On a routine survey mission studying a neutron star, an Academy starship receives a transmission in an unknown language. Before leaving the area, the starship launches a series of satellites to find the signal--and perhaps discover its origins.
Five years later, a satellite finally encounters the signal--which is believed to be of extraterrestrial origin by the Contact Society, a wealthy group of enthusiasts who fund research into the existence of alien life. Providing a starship to the Academy to be piloted by Captain Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, the Contact Society embarks on a mission to find the source of the transmission.
Across a myriad of stars, from world to world, Hutch and her crew follow the signal, but find only puzzles and lethal surprises.
Then, in a planetary system far beyond the bounds of previous exploration, they discover an object. It is immense, ominous, and mysterious. And it may hold the answer not only to the questions of the Contact Society, but to those of every person who has ever looked to the sky and wondered if we were alone...
Five years later, a satellite finally encounters the signal--which is believed to be of extraterrestrial origin by the Contact Society, a wealthy group of enthusiasts who fund research into the existence of alien life. Providing a starship to the Academy to be piloted by Captain Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, the Contact Society embarks on a mission to find the source of the transmission.
Across a myriad of stars, from world to world, Hutch and her crew follow the signal, but find only puzzles and lethal surprises.
Then, in a planetary system far beyond the bounds of previous exploration, they discover an object. It is immense, ominous, and mysterious. And it may hold the answer not only to the questions of the Contact Society, but to those of every person who has ever looked to the sky and wondered if we were alone...
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Publisher:
c2002.
ISBN:
0441011020
Branch Call Number:
FIC McDev
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Add a CommentChindi --- by Jack mcDevitt ---
There’s more than a whiff oif Robert Heinlein about this book. Just the boys and girls (well, not literally) of the Contact Society on a good jolly romp across Space in persuit of Aliens. We go looking for aliens, but it seems to be our own face looking back at us. The thing us, look as much as we may, we n ever actually find these aliens. Well, not really. McDevitt has certainly put together a super novel. An adventure story, really, with a ton of suspense. This is Science Fiction in the best tradition of the old masters of the craft. This is the stuff of which a good flic could be made. A fantastic book.