Normally when I fly such distances across the country, I have many layovers and many other flights to catch. I've been on this plane for 5 hours. We had champagne, and meetings with Mr. Abbot. Jack and I even spent time brainstorming and researching the area of space we will be monitoring. I have no idea what the evening has in store for me, but I am feeling the excitement more than ever.
We finally land in an unknown location in Washington D.C. Jack and I gather our things, I look at my phone for the time. I also have a missed call from my mother. Factoring in the time difference from Pacific to Eastern, it's actually not as late as I thought.
Mr. Abbot and his assistant exit the plane before us where another limo awaits. Jack and I enter the limo sitting across from Mr. Abbot and his assistant.
"Because my wonderful assistant did not book the hotel for you until it was too late, I will personally be escorting you to the Ritz-Carlton just a few moments away and we will get you registered." Mr. Abbot said. He looked directly at Jack. I don't think it was intentional, but it doesn't surprise me.
"Have you ever stayed at a Ritz-Carlton Jeanette?" Jack looks to me and asks with a grin on his face. He has been acting like a Chihuahua since he arrived at my house with the limo. I think he might have tired himself out, his excitement is subtle now.
"No, actually I haven't." I said hugging my purse a little tighter on my lap. I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed now. I knew our jobs were important but I did not think we would be riding in limos, flying in private million dollar jets, and sleeping at the Ritz-Carlton. I guess I should just go with it but I feel really important right now. I have to keep telling myself to stay humble and not get greedy. Shit, why can't we just stay at the White house?
We arrive at the hotel only a few minutes later. The streets of Washington are still damp from an earlier rain shower. The lights of the surrounding city reflect in the puddles. The limo stops along the curb to the Ritz-Carlton. The dark and quiet cabin of the limo is transformed with city smells and late-night lights when the driver opens my door. Even for Washington at nine pm there are still many people out on the town.
I gracefully slide my legs out of the door with my knees firmly together. The driver holds out his hand to me. I accept it and emerge from the limo. All that effort to remain lady-like and my polished heels step into a puddle.
"Shit." I said out loud.
I flick my ankle.
Several men and women linger near the entrance of the hotel to see who appears from the limo. I ignore the onlookers and stand on the curb pulling my handbag onto my shoulder. The driver opens the trunk and begins unpacking the luggage onto the curb.
Jack, Mr. Abbot, and Mr. Abbot's assistant climb out from the limo. Mr. Abbot walks into the hotel with his assistant a few paces behind. Jack and I follow behind.
"Wow! This place is gorgeous." Jack says as we enter the hotel. He stares up at a grand chandelier that illuminates the entire lobby.
The lobby is so huge that it could pass as a ballroom.
At the front desk Mr. Abbot speaks to the receptionist to secure a room for Jack and me. He turns around and hesitates to speak. He walks a little closer until he's standing in front of me. He leans in to whisper. "We have a penthouse available, would you two mind sharing it?" He looks around suspiciously.
"It is two bedrooms?" I ask.
"Yes, of course, each with its own bathroom. It's really quite nice." He nods his head and smiles.
"Then sure, I don't mind." I smiled.
Jack turns around to finally pay attention to the conversation. He's been glued to the chandelier and how it makes the paint on the walls appear to shimmer. Like a child who has never seen Disney Land.
"What's going on?" He says as Mr. Abbot walks back toward the desk.
"Were getting a penthouse." I said taking a few steps forward.
"Whoa! A Penthouse!" Jack says clapping his hands together.
"Nice!"
A few moments later we arrive at our penthouse. There are two on this floor whose balconies overlook the city at 15 stories high. The elevator room houses vintage ottomans in red velvet. The color of royalty with gold wallpaper as its backdrop. Mirrors hang above the ottomans with intricate designs laced in silver. A truly luxurious view. I can't wait for what our actual penthouse has in store.
We approach the door to the Penthouse. Mr. Abbot uses the key and opens the door to reveal a large open space. Within the large open space sits a social circle. Luxurious couches with designer fabrics all laid out in the middle of the open space. Behind the social circle sits a white grand piano.
I gasp.
Without saying a word, I enter the room and head straight for the piano.
"I'm sure you'll find everything to your liking." Mr. Abbot said entering the room behind me. "You may dial room service for anything you need, even laundry, don't worry about the cost, NASA will take care of everything." He smiles while Jack and I have already found our favorite things about the room.
