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News conference a couple of days ago...

a couple days ago... a discovery

of possible Earth-like planets,

so we'll keep our eye on that one.

Heh, well, what's next?

All aboard the QE2.

Not really, you don't want to board this thing.

It's an asteroid the size of multiple cruise ships.

1998-QE2 is on the way for a close encounter with Earth.

Well, near Earth, meaning it'll be no closer than

3.6 million miles.

But still, as far as a big asteroid's concerned,

that's pretty close.

They say it's not going to hit us,

which is good, and I hope they're right.

But I always have to think,

are there any companions that are traveling with it?

You know, I'm not a doom-and-gloom guy,

but I'm just logical,

logic tells me that

when these things are traveling,

there's probably things

traveling along with them.

You never know, so,

asteroid 1998-QE2

is going to be coming by.

Okay, this has been SpaceGab,

as always you can hear this podcast and many others,

www.spacegab.com, thanks for listening.

Bye-bye.

He was on last week talking about farmers on Mars.

I tell you, Roy,

it's really great to have you coming back out.

What's it been, two months, three months?

Four.

Well...

well, it's great.

It's not been the same.

So, anyway, um...

finally got a camera hooked up to the telescope.

You wouldn't believe the detail I'm getting with these clear skies.

I'm telling you, Roy, once it's fully kitted out,

I will be giving NASA a run for their money.

Once again, Harry, your humility is an example to us all.

Honestly, Roy, she's a beauty.

You've named it, haven't you?

Yeah, well, she's special.

Of course.

So, what you going to do this evening?

I don't know.

Harry?

Sorry.

I mean, I can just fold it up, actually.

Yeah.

Astraeus?

Mike?

Yeah.

He works with you?

Yeah.

He's been coming out the last couple of weeks

trialing some new tech he's developing.

Could be some pretty game-changing stuff apparently.

- According to who? - Well...

According to Mike.

Seriously, he's not out here having fun like us,

he's actually got a lot riding on it.

But to be honest, it's all a bit above my head.

Another classic astronomy pun.

Like space,

which is also above my head.

I get it.

I thought it was funny.

Since you haven't been here for a while,

we had to move some of your stuff in the back.

Mike needed the room.

Yeah, I noticed.

You guys good friends?

Why?

Just wondering.

Is that okay with you?

Why wouldn't it be?

I can think of a few reasons.

You got yours?

You going to wear it?

Nah.

Looks heavy.

Yeah, it is.

Actually, could you just give me a hand here?

I'm busy.

Doing what?

Listen, while you were snoring your head back there,

I was watching the road.

You mean you actually meant to hit all those potholes?

- What was that? - Huh?

Make sure you don't drop that thing, okay?

Yep.

- You comfortable there, Roy? - Oh, he's busy.

Just helping Mike get all your junk out of my new office.

I'm surprised you guys don't have this down to a fine art yet.

Just shut up and drink your damn tea, okay?

Well, here she is.

Roy, this is Annabelle.

Annabelle, Roy.

Oh, my God. Does your wife know about this?

Does she know about what?

That you've named this thing after her.

No, no. Not yet, no,

but I think it's kind of romantic, you know?

After all, this thing's beautiful, slender,

makes life worth living.

It's also stiff, and emotionless

and weighs a ton,

but I'm sure she'll appreciate the sentiment.

Yeah.

Just gimme a hand with it, will you?

I've already asked him.

Fire in the hole.

Take it easy on the guy, okay?

I haven't said anything, have I?

I never say you said anything.

I'm saying give him a chance.

He's a decent bloke.

- Yeah, don't worry about it. - No, I mean it, Roy.

I don't want any of your funny business.

Harry, I said, don't worry about it.

I was thinking tonight might be my last night anyway.

- All set? - Yeah, yeah.

Could you pass me that cable, Harry?

- This one here? - Yeah.

- You got it? - Yeah, thanks.

Excuse me.

Harry, if you route anymore goddamn cables through there,

- there's going to be no room for me. - Calm down,

this is the only one I need.

Well, then what are the rest of these for?

Can I rig this through here?

Yeah, I'm sure Roy won't mind.

Bring on the wireless revolution, I say.

Actually, Roy, could you just pass me that other blue cable?

Roy?

It's just on the floor, yeah.

Too many wires for my liking, but what can you do, eh?

Here.

Cheers.

Come on, last one, in you go.

I tell you, whoever figures out how to run this stuff

without cables will be a bloody millionaire.

You know, it's actually quite cramped in there, Roy.

I don't know how you're going to fit in there with all them cables.

Okay, think we're pretty much rigged. Should be good to go.

Great.

What are your plans tonight then?

More testing on the scope's camera,

thankfully the skies are clear tonight.

Chilly though, it's always a trade-off really.

Yeah, actually, I just need one more cable.

Which cable is it you want?

That's the blue one there, yeah, that's the one.

What the hell is going on?

Yeah, okay, great.

- Roy looks happy in there. - Yeah.

This is going to be a long night.

Bloody cold, actually.

I guess the summer's over then?

Yeah, all two weeks of it.

Yeah, nothing like a British summer.

What is...

It's for the scope.

Sometimes branches get in the way.

- Harry? - Yep.

- What the hell is this? - Uh, well, that is a claw.

I can see it's a claw. What's it doing in the car?

Well, it's for, you know, clawing things.

Doesn't matter, just give it here, thank you.

It's for clawing things, of course, how stupid of me.

No wonder there's no room.

Right then, boys. Let's get to work.

Mint?

Not for me.

Go on.

No.

Thank you.

Harry, mint?

Yeah, go on then. Thank you.

1420.

Can I have a cuppa, Roy?

Oh, sorry. That was my last one.

If I'd have known.

Oh, well.

No worries.

Have I said something wrong?

Why?

Just Roy seems a bit off with me.

No, he's off with everyone lately.

