Sphere (Page 57)
shift Z X C V B N M , . ?
"And then I imagined what the keyboard would look like as a spiral, since our creature seems to prefer spirals. And I started numbering the keys in concentric circles.
"It took a little experimentation, since the keys don’t line up exactly, but finally I got it," he said. "Look here: the numbers spiral out from the center. G is one, B is two, H is three, Y is four, and so on. See? It’s like this." He quickly penciled in numbers.
1 2 3 4 5 612 711 9 9 0
tab Q W E R13 T5 Y4 U10 1 O P
caps A S D14 F6 G1 H3 J9 K L ,
shift Z X C15 V7 B2 N8 M , . ?
"They just keep spiraling outward – M is sixteen, K is seventeen, and so forth. So finally I understood the message."
"What is the message, Harry?"
Harry hesitated. "I have to tell you. It’s strange."
"How do you mean, strange?"
Harry tore another sheet off his yellow pad and handed it to them. Norman read the short message, printed in neat block letters:
HELLO. HOW ARE YOU? I AM FINE. WHAT IS YOUR NAME? MY NAME IS JERRY.
THE FIRST EXCHANGE
"Well," Ted said finally. "this is not what I expected at all."
"It looks childish," Beth said. "Like something out of those old ‘See Spot run’ readers for kids."
"That’s exactly what it looks like."
"Maybe you translated it wrong," Barnes said.
"Certainly not," Harry said.
"Well, this alien sounds like an idiot," Barnes said.
"I doubt very much that he is," Ted said.
"You would doubt it," Barnes said. "A stupid alien would blow your whole theory. But it’s something to consider, isn’t it? A stupid alien. They must have them."
"I doubt," Ted said, "that anyone in command of such high technology as that sphere is stupid."
"Then you haven’t noticed all the ninnies driving cars back home," Barnes said. "Jesus, after all this effort: ‘How are you? I am fine.’ Jesus."
Norman said, "I don’t feel that this message implies a lack of intelligence, Hal."
"On the contrary," Harry said. "I think the message is very smart."
"I’m listening," Barnes said.
"The content certainly appears childish," Harry said. "But when you think about it, it’s highly logical. A simple message is unambiguous, friendly, and not frightening. It makes a lot of sense to send such a message. I think he’s approaching us in the simple way that we might approach a dog. You know, hold out your hand, let it sniff, get used to you."
"You’re saying he’s treating us like dogs?" Barnes said.
Norman thought: Barnes is in over his head. He’s irritable because he’s frightened; he feels inadequate. Or perhaps he feels he’s exceeding his authority.
"No, Hal," Ted said. "He’s just starting at a simple level."
"Well, it’s simple, all right," Barnes said. "Jesus Christ, we contact an alien from outer space, and he says his name is Jerry."
"Let’s not jump to conclusions, Hal."
"Maybe he has a last name," Barnes said hopefully. "I mean, my report to CincComPac is going to say one person died on a deepsat expedition to meet an alien named Jerry? It could sound better. Anything but Jerry," Barnes said. "Can we ask him?"
"Ask him what?" Harry said.
"His full name."
Ted said, "I personally feel we should have much more substantive conversations – "
" – I’d like the full name," Barnes said. "For the report."
"Right," Ted said. "Full name, rank, and serial number."
"I would remind you, Dr. Fielding, that I am in charge here."
Harry said, "The first thing we have to do is to see if he’ll talk at all. Let’s give him the first number grouping."
He typed:
00032125252632
There was a pause, then the answer came back:
00032125252632
"Okay," Harry said. "Jerry’s listening."
He made some notes on his pad and typed another string of numbers:
00029213013210613182108142232
"What did you say?" Beth said.
" ‘We are friends,’ " Harry said.
"Forget friends. Ask his damn name," Barnes said.