Jack has already turned on the flat screen TV in front of the couches. He has a childlike grin on his face as he skims through all the channels it offers.
"Well, I will leave you to it then." Mr. Abbot says as the bellhop brings our luggage into the penthouse.
"You'll have this evening to settle in then the work begins at 9 am sharp, so enjoy while you have the chance. We will be in touch." Mr. Abbot says as he leaves the penthouse. He disappears from behind the door.
"Thanks!" Jack yells as his eyes fixate on the flat screen.
I sit at the piano curious, stroking the keys so that the softest sounds escape. I wonder what the next few weeks will entail. It's work that I've done hundreds of times, but it feels different now. I can't place the feeling it causes. It's unknown to me.
"So, you want to order room service?" Jack says approaching the piano and leaning against it.
"Damn, this things is nice." Jack says caressing the grand piano's surface.
It made me smile.
"I want one just like it one day." I said grinning ear to ear.
"Better start saving." Jack says. He leaves the piano's side to grab a room service menu resting on an end table with a telephone.
He scans the menu and brings it to me.
"What are you in the mood for? Fish? Chicken? Should I surprise you?" Jack says reading through the menu.
"Ohh sushi, do they have sushi?" I ask eyes gleaming for a craving.
"I'm pretty sure they have everything Jeanette." Jack scoffs under his breath. "I'll get you sushi. Just wait you're going to love this."
"I'll take a California roll if they got it and a side of vegetables please. I'm going to go unpack." I told Jack restless.
I grabbed a few bags of my luggage and entered a bedroom to the left of the living room.
Two French mahogany doors open up to a luxurious master suit with a king size bed. Egyptian cotton sheets, vintage ottomans, Victorian styled night stands and dressers, I feel like I'm in Europe.
I throw my largest suit case on top of the King size bed.
The bed sits so high up, it makes me feel even shorter than I already am.
I walk over toward the windows that overlook the street. The moon is a waning gibbous as it sits high above Washington. The rain still falls but in a muggy mist. Drops cling to my window pane. Knowing I have a lot of work ahead of me is a little unsettling. I've had mixed emotions about this trip since I saw the limo. It's almost too good to be true. Searching for intelligent signals. What is it NASA is really hiding? Why not give the people the truth instead of covering it up? This only tells me that so many things I gave up hope on believing might have been true all along. I need to go into this with a clear head. If not clear, at least opaque.
I bring my arms to my chest. Jack has made himself really comfortable and he does what he's told. If I want this to work out my way, I need him on my side.
I begin unpacking and hushing these racing thoughts, the nerves force my muscles to clench.
While I unpack I can't help but feel anxious. I've been wallowing in my own emotional cloud since I left the west coast. I haven't once spared a single thought for what may really be going on here.
I walk over to the mirror hanging on the wall.
My eyes pierce like knives into my own soul. The burning question that has lingered in the pit of my stomach since I was little. What is this life? What does it mean to be living? The numbness that has come over me resides mostly in my mind. I know my anxieties are premature, but I can't shake the horrible feeling I have. I've considered what it might mean to the world knowing that we are not alone. But what will come of me and my life, if I actually find proof. To hold that proof in my hands, to finally know. I fear, it will be the death of me.
I hear Jack yell that the food has arrived. I might as well finish up later.
I take my blazer off which exposes a silk short sleeve button down blouse. I enter the open living space to see Jack setting a table on the other end of the living space.
"Come, sit." He says as he holds out a chair waiting for me, his eyes linger on me longer than usual.
"Why, thank you." I said taking a seat. Jack pushes the seat in for me as I sit.
Jack walks over to the food tray, and grabs my plate and sets it in front of me. "You're not allergic to any kind of fish are you?" He asks hesitating before he leaves the plate.
I shake my head no.
"Cool. You're going to love this. This sushi roll has tuna, salmon, eel, spinach, obviously rice, there some other green things in it, I don't know, but its gooooood." Jack says as he sits across form me with his plate.
He fills a glass with wine.
"Would you like some?" He asks holding the bottle toward me.
"Yes, please." I said reaching for the bottle.
He pulls back and pours a glass for me.
"Go easy on this." He says. "This stuff is actually stronger than what was in the limo. It's Plume wine, it complements the sushi very well."
I giggled.
