Starplex by Robert J Sawyer

Author:Robert J Sawyer [Sawyer, Robert J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

But that exercise had been a piece of cake compared with communicating with world-sized beings. Indeed, the Ibs had had no trouble understanding that particular metaphor--enjoyable, nonnutritive food being equated with ease--just as humans had no difficulty with the Ibese expression for the same sentiment, "downward slope."

Communicating with aliens as big as Jupiter who might or might not be intelligent, might or might not be able to see, might or might not understand any principle of physics or mathematics, could prove impossible.

"The babble on all two hundred frequencies is continuing," said Rhombus.

Rissa nodded. "But no way to tell if it's chatter amongst the spheres, or responses aimed at us." She touched another button. "I'm going to try again with a loop of a different, almost-as-common darmat word."

This time, the radio cacophony was halted by one darmat who was apparently shushing the others. And then that darmat repeated a simple, three-word sentence over and over again.

"Time to play a hunch," said Rissa.

"How so?" asked Keith.

"Well, the first question we would ask in a circumstance such as this would be 'Who are you?" Hek and I had PHANTOM sample all the darmat words, and devise a signal that followed the apparent rules for valid word construction but had not, as far as we've been able to detect, been used by the darmats. We hope they'll take this signal to be Starplex's name."

Rissa broadcast the made-up word several times--and, at last, the first breakthrough: the same sphere that had shushed the others repeated the term back at the probe.

"The rain in Spain," said Rissa, grinning, "falls mainly on the plain."

"A thousand pardons," said Rhombus. "My translator must be broken."

Rissa was still grinning. "It's not broken. It's just [hat I think she's got it--I think we've made contact."

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