He's just complicated like that.

I'll move my stuff in the boot, give him his old spot back.

Mike, trust me. It's nothing you've done.

He'll come around.

So, how's all this coming along then?

Uh...

well, slow.

Slow. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Yeah, quite.

They said if I can't get a working prototype

by the end of the month, they're going to cut my funding,

which is...

not good, really.

The tweaks we made last week are looking good,

so I'm hopeful for tonight.

Well, I was telling Roy about it on the way over, actually.

He seemed pretty interested.

Maybe you should run it by him, see what he makes of it.

Yeah.

- Yeah, I will do. - He'd like that.

He's a bit of a socially awkward person really.

Yeah.

I know what you mean.

So...

How'd you get into all this, anyway?

Well,

my dad's to blame for that one.

Which is always the way, right?

Took me to see the Perseid meteor shower

when I was about seven.

And that was that.

I never looked back.

I remember him telling me that everything down here on Earth,

everything we are, everything we're made of,

comes from up there.

20 plus years later, I'm a doctor of astrophysics,

and I'm getting paid to study distant stars.

It's all a bit crazy, really.

And here we are.

And here we are.

Want to listen to some more SpaceGab?

Yeah.

As I've been reporting and gabbing about

on SpaceGab two podcasts ago,

they're looking for Martian farmers.

Not really, not looking for Martian farmers up there.

It's a big thing growing food up there

because you could only eat so many tubes of steak

or whatever else they're going to bring up there with them...

Roy?

Hi, Roy.

I don't think we've been properly introduced.

I'm Mike.

Harry's told me a lot about you over the last few weeks,

and it's great to finally meet you.

It sounds like you two go way back.

Yeah.

Anyway, he was telling me you were interested

in the project I'm working on.

Right.

Still trying to debug the system,

making a few tweaks, but it should work now.

So, I listen to space.

That's what I do.

Nothing new, but still pretty incredible, eh?

Do you know much about radio astronomy?

Not a lot.

That's cool. Basically, I study distant objects in space

through their radio frequencies,

and there's a lot of things up there:

stars, Pulsars, Quasars,

and they all emit radio waves,

and these waves travel through space like light,

and we can listen in using radio equipment, like this.

But if we use radio telescopes,

we can take it a step further,

capturing all this incoming data and convert it into images.

Learn more about the Universe that we live in.

Obviously, we can't see radio waves,

but if we could see radio waves, then this is what we'd see,

that's Saturn, this is the Moon,

and these are a couple of galaxies.

Check this out, if we collect all of this incoming data,

then you can build a picture of what space...

sounds like.

Beautiful, isn't it?

I'm hoping to make my own with this program.

Anyway, the super cool thing about radio astronomy

is that you can see the universe

in a completely different way.

You know, get her to give up more of her secrets.

Now, but the problem with all this incoming data

is that it usually takes weeks, months to process,

but I think I've found a way to see what we're getting as we're getting it,

effectively a real-time visual render program,

which will seriously speed up the whole process.

In theory.

In theory, yeah.

Unfortunately, that's what most of my investors

are beginning to think it is,

but I it will work.

I just need more time.

Obviously, it's tough for him,

his antenna's nothing compared to the big ones.

Yeah.

But it'll give me enough to prove the system works.

Anyway, let me show you.

Wait, that's not right at all.

Well, what's that, what the hell is that supposed to be?

- Is it the Moon again? - It's not the Moon.

It's another glitch.

I'm sorry, Roy. I thought I was close

but it's still not working.

I wish I could show you.

Stick with it, Mike.

You'll crack it eventually, I know it.

1420.

- Harry? - Mm-hmm?

Harry?

Listen to this.

What?

- What? what do you mean, "What"? - What am I listening to?

Well, the blips.

I don't hear no blips, Mike.

Did you record it?

No, I was asleep.

- It's 1420. - Oh, no.

Not little green men again, is it, Mike?

- You going to send these lot a message as well? - Look, don't start.

Have the others replied yet, by the way? It's just I've only got

22,000 years to get the house straight.

Did you ask them if they liked lemon sponge or fruitcake?

It's just I want to be ready, that's all.

Harry, it's 1420.

I just don't like unexpected visitors, Mike,

especially the little green kind.

1420, that's the water hole.

Well, the water hole's dried up.

Maybe it's those farmers on Mars complaining about lack of rain.

- Oh, for goodness sake. - This is your long-range weather forecast

for all you crop-growers out there.

It looks like a cool minus 55 outside

and this dusty, dry spell sweeping in from the east

is here to stay for the next million years.

It wasn't funny last week, Harry.

- I bet it was a Pulsar. - Pulsar? - Yep.

- No. - I know what a bloody Pulsar sounds like, Mike.

I might not listen to them for a living, but they're very much in my field.

- I'm sure you do, Harry, but you didn't hear this, did you? - Did you hear it?

But it wasn't a Pulsar, not with this antenna.

Well, it's not little green men if that's what you're saying?

- That's not what I'm saying. - Then what are you saying?

- Well... - Look, a Pulsar...

It wasn't a Pulsar.

I know Pulsars, all right?

I listen to them day in, day out. It wasn't a Pulsar.

Look, I wouldn't worry about it, Mike, everyone's listening to the water hole.

If you've heard it, they've heard it too.

So, you've all been listening to Pulsars together.

Right, I'm going to re-calibrate the scope.

I'll be back in a bit.

Remember, lemon cake or fruitcake?

I know which one you are, I just want to know which ones they prefer,

but I think I know that already.

Get the hell out of here.

Pulsar.

Look, it wasn't a Pulsar.

Roy?

Roy?

Roy?

Oh.

Okay, you're listening to DJ Jimmy

playing all the classic club bangers!

101.4 throughout the night...

Greetings on behalf of the people of my world.

This is Mike Webster...

of Planet Earth.