Jack stands up to grab condiments from the food tray. He brings them back to the table and begins adding them together in a small sauce tray.
I take a sip of my wine.
My eyes grow wide. "This is really good!" I exclaimed.
"I know. You know what's even better?" Jack asks.
"What?
"This." He says mixing together his sauce with a chopstick. He slides the tray toward me.
"The key is to soak your sushi into the sauce. It's got Soy Sauce, Wasabi and ginger. Mine might be a little spicy. I like to use a lot of wasabi." He smiles wide.
I grab a sushi roll and dip it into his sauce.
Then I take a bite. Instantly the wasabi hits my taste buds first. My mouth grows hot and I exhale. Finally the wasabi is overpowered by the ginger and soy sauce. Together they form a mixture of sweet and sour. Gives sushi a new flavor.
"Not too bad." I said as I take a sip of my wine and slide Jack's sauce tray back to him.
"I haven't had sushi this good in a long time." Jack says taking a bite and nodding his approval.
"I guess I don't have it often enough to know the difference." I said taking a few bites of my vegetables.
"So, how you feeling? What's on your mind?" Jack asks casually. I think he might be feeling the same way as me about this whole project.
"I don't know really. I'm a little confused. I'm not sure how to feel. At first I was really excited, but this is a pretty serious thing. I feel like we might just be a chess piece for NASA." I drink a little bit more wine trying to drown out my worries.
Jack finishes chewing. "We might not even find anything." He says.
My eyes narrow. "Is that why you're so comfortable with all this?" I asked.
"If I was alone, things would be different. But I know that were a good team. Whatever we find we'll handle it. But the odds against us are staggering, especially if were only looking at one portion of the galaxy. I think that this is a vacation for us. Why not enjoy the luxuries while we have them?" Jack says taking a bite of his sushi.
I'm starting to believe that I can tell Jack what it is I'm really thinking. I want to trust him. I find that his wisdom comes from somewhere I've never seen before. He is an old soul.
"So tell me what's really on your mind." He says after chewing completely.
I sit up in my chair.
"So let's say we actually do find something. We investigate it, find it to be intelligent. Where do we go from there? Do we just hand everything over to NASA and have a good day? What are they going to do with this information? Will we even be credited for it? I think, that this is just a ploy to get us to keep a secret. That secret is sitting in the pentagon, or the oval office. The second we tell them we found something – we will be on the next flight back to California. Then what?"
"Hmm." Jack says sitting back in his chair. "You raise a good point, however, we don't know anything until we are briefed. So let's not jump to conclusions. Also, keep in mind, that if this is as serious a situation as you think, someone could be watching, and listening to our every move. Tread carefully Jeannette. NASA doesn't know what you're capable of --- but I think I do."
His eyes glare at mine as these words set in. An estranged warning hidden with such an encrypted statement. My stomach begins to churn.
I swallow hard.
"I think I'm going to go to bed now. Thank you for accompanying me with dinner. I appreciate it." I scoot back my chair and begin gathering my plate and utensils.
"I didn't mean to offend you." Jack says suddenly as he places his fork down on the table.
"No, it's ok. Your right. I'm probably just really nervous, it will pass." I told him as I placed my dishes back on the food tray.
"Goodnight Jack." I said with my back turned to him. I sense the sting he feels from my cold departure.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And just like that I lost my appetite.I thought as I take a seat at one of the many chairs surrounding a large table in an enclosed room at NASA headquarters. Men in suits enter and shake hands while exchanging well wishes.
Mr. Abbot and his assistant help settle men and women who enter the room that appear to be lost. Others whom are obviously not lost at all enter and sit claiming their throne. Here they are, the big dogs. NASA headquarters is just as I presumed it would be. A lose pack of hounds ready to rip throats when it's convenient.
Jack sits next to me also in a suit skimming through the material tucked into folders in front of each chair. I don't dare open it. Not when so much is going on.
Mr. Abbot stands in front of the table.
He clears his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen I will now call to order this meeting. Thank you for arriving promptly. If you will, please find in front of you folders with important information, they are yours to keep over the duration of this project. All of you will be spilt into groups, each with different tasks. I will now turn it over to our Director of Deep Space Observations here at NASA Headquarters."
Mr. Abbot takes a seat next to his assistant.
