Click on image to enlarge.
|
Dangling Conversations [MultiFormat]
eBook by Edward M. Lerner
| |
Regular |
|
 |
|
Club |
| You Pay: |
$1.75 |
|
|
|
$1.49 |
eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description: A radio signal from the inhabitants of another solar system has been heard on Earth, where scientists struggle to decode the message. What do the extraterrestrials expect from humanity? Does mankind choose to learn any more than it has already been told-that we are not alone? The unknown alien agenda and international politics threaten the establishment of a dialogue across the stars.
eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Analog, 2000
Fictionwise Release Date: August 2002
This eBook is also available in the following bundle(s):
Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [207 KB], eReader (PDB) [70 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [60 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [55 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [92 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [125 KB], hiebook (KML) [159 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [102 KB], iSilo (PDB) [50 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [63 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [90 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [85 KB]
Words: 15703
Reading time: 44-62 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
"The one story in this issue that really surprised me was the last and longest, "Dangling Conversations" by Edward M. Lerner. This is an Analog story in a couple of time-honored ways: it's optimistic and even boosterish about a modest and traditional near-future SF concept: radio communication with aliens; and moreover, its characters are ciphers, just labels to hang dialog on. But somehow it's very effective, at least for someone like me, who would desperately love for humanity to contact aliens in this fashion. The story itself simply covers, somewhat episodically, the original detection of the alien radio signal, and the political and scientific difficulties in understanding it, and deciding if and how to respond. It's quite simple, but mostly believable, and I just found it absorbing almost despite myself. Old-fashioned SF, I guess. But the best story of this issue."--Rich Horton, Tangent Online (Learn more about Tangent Online, the Internet's leading SF&F short fiction review website)
CHAPTER 1
Dom Perignon flowed and beluga vanished. A chamber orchestra played Bach. Crystal chandeliers sparkled and gold-rimmed china gleamed. An indoor fountain sprayed upwards around an enormous ice swan.
The ITU knew how to party in style.
From a terrace kept comparatively uncrowded by the chill evening breeze off Lake Geneva, Dean Matthews observed the gathering. Inside the hotel's Great Ballroom mingled dozens of international civil servants and hundreds of national delegates. There was an even larger number of "accredited industry observers." Matthews was one of the lobbyists, representing NetSat, a broadband satcom company.
Completion of a World Administrative Radio Conference was cause for celebration. New wireless technologies, and the implacable growth of older ones, kept the demand for spectrum high. For reasons of historical interest only, many radio bands had differing uses in different parts of the world: a big problem as more systems went global. Users of old systems were entitled to replacement bandwidth when new applications supplanted earlier frequency assignments.
The International Telecommunications Union took the lead in reconciling the many competing claims. That made the ITU an essential, if underappreciated, part of the global economy. Multi-billion-dollar fortunes rose and fell with the outcome of ITU negotiations.
A waiter glided by with champagne. Matthews took a flute for himself and one for his companion. "Congratulations, Madame Secretary-General."
They clinked glasses.
"You, too." Fair enough: the WARC had just authorized a frequency range for new broadband services that was compatible with NetSat's working prototype.
Bridget Satterswaithe, the Secretary-General of the ITU, turned to the lake. Great yachts bobbed at anchor, brightly lit by marina spotlights. She sipped her champagne. "Now that the conference is over, I look forward to some sailing. Maybe see my parents in London. Even a quiet..."
Buzzing interrupted her; she retrieved the cell phone from her clutch bag. She appeared surprised at the caller ID on the display. "Please excuse me--I have to take this."
He took the stairs from the terrace down to the marina, giving Satterswaithe some privacy. Waves lapped peacefully against the shore. The wooden pier creaked under his tread. He, too, anticipated some well-deserved rest.
She rejoined him, sans champagne. She seemed shaken. "You're not going to believe why you won't be getting that bandwidth after all."
|
)