We are here.

We are not afraid.

If you are out there and you are listening,

this is a routine response

to an acquired signal at...

01:33 GMT,

16.10.16.

Unidentified source.

Your signal made it.

We are listening.

Oh, and if this is the local police station,

I'm sorry if I'm interfering with your gear again.

But perhaps you should have invested in some better radio equipment.

So.

Speak English, do they?

You heard that, then?

Probably the only person who ever will.

Harry's certainly got some interesting friends.

Oh, please, don't tell him.

Don't worry, I wouldn't dare repeat some of the weirdness

I've heard in the company of scientists.

So, should I set a place at the table for the Pulsar?

Like I said.

Picked up some pretty interesting things last week, didn't you Mike?

Thought you'd made contact with some intelligent life.

Yeah, not so intelligent life.

No, turned out to be two traffic cops off the A38.

- Brilliant. - It really was.

Played havoc with their radio systems.

They thought it was some sort of threat

from the local crime ring.

- Within minutes, choppers were all over us. - Yeah, all right.

- Still didn't catch you though, did they, Mike? - Okay, very good.

He's a wanted man, you know.

Harry, can I use your scope on this pass?

Yeah, just give us a sec.

It's coming over in about two.

Uh, okay, do you want to boot it up at your station

- or do you want to use mine? - No, I'll stay here.

Right, just type in your elevation

and bearings like before, and the scope should auto-track.

Okay.

What just happened?

- What's that? - I, I don't know, I've just lost it.

- What? - Goodman, it's just gone.

- I don't understand what you mean, Roy. - The Goodman, it's disappeared.

- All right, calm down. - Well, I'm looking at it, Harry, and it's gone.

What are you talking about, Roy?

It's right there.

- I'm telling you, Harry. - Satellites don't just vanish, Roy.

- I know what I saw, it just went blank on me. - All right, guys.

Chill out.

It's just a satellite.

Just a satellite?

Yeah, what's the big deal?

Who the hell do you think you are?

You have no idea,

no idea what's going here, do you?

- He doesn't know. - Well, he should.

He took my job.

For Christ's sake, Roy. Give him a break.

You know what? I've just about had enough of this lecturing.

And what's that supposed to mean, Roy?

It means what it means, Harry.

Mike, I am so sorry about that.

What did Roy mean, I took his job?

There's something you need to know about Roy.

Goodman, that satellite up there,

that's his, or as good as his.

Do you remember ENSAT Aerospace?

Yeah, sure, yeah.

Well, Roy used to work for them

as their lead aviation engineer,

helped develop navigation systems for the military,

you know, fighter jets, that sort of thing.

I really looked up to him, I still do.

But don't tell him I said that.

A couple of years ago ENSAT won a contract

to manufacture a research satellite,

and Roy was selected to head up the project.

I was assigned to help them develop some of their

instrumentation for the satellite.

That's how I met Roy.

He's a bloody good engineer, you know?

Took the project well beyond my expectations

for the science we could achieve.

Anyway...

about a year ago,

three or so months before delivery,

Astraeus, the company you work for, came along and acquired ENSAT.

And they fired him.

They fired him and all his team,

straight out, non-negotiable.

Astraeus wanted the prestige of delivering the satellite themselves,

so they got their own guys to come in and finish it off.

I mean, we'd done 99% of the work, of course, but...

that wasn't the point.

It hit him hard.

Three years he gave to Goodman.

He brought it to life, he taught it to think,

and he wasn't even invited to see it launch.

When you dedicate so much of your life to something,

it becomes a part of you.

And Astraeus took it away from him like it was nothing.

Harry, I had no idea.

Well, why would you?

But Roy just sees you as Astraeus.

And although that doesn't excuse what just happened,

it does explain why it happened.

I'm sorry.

It's my fault, I should have explained it.

Being on the research team, I didn't work for ENSAT,

so I stayed on and that obviously complicated things.

I thought he'd be over it by now, but...

This was our little group.

The Astro-Nuts.

Just me, Roy and another.

We all worked on the project, dumb really,

but it was just a bit of fun.

Roy and I used to come out here

and imagine seeing our satellite.

It was supposed to be this great moment, you know?

We built that and it's in space.

But now Roy, just looks up and he sees everything he's lost.

I thought you'd had your last cup?

This is my last cup.

Thanks, Roy.

Here, Harry, have some of this.

Ah, thanks, mate.

Lovely stuff.

Roy?

I'm good, it's all yours.

Right.

What's going on with this then?

Greetings on behalf of the people of my world.

This is, this is Mike Webster

of Planet Earth.

We are here.

- I'm not transmitting. - We are not afraid, not afraid.

Mike, Mike Webster.

If you are out there and you are listening,

this is a routine response

to an acquired signal at...

That shouldn't be.

Signal, 16.10.16.

Unidentified source.

Your signal made it, your signal made it.

We are listening.

What the hell is that?

Oh, my God.

Mike Webster, Mike Webster

of Planet Earth.

The people of my world are not afraid, afraid.

Mike Webster, your signal made it, your signal made it.

Greetings, Mike Webster.

We are listening.

We are here.

Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead.

What's going on?

Mike?

Mike?

I think I've found something.

Mike Webster.

Greetings on behalf of the people of my world.

This is Mike Webster

of Planet Earth.

It's 1420.

1420.

We are here.

We are not afraid.

Mike Webster.

We are here.

We are listening.

- What is this? - Mike?

- Is this your message? - Message, what message?

Mike, what is this?

It's coming back.

Listening.

16.10.16.

- It's a return. - A return?

No, run a diagnostic, check your system.

The system's normal. Everything's fine.

Are you sure? 'Cause earlier you said it was glitching.

No, no, no, that was my program, this is different.

- It's got to be bouncing. - What, off the ionosphere?

- No, it's not bounce. - It's got to be. It's got to be bounce.

