go by smoothly. Not that yesterday was bad she thought, but very busy. She took a shower and began to get dressed; as she did Anali woke up rubbing her eyes and sighing. Lin smiled at her friend. “Sleep well?”

“Yes thank you.” Anali said yawning. “Give me a few minutes and we’ll go to breakfast together.”

“Ok, sounds good to me.” Lin answered her friend as she finished dressing. Then the both left together for breakfast. Once they had finished eating and cleaned up the both departed for the center of the station to begin work.

Lin sat comfortable at her desk and logged into her work station and began to work. She brought up the latest recording from the night before, as she had found something extraordinary once again. In rapid succession the rest of the team appeared in the center of the station, all with news of what they had discovered during the late hours of working. Kuval came out of his office and saw that everyone had gathered for their reports. “Good morning, it looks as if all of us had a late night. Does anyone have new findings from last night?”

“I do!” Lin almost squeaked as everyone stared at her. “You won’t believe what I found late last night. I was adjusting the telescope off access and doing frequency shifts to confirm the signal. Well I found a secondary signal on another frequency a few megahertz down from the first signal, and a much stronger signal than the first. I was so amazed by I recorded it for four hours last night. This signal was much easier to pick up as if whoever sent it upgraded the signal, almost as if it was sent several years later but with much more power. It has an astonishing amount of data also.” Lin explained hardly containing her excitement. “This signals much as the first will need expert decoding, we are going to need more help with this one I am sure.”

Everyone was stunned with what Lin had just said, unsure what this could possibly be. A discovery of this magnitude twice in one day was astounding too them all. Kuval could see the questioning looks on all of his team and thought for a few seconds more until he spoke. “I am sure all of you are as surprised as I am about all of this. Lin you did another amazing job, you are now famous even if you don’t want it. Let’s all take some time to digest this and meet again in my office in hour.” Kuval instructed everyone. “Lin may I see you in my office?” Kuval indicated toward his office with a smile, and bring up your newest recording.”

“Sure thing Kuval, I will be just a minute.” Lin said as she gathered a notebook off of her desk that had research information in it. She turned towards Kuval’s office and saw that he had leaned over and said something to Anali who was now on the communications channel which she had a head set for that was now sitting on her head. ‘I wonder who she’s calling.’ Lin asked herself as she walked into Kuval’s office. Kuval was sitting at his desk and as she took one of the chairs in the office the display screen came to life and she then opened her note book in order to tell Kuval the correct file number to bring up. “Sir the file number is lin0245_240.rt18.” Kuval selected the file and opened it. The monitor on the wall sprang into life and displayed the data Lin had recorded earlier. The wave form and frequency variations were defiantly more pronounced as the previous recording. This defiantly indicated a substantial amount of data. Not only audio but there is an indication of a very strong secondary channel that could be construed as video data. This was truly an extraordinary discovery Lin had made Kuval thought to himself as he studied the data stream.

“This is wonderful Lin; wow is all I can say.” Kuval said with admiration, he and Lin were startled by and interruption of the intercom buzzer. It was Anali announcing the call Kuval had requested.

“Kuval I have ASI commissioner Sural on the com for you.”

“Thank you Anali.” Kuval said to the intercom, the call was transferred to his office and began to speak to his good friend once again. “Sural my friend, how are you this fine day.”

“I am great Kuval, and you?” Sural responded wondering why his friend would be calling this early in the day.

“Wonderful, I have Linaria in my office with me, and we are calling you to discuss extraordinary discovery she has made yesterday.” Kuval began with excitement. “It’s so big that I had to call you first thing and explain.”

Sural could hear the excitement in his friend’s voice and got excited about what the news had been. Over the last few weeks Lin had indeed discovered a few new objects, stars and even a black hole. She certainly was a great asset to ASI and Manara space station.
“Is it that exciting my friend?” Sural finally asked after taking a deep breath.

“You may want to sit down; it might just blow you away.” Kuval warned his friend.

“I am sitting, spill it. What have you found Linaria? Go ahead my dear.”

“Yes sir, I will start at the beginning if that’s ok.” Lin said and felt as she might be sick; she grabbed a hold of herself and calmed down before beginning. “It a few weeks ago when Kuval asked me to study quadrant seven, you know where we found the latest star clusters. Anyways yesterday I stumbled onto what looked like an interesting signal. I recorded it and brought it to Ardin’s attention immediately. He was as surprised as I was and lead me to Kuval. Kuval put the recording on his screen and studied it for a time and then realized as Ardin and I did, this signal’s origin is not from around here.” Lin took a deep cleansing breath and let what she had said sink in for a few seconds.

“Oh my, um wow.” You could hear the excitement grow in Sural’s voice. “You are all in agreement then, that this is a truly a signal of extraterrestrial origin?” Sural finally asked not sure if he wanted what was surely the only answer that the well trained staff of Manara could give.

“Yes sir.” They all said in unison.

“I need to think for a second to take this all in.” Sural told them.

“Um, there is more to tell sir.” Lin told him with little trepidation.

“More, there more you say. I may have to schedule a trip to the station and get a briefing in person. If you are going to tell me what I am thinking you will.”

“Yes sir, we have confirmed that the first signal I recorded contains vocal data. And the signal I recorded late last night has the potential for video data in it.” Lin explained to Sural and let this piece of huge information sink in further, only silence on the other end could be heard as Lin, Kuval and Ardin waited for Sural to respond.

