SETI

The historic pulses travelled long long distances. Neatly encrypted data tumbled across the vast expanses of space. A gentle burst from a distant civilization nudged its way towards the galaxy. A friendly call just to say--hi, we are here, where are you?

After centuries of relentless journey, the signal finally reached the third planet from the Sun. To the quiet blue marble with the white swirling wisps of clouds.

Nothing happened.

The humans on Earth had set up massive receivers to capture such messages. Colossal arrays of radio telescopes waited to catch these exciting dispatches, but the Earth dwellers were not listening.

They were busy generating tiny energy packets for their own basic needs, and they had no electricity to power those giant receivers.

THE END

Bio: Dr. Meghashri Dalvi consults in Technical Communication when she is not writing science fiction or teaching Management. Her stories have appeared in Aphelion, Ascent Aspirations, Anotherealm, Quantum Muse, and Flash Fiction Press.

E-mail: Meghashri Dalvi

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