Look, we're talking milliseconds to come back off the ionosphere.

- Well, the Moon then. - No, still just over a second.

Well, it's got to be a ping-back or something up there.

Mike, when did you transmit this?

1:33.

- It's now 2:58. - So, that's 85 minutes.

- 42 each way. - If it's bounce...

- And it's not. - What's 42 light minutes away?

Look, nothing. Nothing's 42 light minutes away.

- Well, there's got to be. - Well, there's just not.

Okay, light travel time. Jupiter's 30, Saturn's 70,

- minimum, there's nothing in between, trust me. - Are you rolling on this?

- No. - May I suggest you do.

Yep.

If you are out there and you are listening,

this is a routine, this is a routine response,

routine response to an acquired signal at...

Why does it sound like this?

Can you not clean this up?

That's all I'm getting.

It's on a very thin frequency. Watch.

- It's got to be bang smack on. - Is that not normal?

None of this is normal. If it were normal, I'd be expecting to

get at least some bleed across the frequencies,

but the falloff on this thing's like nothing I've ever seen.

We are here, we are not afraid.

Mike, what was your cycle rate?

- Cycle rate? - Yeah, how many cycles did you transmit?

- Why? - Because we're hearing this thing loop over and over.

I dunno, a half a dozen or so. Look, it was just a bit of fun.

Yeah, but have we not heard it more times than that already?

- Yeah, definitely. - Then it can't be a straight bounce.

- That's what I've been saying. - No, no, no, what you're saying is it can't be a bounce

as there's nothing at that range to bounce back off from.

What I'm saying is, how can this be a bounce

if it's now looping more times

than the original cycles you transmitted?

Am I right?

I'm right, right?

Are you sure you're rolling on this?

- Yeah, hundred percent. - Holy Christ.

We need confirmation on this, Mike, rapid.

Call it in.

I'll check to see if there's any chatter over at SETI.

- British Space Observatory. - Dave?

- No, sorry, Dave's unavailable. - Well, where is he?

- He's off duty, so he's sleeping. - Can you go wake him up?

His shift finished two hours ago, so he's unavailable.

No, I understand he's not available, but could you make him available, please,

- could you just go and wake him up? - What, wake him up right now?

- Yes, right now! - Uh, please hold.

- Jesus, these people. Could you look after that? - Mm-hmm.

Dave, sorry. There's some guy on the phone,

he's being quite persistent.

- Who is this? - Dave, it's Mike Webster.

Oh, my God. Mike, look at the time.

Dave, you got anything going on there tonight?

Mike, why are you calling me up now?

- You're on the desk tonight? - No, I'm not, my shift is up.

- Look, Dave, you got anything interesting? - Of course not, Mike.

If something was... Look, if something was going on,

- someone would have woken me up. - Well, What the bloody hell do you think I'm doing, Dave?

- Get up! - I've got to be up at four o'clock in the bloody morning.

Dave, we've got a target signal here.

What? Where are you?

What do you mean where am I? It doesn't matter where I am.

Can you just get up, we need an affirm on this, ASAP.

Okay, okay, give me a minute, I'll go to the control room.

- Any talk on the servers? - No, I guess everyone's just working the signal.

We must have caught it early.

Dave? Dave, you there?

Yeah, you got a frequency for me?

- Yeah, are you ready to copy? - Go ahead.

1420.163.

- Read back? - 1420.163.

Yeah, good read-back. Run the numbers.

The Waterhole? Mike, we're listening

- to that frequency 24/7. - Dave, run the numbers,

I'm telling you, you'll hear it.

Okay, hang on a minute, we'll have a listen.

We've got a lot of surface clutter, Dave.

See if you can clean it up your end.

Will do.

Mike, what is the Waterhole?

The electromagnetic spectrum

is just cluttered with garble, right?

Trying to spot an intelligent signal within that

is like trying to have a conversation at rock concert,

you just can't do it, but at 1420 megahertz,

there's a natural dead spot.

It's like a quiet tunnel cutting through all the noise.

- And that's the Waterhole? - Right.

If you want to send a signal out into space,

the Waterhole's your best chance

of getting it heard.

Dave?

How's it looking there, mate?

Uh...

Standby. We're not hearing anything yet.

Like I said, there's a lot of clutter, but the transmission's

pretty damn obvious, you know what I mean?

Yeah, we're still getting zip here, Mike.

Well, I don't understand how that can be, we've got it

loud and clear here.

Negative, I'm just hearing static.

- Well, then, scan the band. - Look, Mike,

I've checked and there's nothing.

Your gear's faulty.

No.

What are you hearing?

- Mike? - Uh...

We've got a voice.

Say again, Mike, sounded like you said, "A voice".

That's affirm, Dave.

We're getting a voice.

Right. Well, we're not hearing

anything of the sort, Mike.

Please, Dave. I'm serious, listen.

If you are listening, this is

a routine response to an acquired signal...

Mike, is this some kind of joke?

You're really not reading anything on this band?

I'm not quite sure what's going on here,

to be honest, Mike. But if there's nothing else

I can help you with, then I've really got to go.

- Sure. - Okay, Mike.

- Okay, Dave. Well thanks for... - All right, mate. See you.

...trying for me.

So, what just happened?

I don't understand how they're not reading this.

They've got an array of 50-meter dishes.

All we've got is this piddly little thing.

It doesn't make any sense.

There's absolutely no talk of this online?

Zilch. I mean, are we the only one's getting this?

I can't understand how that could be the case.

I don't see how that's possible.

I know.

The whole world's listening to this frequency.

It's almost a cliché that somethings coming through on it.

But there is something coming through?

Yeah, look, I scroll away...

...it sinks beneath the static.

I roll back to 1420

and there it is, plain as day.

There's no two ways about it, this is an incoming signal.

