nalyzing the flight data summaries on the flight deck； ＇＇121＇＇ looking at the star fields； and I know where the black hole is located。〃
〃Ted；〃 Beth said； 〃the sphere opened。〃
〃It did？ When？〃
〃A few minutes ago。 Then it closed again。〃
〃What did the monitors show？〃
〃No biological hazard。 It seems to be safe。〃
Ted looked at the screen。 〃Then what the hell are we doing here？〃
Barnes came in。 〃Two…hour rest period is over。 Everybody ready to go back to the ship for a last look？〃
〃That's putting it mildly；〃 Harry said。
The sphere was polished； silent； closed。 They stood around it and stared at themselves； distorted in reflection。 Nobody spoke。 They just walked around it。
Finally Ted said； 〃I feel like this is an IQ test； and I'm flunking。〃
〃You mean like the Davies Message？〃 Harry said。
〃Oh that；〃 Ted said。
Norman knew about the Davies Message。 It was one of the episodes that the SETI promoters wished to forget。 In 1979； there had been a large meeting in Rome of the scientists involved in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence。 Basically； SETI called for a radio astronomy search of the heavens。 Now the scientists were trying to decide what sort of message to search for。
Emerson Davies； a physicist from Cambridge； England； devised a message based on fixed physical constants； such as the wavelength of emitted hydrogen； which were presumably the same throughout the universe。 He arranged these constants in a binary pictorial form。
Because Davies thought this would be exactly the kind of message an alien intelligence might send； he figured it would be easy for the SETI people to figure out。 He distributed his picture to everybody at the conference。
Nobody could fig