Interlude S

  Canberra, Australia, Erd simulation

  Year 1997 of the Current Era (local time)

  Huddled before a group of computer screens, astronomers study the latest results from the Hubble Space Telescope. They have attempted to measure the redshifts of a certain type of supernovae, harboring the suspicion that there is not enough matter in the universe to halt its expansion. The latest data supports this hypothesis to such an extent that the margin of error is reduced to near-zero. As the astronomers celebrate their finding that the universe will likely continue its expansion forever, they fail to take notice of a strange pattern in the collected data. Starting at the first decimal place smaller than the measurement error, where the signal might be said to turn into random noise, the figures consist of many more 0s, 1s, and 2s than chance would predict. By concatenating these parts of the measurement data and translating them into letters in the Bulgarian alphabet, one might obtain the following message: “Your terms are acceptable.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.