Look, forgive my ignorance here, but before we get ahead of ourselves,

can you just explain to me how this, your message,

is the same as a signal from outer space?

- It could be a leader signal. - Like a beacon.

Right, like a beacon.

Something we'd recognize that we could latch onto.

Once we hook on, there could be more.

Yeah, but isn't all this just a little too specific to us?

I mean, it's almost too good to be true, not to mention fast.

You only sent the damn thing a few hours ago.

Look, Roy.

There's a hell of a lot going on here that I can't explain.

But I can't argue with this.

we are listening.

You can't argue with this.

If we are the only ones getting this...

and we sit on it, or worse, just let it slip through the net.

I'd rather be wrong and have done the right thing.

And if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. So what?

But if we're right about this...

and what's happening here is what I think is happening here...

this changes everything.

Okay.

So what's our next move?

Yeah, we're going to need all the power we can get.

Okay, let's get to it.

Mike, this is Roy. Comms check, over.

Do you read me?

Comms check, comms check, over?

Roger, reading you 10-square, Roy. You set?

Yeah, just waiting on Harry.

Understood, he's on his way out, over.

Hook 'em up.

Mike, we're on station and ready to copy.

How do you read?

Received, standby one.

I've re-routed all the power from the main battery,

that should give us enough, but can I shut down Roy's system to be sure?

Over.

That's affirm. And don't forget my scope.

Yeah, right-o.

All set this end, Harry.

Copy. Waiting on you.

Okay, guys, separate the antennas and spread out.

I'll monitor the incoming signal

and direct your position from here.

With my primary antenna on the car,

and your two hand-helds we can establish

three individual receiving sectors.

Basically, a giant triangle with each one

of our antennas acting as one of the points.

This'll give us a stronger system and a stronger signal.

- Got it? - Got it.

Okay, let's do this.

You heard the man.

I'll go that way.

Stay in radio contact.

Okay, Mike, we're on the move.

I'm pushing west, Roy's going to head east.

1:33 GMT.

1:33 GMT

Unidentified source.

We getting anything here, Mike?

Yeah, we're definitely getting movement.

Keep going.

Copy that.

The signal strength is increasing.

Copy that.

We are not afraid.

You are listening.

Roy?

Do you read me, Roy?

This seemed like a better idea in the car.

If you are here and you are listening,

this is a routine response to an acquired signal

at 01:33 GMT.

16.10.16.

It's working.

Unidentified source.

It's working, guys.

Keep spreading.

Keep spreading.

Why don't you come out here and keep spreading?

Yup, roger that.

Greetings on behalf of the people of my world.

This is Mike Webster.

- Stop! - Jesus Christ.

- Harry, Roy, stop. - What the hell, Mike?

Just hold there, will you?

Okay, yeah, understood.

Say again on your last, Mike?

Mike, do you read me, over?

Roy, Harry, stop moving.

We're losing the signal.

I'm not moving.

Roy?

Come in, Roy.

Roy, stop moving, hold your position, okay?

Stop moving.

Say again, Harry? You're breaking up.

Hold your position, Roy.

Just stay right where you are.

Repeat. Hold your position.

Do you read?

What have you got?

Well, I've got some serious ghosting here,

something faint beneath the surface, I knew it was a beacon.

Harry, hold your position.

Roy, you're going to have to retrace your steps,

work your way exactly back, slowly.

Roger. Working back now.

Slowly.

That's real good, Roy.

Keep coming.

That's it.

That's it, guys.

It's working.

It's working.

Keep coming.

Stop!

Nobody... move.

Mike?

Mike?

Listen to this.

I hope you're taking this down, Mike.

You're damn right I am.

Plant the antenna, come on in.

Copy that.

Whoa.

We're getting some serious spikes here, guys.

Get back here now.

Mike!

- Mike? - I'm here.

Bloody hell, you scared me.

There you are.

What happened to the power?

Some sort of surge, I think.

Harry, get that thing out of my face.

Oh, yeah, sorry.

Check the breakers.

I got it.

That's done the trick.

Try it now.

Where's it gone?

It was right here.

- I had a ghost signal, Harry. - You recorded though, right?

Yeah.

Thank God. I'll load the system.

Wait?

No, no, no, no, no, access master system 2.

No.

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Access memory module.

My system seems fine.

Yeah, mine too.

The recordings?

They're all gone.

Everything from tonight.

Oh, Christ.

What about your program?

I mean, yeah, that's fine. I can reboot the system from this drive.

Your system's fine?

Yeah, well, being powered down

must have protected it from the overload.

Here we go.

I can't believe it.

That's that then.

If we can't reacquire this signal and get some recordings down,

we'll have no proof of anything that's happened here.

No one's going to believe us.

It's hard enough to explain when you can hear the bloody thing yourself.

It'll come back through, Mike.

It'll come back through.

What are you doing out here, Mike?

Nothing.

I figure there's two types of scientists, Mike.

Those that look down at Earth...

trying to figure out what's going on here.

And then there are those who look up to space...

searching for the answers out there.

But they're both really looking for the same thing.

Who are we?

What are we?

What does all this mean?

I'm an engineer, Mike,

I...

don't hunt for the science, I just put it to work.

But if wasn't for people like you...

people who are brave enough to push the boundaries

of what we know...

we'd all stand still.

I don't know anything about these signals.

To me, it's all science fiction.

But if we're the only people receiving this signal,

then we're the only people that can make sure the world hears it.

Because if this really is first contact

with an intelligent extraterrestrial race,

then we're about to do something

that humans have dreamt about since the beginning.

Mike?

I'll help you if I can.

But it's really all on you.

It's the choice you make right now that counts.

You make the right moves here

and you have in your hands

the greatest discovery in the history of mankind.

The answer to the question.

The answer to everything.

Roy...

- about Goodman. - Don't worry about that now.

No, I'm...

sorry what Astraeus did to you.

Harry told me.

