"Captain!" Aurora's voice stops our silly chase around the table. "Sorry to be the one to spoil all the fun, but at last count, we have no more than two hours before the spheres reach a thousand in number. I need permission to open the channels and start charging the beam. Please, indicate the power rate."

   "Are we sure about this, Haru?" Adam puts his hand on my shoulder. "We are talking about a sudden flow of a tremendous amount of energy. There's no way the aliens wouldn't detect it. It is going to be so obvious that we are up to something and it's not friendly at all. Honestly, if I were them, I would consider it a threat. Not so hard to guess that a weapon is being charged."

   "You're right," I nod in agreement, wrinkling my nose. It's a hell of a tricky choice. A catch-22 situation. On one hand, I have the orders from the Military Board. I cannot just decide not to follow them. It is against everything I believe in. I was trained to follow orders, especially the ones arising from a collective decision. Then again, Adam is so damn right. The bastards are just flying around, doing nothing wrong. Unlike me, who is getting ready to direct ten quadrillion watts of energy into a deadly weapon, which can evaporate any object in a blink of an eye. I turn to him and ask, insistently gazing into his thoughtful, brown eyes in a search of an answer that is surely not there, "What shall I do? The real question is would they go away, sensing the danger, or strike back. What do you say?"

   "No," he shakes his head. "No, Haru. You cannot ask me that. I am sorry I'm offering no help, but I have no right to influence a First Rank Commander's decision. Stating my opinion would be an interference into something I am neither qualified, nor authorized for."

   "Why are you so damn clever?" I grumble. "I am sorry! You're spot on again. It is my responsibility. These are extraordinary circumstances. No one has ever been under similar ones before. There is no precedent to base on. I'm grasping at straws, because I'm afraid of making the wrong choice."

   "I know, Commander Hinode. I also know that you must believe in yourself, now more than ever," Adam firmly says, squeezing my arm encouragingly. "There are many random, chaotic phenomena in this universe, but I am absolutely sure this is not one of them. They chose you for a reason. The spheres are here because of you. The Fleet chose you among millions of cadets for a very good reason too. Your superiors believe in you. Admiral Mbabazi has no doubts you are right where you belong. I believe in you with all my heart, and... I love you."

   My eyes widen. People become rashly outspoken under great pressure. They perceive and say things they later realize were not entirely true. He just confessed his love to me and I can focus on no aliens right now. Adam was programmed to comprehend the concept of love, but can an artificially created individual like him really feel it? I have no idea. Affection, sexual attraction and mutual appreciation are one thing, but love is a whole new ballgame. I take it with the utmost seriousness, although I have no experience in the matter. My lips curl up in an amused smile. His heart. As far as I am familiar with android technology, and I am quite knowledgeable, given that my ex-lover is the world's greatest expert and manufacturer in the field, they have no heart, at least not in the sense of a human organ. This, of course, in no way diminishes Adam's feelings.

   "Baby, do you mean it for real?" I barely whisper. "Don't say such things if you aren't one hundred percent sure. I am fully content with the way we are. No need to jump into the deep end before we are fully prepared to face the consequences. There is plenty of time..."

   "I am," he interrupts me impatiently. "Don't you understand, Haru? I exist because I love you. I had to say it. Contrary to what you think, we might have no time at all. What if these are our last two hours? I love you. One hundred percent. I am as sure as can be. Now, make your choice and stop staring at me as if I am the alien."

   "I love you too," I quickly blurt, blushing bright crimson. My sudden shyness evokes a ripple of laughter. I frown at my obnoxious, big, hot man, who just turned my world upside down. "What? Why is this so funny?"

   "Because I knew it," Adam grins. "But you would have never said it first."

   "Smartarse," I mutter, stomping my foot to put an end to this mushy conversation and face the big problem at hand. "Aurora, how long will it take to charge for five petawatts*?"

(*Petawatt - unit of power which is equal to one quadrillion watts. For comparison -  domestic oven has an approximate power of 1000 watts; pointer lasers in USA are limited to 0.005 watts; a 1000 watts CO2 laser can cut steel. The most powerful laser systems existing today are around 1 petawatt. It is estimated that a 10 petawatt quantum laser would be able to vaporize matter, bearing a resemblance to a supernova explosion. A scientific project for building such a system started in 2020.)

   "45 minutes," she promptly answers.

   "Alright, hold on until I tell you. Adam, I'm counting on you to help me with this." We take our previous positions on both sides of the hologram projection, which is still showing the nest-like figure. "Aurora, remove the current model. We have roughly an hour to find out if they are trying to communicate or not. If we don't discover a comprehensible pattern, I am charging the beam."

   "Let's roll up our sleeves," Adam nods with determination. "You said the spheres came in two waves. The first group showed up after our eventful evening in the bath, didn't they? And the second one was here after the first time we... I mean... today. Aurora, can you color the two groups differently? Let's say... um... yesterday's arrivals in yellow and today's in green. Whoa! Do you see it, Haru? The gaps you noticed. They separate newcomers from those who have been here before."

   "Wait," I squeal. "Doesn't ring a bell yet, but... What if it's not a geometric figure? Maybe, they are using simple algebra. If you want to communicate with someone who is completely different from you, culturally and in every other way, and there is no common language, you'd try a simple message, perhaps a gesture. You would point, nod, cast a glance, show with your fingers and search for something the other party would know and comprehend too. Occam's razor.* We'll also keep it simple this time. Give me a mathematical model, girl. It must be the numbers of the spacecrafts in each group. You have positive quantities 'a' and 'b'. What we need is the easiest equation. How about the decimal ratio between the larger and smaller value?"

(*Occam's razor - a logical, problem-solving and philosophical principle, stating that the simplest explanation, which does not require many variables and is easy to test, is usually the best one. Overcomplication does not help to get to the truth. It is attributed to William of Ockham, English philosopher and theologian from 14th century.)

   "Yes, captain. Piece of cake," my ship giggles. "I don't even have to calculate. It's 1.618033988749894..."

   "Enough," I frown. "It's a damn long, random, irrational number. I can't relate it to anything familiar. If we have to start all over again..."

   "Oh, my God!" Adam suddenly screams. "I know what it is and I am not joking this time. Come on, Haru! Remember your history lessons. Euclid, Fibonacci,  Abu Kamil,  Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Kepler and so many more. They were all fascinated by this ordinary number, which is actually so extraordinary and exceptional."

   I am staring at him in confusion when all the hairs on my body prickle. How did I not see it right away? I wipe the sweat from my forehead with a trembling hand, barely breathing. "It is what I think, isn't it? Oh, my dearest God! This is too crazy! How would they know? Is this even possible? Aurora, darling, we won't be needing any weapons. An alien species just said 'Hello!'"

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Photo by Tomwang112 from istockphoto.com

A/N

Hello at the end of Chapter 21.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting the story ❤❤❤

Do you know what the mysterious number means?

What does it have to do with Leonardo da Vinci?

Do you think Haru made the right choice not to use the weapon? 🤔

Share your thoughts, ask questions and criticize and I will be happy to respond.

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Love: Anny