“What you have just told me is beyond amazing Lin. Kuval you and your team has done a superb job thus far. I would like to come to the station as soon as possible. When can the Jindan be back on Amaria Kuval?”

“As early as this evening letting you leave as early as tomorrow morning.” Kuval responded then looked over at Lin and Ardin. “Would you two like to take the Jindan down and escort Sural up to the station?” Kuval asked them with a smile of pleasure on his face.

“Yes, of course I would be delighted to pilot the Jindan again.” Responded Lin, it had been a week since she had been qualified as a pilot for the Jindan.

“I will go too.” Ardin said quietly.
“Well, ok then. I will see you two in the morning. I want a full brief on the way so I can be up to speed and able to assist you once I arrive. Kuval I will see you tomorrow afternoon, have Emil prepare a nice dinner for all as we will celebrate. As for now I would like to keep this classified for now on.”

“Sure thing Sural, see you tomorrow, bye for now.”

“Ok my friend, you sure now how to make a friends day brighter.”

“Call ends.” Kuval said to the intercom which disconnected the communication. “You too had better get done what you can and then head to the planet after lunch. Lin I am sure you will want to work on the signal a bit more so you can be prepared for Sural’s brief.”

“Yes Kuval, that is for sure. I will do my best not to embarrass myself or you.”

“Of that I am sure Lin, you have proven yourself most capable since arriving here, and you have my fullest confidence.” Kuval said with sincerity. Lin and Ardin excused themselves and went back to their desks. Lin worked on the signal for about three more hours when she was finally interrupted.

“Would you like to get lunch Lin?” Ardin asked as he put his hand on her shoulder.

“Why yes, thank you. I would have worked right through lunch hadn’t you came and got me.” Lin and Ardin departed for the dining hall. They met up with the rest of the crew who were all just starting sitting down to eat.

“I heard you two were headed down to Amaria to fetch the commissioner of ASI himself.” Emil asked them as they took seat at an open table.

“Why yes we are, we are leaving after lunch and coming back tomorrow. He wants to celebrate with all of us for the signal we found.” Lin told Emil nicely.

“Yes, Kuval just called and told me. Now I have to scramble to get a banquet together by tomorrow. Thanks a lot for the trouble Lin.” Emil said with a smile.

“I know you’re kidding me Emil, I’ll let it pass this time. I am too hungry to play your games right now. Can you just go away? Lin said laughing.

“Yes madam.” Emil said as he slithered back into the kitchen. He came out shortly and handed both of them their lunches. “I hope you like this; it’s a special selection of fish for our heroin.” Emil told Lin as he put down the plate in front of Lin.

“You’re just full of jokes today mister, aren’t you?”

“Always, you know me I can’t help myself.” Emil laughed at himself.

“Oh yes, we know you too well Emil.” Ardin said with a smirk. “You just can’t wait for someone to say something you can twist to humor yourself.”

“Yep, well I’ll leave you two alone.” Emil said with a wink towards Ardin as he disappeared into the kitchen. The sound of water could be heard as dishes were being cleaned in the kitchen.

“What was that wink about?” Lin questioned Ardin

“He thinks I like you and well he’s right. I do like you Lin.”

“You do, I like you too.” Lin said smiling

“Really, that’s great, I was hopping so. I did not say anything because I did not want to ruin our friendship.” Ardin told Lin honestly.

“Same here, let’s just see how things go, we should take this one day at a time.”

“I agree Lin; we will take it slow, for now.” Ardin said smiling back at her.

Lin and Ardin sat in silence as they finished their lunch. Then they got up and left towards Jindan’s docking port stopping by their perspective rooms for a change of clothes for the next day. Once they reached the Jindan Lin and Ardin boarded then Lin completed the preflight and departed for Amaria. They landed at the space port in short time. The grabbed a late transport to towards Jualdia school and stayed in a lodge near the campus. The next morning while finishing getting dressed after an early start Lin heard a knock on her door, she opened the door and it was Ardin. “Hello, good morning Ardin, you’re up early.” Lin greeted him with a warm smile.

“Good morning to you too, would you like to grab some breakfast before we head over to Sural’s office to pick him up?” Kuval asked Lin politely.

“Sure, I would like that.” Lin answered with a bigger smile than before.

Ardin lead Lin to the diner that was part of the lodge they were staying at. The café was small but nice. The server took their orders and came back with drinks soon after. Breakfast went by fast for them and soon they were on their way walking through the campus of Jualdia. A short time passed as they were enjoying each other’s company and arrived at Sural’s office.

“Good morning Linaria, Ardin nice to see you both.” Sural said to them as they entered his office. “I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes; I just need to grab a few more things.” Sural stuffed a few more papers into his case and grabbed his bag. “Ok I’m ready, let’s get a move on.” Sural followed Lin and Ardin across the campus to the transport stop and boarded the first one to arrive. In short time all of them had stowed Sural’s bags into the Jindan and were on their way to Manara space station. Lin briefed Sural on all that had transpired the last few days. Sural was truly astonished; this discovery truly meant that their understanding of the universe and their own world would be changing fast. Lin’s brief lasted over an hour when Sural patted her on the shoulder and told her that was a great brief. “Thank you Lin that was a great brief. I understand now why you had informed me so quickly. Now I think I will get a little rest for the remainder of the trip, just wake me up about a half hour prior to reaching the station. I don’t want to miss the view.”

“No problem sir, we have about another hour and a half. I’ll wake you up.” Lin told him as Sural then leaned back closed his eyes for the remainder of the flight.