I wanted to tell you, I was there...

at the launch.

I didn't know what the project was, I'd only just joined at the time, but

I was there.

It was incredible.

I've never seen anything like it. You know, the power...

I felt it, it physically shook me.

I was literally willing her to go, and she did.

She punched a hole in the sky.

You should be so proud of what you achieved, of Goodman.

Just 'cause you weren't there, Roy, doesn't change anything.

She's yours. No one can take that away from you.

But what they did to you, you didn't deserve that.

Neither of you did.

Neither of us?

You and Harry.

I can't imagine what it must have been like

to lose your jobs like that.

What are you talking about? You work under Harry at Astraeus.

Not anymore.

He got the push months ago. I thought you knew.

Astraeus fired him. He kicked up a stink about something.

God, no. I didn't know that.

You're more alike than you think, Roy.

He's a good friend.

He just wants you to be his again.

Mint?

Cheers.

Mike?

Thank you, Mike.

Hello?

Yeah, can I speak to Dave, please?

No, I need to speak to him, really. It's urgent.

Yeah. Yeah, I called earlier, and you put me through.

Well, yeah, I understand that, but if you...

Yeah, but if you'd just let me explain to him them I could...

Yeah, yeah, I understand that...

No, I realize that, but if you could just let me explain it to him,

then I reckon he'll be able to speak.

Why didn't you tell me?

Mike let that one slip then?

What the hell happened, Harry?

I didn't want to make things worse.

Come on, Roy.

You know there's been this friction about

you being fired and me staying on.

I didn't want to make you feel guilty as well.

Guilty?

Guilty about what, Harry?

Why did they fire you?

They didn't fire me.

No, I...

I quit.

I didn't agree with how they treated you.

And I got on the wrong side of the decision-makers.

So, they basically said they couldn't care less

who worked for them.

So...

I quit.

I'm not going to push forward some company

that doesn't value its people, Roy.

What were you thinking, Harry?

I don't care.

Anyway, I'm back with the uni's research group now, so.

I had no idea.

Oh, it's not so bad for me. I'm a scientist,

I belong in a lab anyway.

Besides, it's you I'm worried about, Roy.

Working for ENSAT and the Goodman project,

it meant everything to you.

It meant everything to both of us.

Honestly, I'm fine. It's all fine.

No, Harry.

It's not fine.

This whole time I've not able to let go.

And I've been ignoring our friendship.

You've been trying to help me and not once did it occur to me

that you may have been affected by what happened.

- It's okay. - No, Harry. It's not okay.

I'm sorry you lost your job because of me,

and I'm sorry I've treated you this way.

- If I'd known... - Roy.

Look, what we're doing tonight...

out in the field as mates...

this... right now...

This is what it's about.

Not some job.

It's a shame you don't have yours.

I thought you said you didn't bring it?

I said I wasn't going to wear it.

With Goodman, I was part of a team.

And I lost that.

But I now realize I've always been a part of this team.

Right, let's get to work.

Don't you start bossing me around now.

Well, I am the head of the Astro-Nuts.

Head of the Astro...

That's not funny, Harry.

Harry? Let's talk about this.

Harry? I thought I was the head Astro-Nut?

You were, but you were gone so long

- the board voted you out. - The board?

Harry, there's only three members, how is that a board?

Clearly, we both deemed you unworthy of the title.

Well, who put you in charge then?

We had a vote. Naturally everyone voted for themselves,

so we had to draw straws, but...

I won.

That's so you.

Nice hats. Look, right, I'm just on the phone to Dave,

not a happy chap. Anyway, nothing, not a peep,

Look, apparently, we've got some telemetry dropout from a few satellites.

- Goodman. - Right.

Look, I dunno what it means, but we can't rule anything out

as coincidence. When's she due to pass

- over again? - Eight minutes.

Okay. Well, let's get on it.

There's something going on here guys I reckon we've got the jump

on everyone else. Harry, go fire up the scope.

Absolutely. That's more like it.

Yep, we're going to have to speak to you later, Dave.

- Yeah, great. - Yeah.

- Okay, bye. - Yeah.

Mike?

Now, we're talking.

Right, chief. Let's do this.

- One minute! - One minute!

Come on, load the last recording.

Okay, I've got it, here it is.

I need some numbers, Roy.

I know, I know.

Come on, come on, fast forward.

There.

I told you.

Numbers?

We've got 30 seconds, guys.

Elevation, 18 degrees, south by south-east.

18 degrees, south, southeast?

Bearing, one-five-niner.

One-five-niner.

20 seconds!

Scope set, we're rolling.

Ten seconds, here she comes.

Keep your eyes peeled, boys.

Five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

Got it.

Tracking.

Hold that position.

I told you.

What did I tell you, huh?

What in God's name is going on here?

Sky map.

Mike, your sky map.

Sky map?

No, the image from your system earlier.

It's gone, his hard-drive's fried.

- Damn it. - Well, look, I lost the one from earlier,

- but I can run the program again. - Do it.

- Do you remember it doesn't work properly, right? - Do it.

Okay.

There.

That.

Yeah, what about it?

What if this is no system glitch?

What if your program works perfectly?

And this...

this is no error.

What if this, whatever this is...

is what's blocking the satellites?

You said yourself your program is looking straight up

and that should not be there.

Harry, has your scope got infrared?

Yeah.

Yeah, it does.

That's not right.

Space should read as dark red in IR mode.

Black is wrong.

There's nothing there, there's not even stars.

Wait, Harry, stop.

Pan right.

Stop.

Stars.

Zoom out.

Keep coming.

There's something up there.

Oh, my God.

I don't believe it.

I do not believe it.

It's been there all night.

Right above us.

You are recording this right?

Roy?

Roy, get a load of this.

I can't see anything.

Well, it's no wonder.

