First Contact

From Introduction: The signal arrived and shook the world. Proof of extraterrestrial intelligence! It was a simple code, easily deciphered and translated. WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND CONGRATULATE YOU. MEET US at PARADISE. This was followed by coordinates to a previously unknown iceball of a world in the backwaters of the Solar System. Now the Interplanetary Exploration Vehicle Carl Sagan is making its final approach to a distant planetoid named Paradise. The Sagan’s main computer, the hyperintelligent nervous system for the mission, has been making mistakes lately. After the boredom and repetition of a long journey, and turning over in their minds the endless possibilities of what they might soon discover, some of the crew are about to crack. It’s the most important day in history. Humankind balances on the edge of cosmic enlightenment and oblivion.