A man rises from the chair nearing the front of the table. His stoic expression leaves nothing to be desired. His eyes are dark and vacant.
"Thankyou Mr. Abbot. If you will please turn your attention to the projector." He says flicking the lights off from a switch on the wall.
The projector displays NASA's logo. The director clicks to reveal several links in a basic font.
He clicks on the remote to open the first one.
It displays an infographic which underlines the precise location of whatever it is he's about to mention.
"On November 4, 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of sun-like stars within the Milky Way Galaxy. As most of you are aware, the habitable zone is where we live. Just close enough to our parent star for life to evolve but not too close to kill us all in a blaze of fire."
He paces the width of the room with his hands comfortably behind his back.
He clicks again.
"11 billion of these estimated planets may be orbiting sun-like stars. Which means the nearest of these planets may be 12 to 20 light-years away. Relatively close."
He clicks again.
"On August 15th 1977 astronomer Jerry R. Ehman detected a strong narrowband radio signal originating from the northwest of the globular cluster of M55 in the constellation Sagittarius. The entire signal sequence lasted for the full 72-second window that Big Ear was able to observe it. Big Ear is the nickname for the radio array that was used and is still in use at Ohio State University where Mr. Ehman did research. NASA informed the public after launching an investigation that the signal has not yet been detected since that day in 1977. THAT, my friends, was a cover up."
A cover up? I knew cover up's existed but damn. This news should un-nerve me but it makes me smile instead. I always felt that there was really something special about the wow signal.
"NASA confiscated most of the data that Ehman found, however he never truly stopped researching this signal. The signal appears to have come from an area of the sky with no stars or planets. Many speculate that this area is another Hubble Deep Field."
He clicks again to display a photo of the Hubble Deep Field.
"The Hubble Deep Field, for those who are not familiar, was a patch of sky in the constellation Ursa Major that appeared to be void of anything. It was pitch black with nothing in it. It covers an area 2.5 arcminutes across, about one 24-millionth of the whole sky. The Hubble Space Telescope was instructed to zoom in on this black patch of sky. Upon zooming in images of billions and billions of galaxies appeared. This image before me was assembled from 342 separate exposures taken with the Space Telescopes Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over ten consecutive days in December 1995."
The image changes again as he clicks the remote once more.
"Unfortunately we will not have the resources of a telescope to zoom in on this area of sky where the wow signal originated from. But we will have access to all major radio arrays so we have optimum use of listening devices so to speak. I will now turn it over to our National Security Administrator and his team to further discuss the recurrence of the signal. "
Another man grabbed the remote for the previous presenter.
He guides the presentation back to the beginning and clicks on a link below the top one.
"Good afternoon." He says.
"As the director mentioned, NASA confiscated all evidence of the wow signal. Regardless of our attempts to shelter this information from the general public, several attempts were made by Ehman as well as by other astronomers to identify the signal again. National Security Administration or NSA redirected the detection of such signals to appear only on the databases of NASA headquarters. Little did these astronomers know – the signal began repeating itself after a response was made in 2012."
He clicks on the presentation.
I turn to look at Jack who is actively engaged. His eyes narrowing every time the presenter uses the acronym NSA. I feel his pain. How could it be lawful for these administrators to withhold this information? This is an intelligent race we are talking about. Our brothers and sisters of the Universe repeated their signal in hopes of communicating and our power hungry assholes above all of our heads aren't telling anyone about it. Leaving us alone on this rock that is slowly deteriorating. How could they?
The presenter continues. "In 2012, on the 35th anniversary of the WOW! Signal, Arecibo Observatory beamed a response from humanity, containing 10,000 Twitter messages, in the direction from which the signal originated. Arecibo scientists have attempted to increase the chances of intelligent life receiving and decoding the celebrity videos and crowd-sourced tweets by attaching a repeating sequence header to each message that will let the recipient know that the messages are intentional and from another intelligent life form. It looked a little something like this."
He clicks on another link and a video begins to play. It's a video of comedian Stephen Colbert extending warm greetings. I am suddenly confused.
'Greetings Intelligent alien life forms. I am Stephen Colbert and I come to you with an important message on behalf of all the peoples of the Earth.' The comedian goes on to say. 'We are not delicious. In fact, we're kind of gamey, and we get stuck in your teeth. It's really embarrassing at a job interview. If you want something good to munch on, go to the nearby Crab nebula. And bring a bib. Seriously, all you can eat.'
