Earth’s Reply

By Vincent J Hyde

In 2503, the World Council re-elects Samuels as Director of Space Research. He is tasked with developing a reply to the message delivered by the alien robot Interface. After many stops and starts, the Directors decide to send a robot, Nuwoman, to track and follow Interface, who they believe is returning to his alien civilisation.

The twenty-sixth century has seen rapid development in space technology and robotics. Habitats have been developed on the Moon and Mars, all in an attempt to set up ways to track the spaceships of both Interface and Nuwoman. However, Interface does not behave as expected. Instead of returning to his alien civilisation, he makes a detour.

He lingers in the shadows of the Alpha Centauri triple star system, waiting for Nuwoman. Interface becomes infatuated with the development of Nuwoman. This incredible meeting of two like minds is both intellectual and romantic—and not at all what the Directors expected.

Nevertheless Earth’s reply to the message from the neighbours is a success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jul 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781504318402

Vincent J Hyde

Vincent J. Hyde was born in September 1954 in Calcutta, India. While living in Calcutta, He studied in Saint Xavier’s College. He immigrated to Sydney, Australia, in February 1970. While living in Sydney, he completed his secondary education at Marcellin College and Merrylands High School, where he obtained his Higher School Certificate in 1973. He completed the electrical engineering degree course at the University of New South Wales in 1979. He earned a postgraduate diploma in illumination design at the University of Sydney in 1983. He worked as an electrical engineer at the New South Wales Public Works from 1979 to 2014 and retired from active engineering duties in 2014. Since 2014, he has been writing books to continue his professional development. He has written five books with the publisher Balboa Press, as follows: 1. Heaven and Earth 2. A Journey from Dust to Consciousness 3. A Message from the Neighbours 4. Earth’s Reply 5. The Alien World 6. Fields He is a current member of the Institution of Engineers Australia (MIEAust), Chartered Professional Engineer (Ret) No. 1387147.

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Copyright © 2019 Vincent J. Hyde.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-1839-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-1840-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 07/08/2019

CONTENTS

Introduction

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Plan

Chapter 2: The Twenty-Sixth Century

Chapter 3: The Meeting

This book is dedicated to my late mum, Margaret, who successfully tracked down and married my father. As a result of that event, I was born on planet Earth and was able to write the book Earth’s Reply.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This book is the second in a trilogy and follows on from the first book in the trilogy namely A Message from the Neighbours (2018).

The author has studied in many of the ‘Fields of Knowledge’, and wishes to thank the teachers and other authors who have contributed to this work.

The characters in this book are not based on any real persons alive today.

EXPLANATION FOR UPPER CASE USED IN THE BOOK

Upper case has sometimes been used to make it easy for the reader to follow the text, as follows:

• A single word might have a vague meaning if considered by itself. However, in the context of the book, it has a particular meaning. Hence it is shown as upper-case text. For example, the word Space has a meaning associated with the region where the galaxies exist. Space Probe is the term used to describe the bullet-shaped vehicle in which Interface visits Earth.

• A double word might be required to be considered together and not considered separately. For example, the double word star system is associated with the star and its associated planets and moons.

• The triple word Fields of Knowledge is shown in inverted commas because it must be considered together.

I hope the above is helpful to the reader.

INTRODUCTION

Earth’s Reply is the second book of a science fiction trilogy. The first book, published in October 2018, is A Message from the Neighbours.

In A Message from the Neighbours, the robot Interface arrives near Earth’s solar system in a bullet-shaped space probe. The space probe connects with an interceptor shuttle from Earth about one light year from Earth. Interface gives the astronauts a metallic artefact which contains a visual recording of the neighbours’ world. At a meeting held at World Plaza in January 2506, Director Samuels activates the visual recording. The image of Interface displays a message from the neighbours.

In Earth’s Reply, the directors, led again by Director Samuels, develop a plan to reply to the message delivered by Interface. The plan is to be implemented over a period of two hundred years. The plan allows for visiting the neighbours. Unfortunately, none of the directors who first implement the plan will be alive to see the end result. However, through their Fields of Knowledge new stars will be born. A new set of directors in new fields will activate subsequent stages of the plan, making it a reality.

In a surprising way, Earth’s reply is successful.

The questions raised in the introduction of A Message from the Neighbours—namely, will Earth accept Interface’s invitation and choose to visit the neighbouring world, and how will Earth reply to the message—are answered in Earth’s Reply. However, the reader will have to read the final book in the trilogy, The Alien World, to discover the alien world.

To find out how the director’s succeeded you will need to read this book. The second book of the trilogy ‘Earth’s Reply’.

PROLOGUE

In 2498, Joseph Samuels was elected Director of Space Research by the World Council. This was followed by intense research in space technology. In 2500, a relatively small rocket-shaped space probe was detected by Earth-based radio telescopes. The space probe was heading at the speed of light in the direction of Earth’s solar system. An interceptor shuttle from Earth with two scientists aboard was sent to intercept the space probe one light year from Earth.

The space probe was inhabited by a robot called Interface. Interface claimed to have been sent by an extraterrestrial civilisation based in the Andromeda Galaxy. Interface handed the scientists a metallic artefact which he claimed was a recorded message from his extraterrestrial civilisation. The recorded message could only be played once. Interface seemed to sense aggression towards him and left the scientists, returning to his space probe and stating that he wished to return to his extraterrestrial civilisation. As the space probe moved away from the interceptor shuttle, the scientists watched it on their visual display screen and saw it disappear.

The scientists returned to Earth with the metallic artefact, which they handed over to Director of Space Research. At a meeting on January 12, 2506, with his fellow directors, Joseph Samuels opened the metallic artefact. In a dazzling display, the image of Interface demonstrated some features of his civilisation. Interface issued an invitation to Earth to visit that civilisation.