Whatever it is, it isn't reading on the scope

in the visible spectrum, but in infrared it's crystal clear.

Yeah, and I'm getting a strong radio signature.

Christ.

Do we report this?

I wouldn't know what to report.

Well, surely, if it's visible through infrared, NASA's got to be picking it up.

Probably.

To be honest, anyone with an infrared scope

would be able to see this, but you know,

it's not exactly drawing attention to itself.

It's got to be a couple of hundred meters wide,

probably about the size of a football stadium,

and although, yeah, that's pretty big,

compared to the rest of the sky it's pretty small.

Unless you were combing systematically across the whole sky,

you'd easily miss it, look, watch.

It's basically a shadow in space.

Pretty hard to see shadows in the dark.

I never would've believed it.

What the hell?

What is that?

I mean, that's sound.

It's real time imaging, it works.

Look, my system works, it actually works.

No.

It's the source of the signal.

Look, it's transmitting, I mean, these pulses,

they sync with the clicks coming through the tuner.

- It wasn't a bounce back at all. - No.

It was being broadcast from orbit.

Sounds like Morse Code.

No.

No, it's binary.

Yeah, it's binary.

It's got to be a loop pattern.

- Is it random? - Non-random, binary is never random.

- Why are they transmitting binary? - Out of pure logic.

Maths is the language of the universe, no translation required.

Yeah, two plus two will always equal four no matter where you come from.

If an alien civilization is intelligent enough to transmit,

let alone travel through space, then they need maths.

Yeah, and if another civilization is advanced enough

to intercept this signal, then

they'll definitely know maths.

But surely, they're more advanced than simple binary?

Substantially, yeah, but they don't know we are.

It's the best way to make first contact.

And maths is common ground.

You know what else is binary, don't you?

- Arecibo. - Arecibo.

This is insane.

Look, tell him about Arecibo.

Okay, Roy, get this, in the '70s,

a binary message was broadcast into space

from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

1,679 digits, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah something like that, but it was never really

a serious attempt to make contact.

No, not really,

its purpose was to demonstrate

the telescope's capabilities.

I mean, they were aiming it at a star system

that was 25,000 light years away.

That's 50,000 years for a reply at best.

Well, you're going to run up a hell of a bill

- being kept on hold that long. - Yeah.

It could have been intercepted.

It's a possibility.

I think everything's just moved

from a possibility to a probability.

What did you say it was?

1,600 and?

79.

1,679.

Can you decode on that?

Silly question.

Do you have a copy of the original Arecibo message?

Again, silly question.

The Arecibo is a simple binary code,

when arranged correctly, it reveals...

this.

This is what the original looked like.

It's a visual message containing basic information

about humans and life on our planet.

Earth biochemicals, the formula for DNA, that sort of thing.

If I remember correctly, it's 73 columns wide

with 21 digits in each.

Arrange the incoming signal like that,

let's see what we get.

I don't believe this.

It's Arecibo all right.

See, the base-10's is exactly the same as the original. We've got

carbon-based biochemistry,

DNA nucleotides, the double-helix,

it's all there.

Wait...

There are differences here.

Where?

Look.

Subtle but significant.

Why is it doing that?

It's not Arecibo.

It's a response to Arecibo.

It's almost identical.

Meaning?

Meaning we're of common cosmic origin.

My God.

No.

No, no, no, I'm losing power.

- What? - Look, my batteries are dying here.

Jesus, Roy, I thought you designed these things to last all night?

For two systems, Harry. We're running three here,

plus your scope and these aerials.

If we lose power, we lose everything.

- What do you mean, we lose everything? - The recordings.

My hard drive's fried, remember. We got no long-term memory.

Christ.

Look, my system can only hold data while it's running.

Use my drive.

This transfer is going to take time and guzzle power.

If we can't get the files across before I lose that power,

then the system will die.

- We'll lose the recordings. - Jesus.

Roy, pull the plugs on everything you've got in the back.

Got it.

Come on, come on, come on.

Roy, pull it.

Look, we've got 18 minutes, that's not going to be enough.

Do you have any spare batteries?

I don't know, do we? You guys packed the car.

- I didn't pack 'em. - You mean you packed all this,

and didn't think to bring some more batteries?

Harry, we've got a serious problem here.

We've got more than a problem.

What do you want me to do, Mike?

We've got no spare batteries.

What do you want to do, Mike?

Well, listen, I've got some power units back at the station.

- We got to go. - We'll never make it.

Look, we don't have a choice.

We might be the only ones getting this data,

and if we want to save these recordings,

we got to do something.

We've got 18 minutes.

If we're going to go, we've got to go right now.

- Mike, we'll never make it. - We can make it.

I'll get you there.

Tell me what to do.

Okay, okay, let's do it.

We'll get the gear, you cut loose what you can.

Wait, Harry!

What if there's more to come?

If I pull the transmission, we'll miss it.

Look, we've got to kill it anyway.

We can't move the vehicle with the aerials deployed.

It's better to save what you've got than lose the lot.

I can't believe I'm going to do this.

Roy, grab the aerials, I've got the scope.

I'm on it.

Come on, come on.

- How we looking? - Transfer's going, but it is drinking power, okay?

- we don't have much time. - This is going to be tight.

Be as quick as you can, Roy!

Harry, get your gear loaded, and get the car started.

I'm on it.

Come on, come on, get that thing in here.

Hang on, I need to get the tripod.

Bloody tripod.

Key.

Mike, where's the key?

I don't have it,

why would I have it?

Where's the key?

Where the hell is Roy?

Harry, get this car started.

Key, give me the key!

Damn it.

Mike, get this gear loaded and ready to go.

Yeah.

No, no, no, no, no.

Come on, come on.

Come on.

Come on!

Eight percent.

Come on, come on, hurry.

Harry, get this car started!

- It won't start! - We got to go, guys.

Let me try.

Come on.