The room erupts into laughter.
Jack taps me on the shoulder and leans in to whisper. "And I got yelled at for cracking alien jokes."
He Scoffs.
However, I am not laughing. I am a fan of Stephen Colbert, but everyone is acting like this is some giant joke. I honestly hope this wasn't the actual video that was sent to an alien race. Upon viewing it I image they were either confused, or angry for being mocked.
The National Security Administrator chuckles after the video ends.
He clicks his remote again.
"Other celebrities sent their greeting out as well. Among Mr. Colbert, there was Jorge Garcia, and Leila Lopes who was at the time Miss Universe as well as others who promoted the cause. The transmitter used yields, which is a signal roughly 20 times stronger than that of the most powerful commercial radio transmitter. We believe that the response sent in 2012 triggered the signals that followed after however, these signals that were detected after 2012 had the same narrowband strength as the Wow! Signal, but they resembled coding that was used for a message beamed into space in November of 1974."
The presenter reaches for a glass of water on the table.
He takes a sip.
He clicks his remote.
"This 1974 message was broadcast into space a single time via frequency modulated radio waves. The message was aimed at the current location of globular star cluster M13, which is actually nearby where the Wow! Signal was detected from for the 2nd time in 2012. What some of you will be analyzing will be the radio frequencies we continue to receive which bare striking resemblances to the Wow! Signal. In your folders you will find details regarding the make-up of these messages which I will briefly go over with you before we end for the day."
Everyone sitting at the table grabs their folders. The shifting sounds of paper are way too loud. The room is awfully quiet.
"The message consisted of 1,679 binary digits, approximately 210 bytes, transmitted as a frequency of 2,380 Mega Hertz and modulated by shifting the frequency by 10 Hertz, with a power of 1,000 Kilo Watts. This sounds a bit overwhelming but the total message was less than three minutes long. Some speculate that the message is a series of phrases or possibly questions. These messages have been continuously coming in every year, 3 times a year, for the past 3 years beginning weeks after the 2012 response was beamed into space."
I begin writing notes in my notepad. Ideas are already flooding. I will need to do research on this region of space. Might need to request documents form SETI and the Ohio State University. I want to listen to these messages and review the data and compare them to find subtle differences. Jack can start on decoding, he's pretty good at that kind of thing. There is so much to do. But first, I'd like a private meeting with this National Security Administrator. I feel like there's something he isn't telling us. The question is, how hard is that going to be to land a meeting?
"NSA has been monitoring the incoming messages since the first detection and began working with NASA officials shortly after. We would like to send another response but this time without the knowledge of the general public. In order to do so, we need to know what these messages are saying. It is this team's job to spend as much time as it takes analyzing these signals, their origins, the frequencies, ect. Anything that may give us the knowledge we seek to learn. There will be follow-up briefings every few days so please keep your phones nearby. As we experience breakthroughs myself and other members of NASA from all departments will be working closely with all of you to reach our goals. It is my duty to remind all of you that everything in this room is a confidential state secret. Nothing is to be repeated, you are to conduct your studies on the matter in private or in our own facilities here at NASA headquarters. No one will speak of this. You have all been given reasons for your attendance here and your absence from your daily jobs with the help of your supervisors. Thank you for your contribution to humanity. You are dismissed."
The presenter smiles wide as people pack up their things to leave the room.
Jack closes his folder and remains seated as people around him shuffle out of the small space in between his seat and the wall.
I finish up writing some notes in my folder.
"So what do you think?" Jack says.
I could tell him what I'm really thinking right now or I could chose to keep it to myself. There is so much at stake here. If we actually decode these messages and find out that an alien race is planning to invade, I would literately shit myself. But if we decode them to find out that there is no hostility, it needs to be handled with diplomacy for the sake of science and discovery. We could exchange information. It might be a more advanced civilization and we could finally build spacecraft capable of light speed travel. Or we could turn out to be more advanced than they and we could provide them information that helps their civilization propel into the future. Maybe I'm getting too ahead of myself.
I linger on the thought of the signal repeating like it has. It has to be intelligent, I can't think of a single space anomaly that could cause this type of repetition.
So what do I tell Jack?
"We have a lot of work to do." I said with a smile.
I closed my folder, stood up and left the room.
My next order of business is with the NSA, and without Jack.