The World Council were anxious for Earth to reply to the message delivered by Interface. Given the status of Earth’s space technology, it was determined that the reply would be sent by 2700. This would give Earth two centuries or eight generations to prepare the reply.

In 2503, the World Council re-elected Joseph Samuels as director of Space Research. He would therefore manage the project associated with the space probe and the mysterious alien civilisation for another five years.

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1

THE PLAN

It was a cool night in March 2507, and a gentle breeze was blowing over the land. Joseph Samuels stared up at the starry night sky. He was aware that billions of stars, planets, and galaxies stared back at him. They are inanimate, he thought. They are unaware of my presence. Only the Creator can create special lifeforms that bring a certain consciousness to a star system. The inanimate matter must have some special lifeforms for awareness; otherwise, the star system will be unaware of anything about it. What is the use or purpose of having those billions of stars if they are all unaware of one another?

It was frustrating that the sky, so crowded with visible light that his eyes could easily detect, was also filled with so much that his eyes could not detect. That sky was unable to provide any direct answers to his questioning mind.

But somewhere in that starry sky, perhaps some three to five light years away, was a tiny metallic space probe carrying an arrogant robot called Interface. How cleverly Interface had delivered that message. How well-planned that message had been, and how relevant to Earth’s solar system. Though Samuels was the Director of Space Research, even with his keen senses and the instruments available to him, he was unable to see the space probe—nor its occupant.

Elsewhere in that starry sky, in the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy, another star system held a special lifeform that was not only aware but, as Samuels had reason to believe, more than aware of what was going on in the universe. Awareness was not like starlight. Awareness required a certain amount of understanding, a certain amount of intelligence. Above all, awareness needed a mind.

Time, Samuels thought, is very significant. Of all the millions of species that had lived or were currently living on Earth, only human beings understood time. Only human beings measured time in terms of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Daily-changing time was seen in the rising and setting of the sun and the changing of the tides. Weekly-changing time could be seen in the phases of the moon. Yearly-changing time was seen in the seasonal changes of winter, summer, spring, and autumn.

Time was very much dependent on the behaviour of the inanimate sun, moon, and earth. Those inanimate objects played a very significant part in events, controlling heat, light, tides, pressure, temperature, winds, and rainfall. The inanimate bodies seemed to exist for relatively long periods of time, while for lifeforms, time was relatively short. But human lifeforms were unique because they could understand time and plan things over many generations. Samuels had to form such a plan to send Earth’s reply to Interface’s message.

Clearly one needed to analyse the message, understand its meaning, and formulate a plan.

Samuels had been given eight generations, or around two hundred years, to do this. If the World Council could maintain a staffing level of fifty thousand people for one hundred years, that represented a lot of man-hours for the development of the plan. If they could maintain similar staffing levels in the following hundred years, that would represent substantial man-hours to achieve a reasonable response. He estimated this would yield 104 million man-hours per year. In two hundred years, if all went well, a lot could be achieved.

His only regret was that he would not be there to see any of the results. He was fifty-nine years old and due to retire in one year. This was a constant source of frustration—to plan but never really know what the end result would be. Our actions in Space must occur over generations, he thought, because we are dealing with matter that exists in space and time that is very different from our average, daily, earthly experiences. We must learn to see achievements in human-generation terms, not individual human terms.

Samuels was concerned over the limitation of his senses. This limitation was even greater when it came to distant objects like galaxies, stars, planets, and moons. His increasing reliance on his intuition and the intuition of his fellow directors was an ever-increasing source of concern. On many occasions Samuels found himself wondering whether the Creator was on his side, or whether the Creator cared about human beings. I am glad we have Director of Religion Father James Taylor to help us, he thought.

Samuels was concerned over his educated guesses. He was specifically concerned about the fact that Interface was some three to five light years away; the current status of the extraterrestrial civilisation; what the status of the extraterrestrial civilisation would be when Earth’s reply arrived; Earth’s space-infrastructure development in one hundred years; and Earth’s space-infrastructure development in two hundred years.

I am glad we have the Director of Science and Technology to help us, he thought.

Samuels realised that in finalising Earth’s reply, he must minimise the number of directors participating in the discussion, so as to extract only the most significant aspects.

It was significant to have a vehicle that could travel long distances at very high speed, so the Director of Machine Construction was essential to the discussion, he reasoned.

Samuels next concern was the message bearer. Should the choice be:

1. A human team of trained specialists,

2. A volunteer group of human families,

3. A few robots,

4. A single robot.

As Samuels reflected on the problem before him, he realised he needed the input of two directors: the Director of Human Welfare, Victoria Price, and the Director of Robotics, Robert Mann.

The Robotics Directorate had recently been created by the World Council. This directorate was partly inspired by Interface. The first director, Robert Mann, was a colleague and adviser to Tom Strange, the re-elected Director of Science and Technology. Robert Mann and most of his group were from the Science and Technology Directorate.

Again, Samuels could only guess at what Tom Strange would make of the scientific viewpoint. Tom would certainly have the support of Robert Mann. Will Tom see this as sarcastic? he wondered.

His thoughts turned back to the directors and to the significance of communications with extraterrestrial beings. It is essential to convey the message in a form that the receiver can understand. The Director of Communications must be present. Furthermore, any civilisation capable of interstellar travel must not be taken lightly when it came to matters of war, so the director of defence must also be present.

Then he thought about funding the project. The Director of Economics must be present to approve the expenditure. The cost would be no small amount of cash.

As he went over the directors and refreshed his memory, he reflected on his past thoughts and on which directorates he saw as essential. The essential directorates were:

• Religion

• Science and Technology

• Machine Construction