The Signal

The first report of the signal was from a mining operation deep in the farthest reaches of the Asteroid Belt. Some just thought it was interference, except the repetitive pattern made it seem like a signal. Due to Good Samaritan laws agreed upon by the United Nations of Sol, they were required to investigate. Upon sending out a pod to enhance the signal (for fear that it might be a distress signal from a lost ship) it was discovered the signal was coming from deep space and was, in fact, artificial.

No one took this report seriously until other mining operations started intercepting the same signal. Even then, many dismissed it as astro-noise until a team of scientists decoded the cipher and translated it into a language. It was computer code with a message that translated to visual symbols in a consistent language. They'd intercepted a signal from an unknown alien race!

The worlds stood still on the day of the official announcement. Not only were we not alone...someone was talking to us. The signal was pointed at us from another star not far away that could feasibly have life. Space exploration had another boom after this discovery. Who were they? What could they teach us? Were they friendly? Do we need to defend ourselves? So many questions went unanswered.

It was not long before humanity decided to send messages back towards the star from whence the original signal came, knowing full well it would be years before a response could return. Except that hours after we finally sent an official response to the original signal, a new one was sent back to us...

Scientists scrambled to translate the new signal. It was shorter. It simply said, "We are en route to your location."