Come on, Roy. Come on, Roy.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on, get it started, Roy.

Come on, start.

Come on.

Well done.

Mike, get in!

It won't fit.

I can't get the scope to fit, Harry.

She'll fit, Mike. You're not doing it right.

- Leave it. - What?

We're running out of time.

- No, she'll fit. - Harry there's no time for this, come on.

- Get back in the car. - She'll fit, she'll fit, she'll fit.

This is ridiculous.

I'm sorry, Harry. She's not going to fit.

Come on, Annabelle, get in the car.

Harry, get back in the car, we've got to go now.

Come on, we've got 12 minutes, we've got to go.

Just exactly how it was.

- We haven't got time for this. - What are you doing,

- just get in the car. - Just over here.

Harry!

You've got to leave her.

We got to go.

What's he doing, Roy? We need to go.

Harry, if you don't come now, I'm going to leave you here

in this field, all on your own, with Annabelle.

It's just a telescope, I'll get you another one.

Roy, just a telescope?

Yes, I know, I'm sorry. Put your belt on.

Look come on, come on. Put your foot down, Roy.

Let's go.

Bloody hell.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Roy.

- You just missed a turning. - I'm not going that way.

- We've got to go back. - No, I know a shortcut.

It's the only way we're going to make it.

- You sure? - Trust me.

- Dave. Yeah, good. - Mike?

I was just about to call you.

You were right, we're beginning to...

- What? - Incoming transmi...

Dave, you're breaking up.

Signal strength is...

Dave, I need you to get to the storeroom

and pick out the size 47 power unit.

- What? - Size 47.

- Mike, why do you need the power unit? - Dave, I can't hear you.

- Mike, I'm losing you, can you hear me? - What?

- Mike? - Dave?

Dave you're...

- I've lost signal. - Yeah, I've got nothing.

Time check?

Look, we've got 11 minutes battery.

- Go, Roy, go. - Hold on.

Come on, all these damn cables,

I can't get a bloody signal.

Whoa, whoa, Roy, Roy!

Roy!

- Shortcut? - Just get it.

It's locked!

Damn it.

This is not good.

Look, we've got six percent!

We're never going to make this.

- Harry, get the boot. - They're not bolt cutters, Roy.

They're all we've got, go!

Come on.

- Dave, can you hear me? - Yeah, I can hear you.

Yeah, Dave, I need the size 47 power unit

- from the storeroom. - What, why?

Look, I don't have time to explain, okay?

We're coming into the Block C car park.

Block C, copy.

No, no, no, no, my hard drive's full.

Look, Harry, I need your hard drive.

Dave, get the power unit.

Harry, hurry up!

Come on, come on, come on.

Mike, we're getting a major incoming transmission here.

I know, I know, I bloody told you.

Signal strength is off the charts.

It's Arecibo, it's a response to Arecibo.

Arecibo?

Look, it's binary, it's a reply to Arecibo,

but my system's fried, we're losing power. I need that power unit.

Otherwise, we're going to lose all the data.

Okay, I'm in the storeroom.

Okay, good, it's in a gray

pelican case on the top shelf.

- Which shelf? - Yeah, top shelf, top shelf, Dave.

Got it, got it.

We're coming into the Block C car park.

We're about five miles out.

Block C, roger.

Come on.

Hold on.

The transfers going, we are back in business.

What the hell is that?

We've got four percent battery. That's five minutes till

complete system failure.

Yeah, I'm working on it.

Dave, you better be there.

Move!

Get out of the way! Come on, move.

Get out of my way.

Roy, red light, Roy.

Red light, Roy, red light.

Time?

Less than four minutes.

Oh my god.

- Hold on. - Hold on!

Whoa, Roy, Roy. Roy, slow down!

Roy, Roy!

- Roy, we're never going to make it. - Roy, what are you doing?

- We're never going to make it. - Roy!

- Roy! - Roy!

Christ, that was close.

I don't think I can breathe.

You are never driving my car again, Roy.

We're here, where do I go? Mike, where do I go?

Block C car park.

There, there.

I got it, I see it.

Come on, come on.

Stop, stop!

Run, Mike, run!

One minute, Mike.

Dave, over here!

Dave!

Come on, Mike, this way!

Come on, in here!

Give me the cables, give me the cables!

Thirty seconds.

Come on, come on, come on.

Hook 'em up.

Come on, come on.

Fifteen seconds.

Red light, you hooked up?

- Okay, got it. Go! - Do it, do it.

Jesus.

It doesn't get any closer than that.

- Harry. - Dave.

- You remember Roy? - Of course.

- It's been a while. - Too long.

Good to see you out in the field again.

Sounds like you chaps have had an interesting night.

You could say that.

I didn't know you all knew each other.

Oh, it's like a secret clan.

Oh, you have no idea.

So, what is the score here, Dave?

This is the real deal.

SETI have just released an official statement.

Within the last few minutes

tracking stations around the world

have identified a craft

in low Earth orbit.

Hiding in the infrared spectrum?

How'd you know that?

Have we got some data to show you.

That's everything safe.

On this drive, we have audio recordings

of a binary loop pattern that decoded

is a clear response to the Arecibo message.

- My God. - Yeah, and if there's anything left on my hard drive,

we may well have the initial beacon signal,

and Harry has got infrared video footage

of that thing in orbit.

Mike, this is incredible.

What time was your acquisition of signal?

2:54.

My God.

that's the earliest recorded acquisition

of signal we've had.

Do you realize what this means?

You guys are the first.

The first.

That's us replying.

All our tracking stations are broadcasting the same thing.

What does it say?

What else is there to say?

"Welcome to Earth."

Come on, come on, come on.

Oh my god.

I don't think you'll have any problems

with your funding from now on, Mike.

I never thought...

No one ever thought they'd see this.

The world's going to wake up in a few hours' time

and it's never going to be the same.

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