Binary Cycle - (Part 1: Disruption) Read Online Free Page B

send it soon, as I’ve detected some unusual solar flare activity which will undoubtedly make it impossible to send any signals over the next few days. And I’d like you to help me recalibrate the Tower’s sensors.”
    For a robot who displayed very little emotion, he was a terrible liar. She’d woken up early the day before and completed most of the report before lunchtime so she wouldn’t have to worry about it today on her birthday. Furthermore, she knew full well that MiLO kept the sensors perfectly calibrated and wouldn’t rely on a human’s imprecise adjustments to do such delicate work.
    “Oh, I’ve almost finished my report, and surely you don’t need me to help with the sensors. You’re much more effective that I could ever be. I’m only human,” she teased.
    The communicator went silent a beat. Then, “Nevertheless, I should like to be sure.”
    “All right,” she giggled. MiLO was definitely up to something. “But can I stay up ten more minutes? You should see the colors right now.”
    A pause and then, “Alright, but if you’re going to stay up there, could you please do a manual recalibration test at the base of the Tower? I’ve been receiving a lot of static recently and I’d like to know why.”
    He’s such a workhorse,
she thought.
    “Of course, I’d be happy to. But you know that’ll take me more than ten minutes.”
    “Take your time, but come back as soon as you’re finished…”
    She smiled and said, “Yes, MiLO dear,” then swiped a finger over her wristband, closing the connection. Robots just didn’t understand the human desire to be
outside
: to feel the sun, to relax against a gentle breeze, to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
    Ignorance is bliss,
she supposed
.
    Her bare feet sunk into the mossy ground as she jogged over to the base of the Tower. Whenever she got this close, she was amazed at how remarkably tall it was—easily taller than any of the redwoods. She reached its glossy white exterior and found the maintenance hatch on its northern side. Popping it open, she keyed in her password—
Juliet—
and accessed the calibration sub-routine from the program’s archaic interface. On a pad of paper—still her favorite method of writing despite its inefficiency—she began to jot down the readings.
    With her mother gone, it was up to her and MiLO to maintain the tower and monitor any signals it might pick up.
Not that it ever received any.
    Twice a week, the Tower blasted information packets into space via a powerful laser beam. They sent the signals away from Taran, in many directions, one of which was the coordinates of Earth, more than four light-years away. The message was simple:
Humanity has arrived. We are safe, and we are thriving
. It proclaimed that here, at these coordinates, was Taran, the fifth planet of the binary star system Rigil Kentaurus, of the constellation Centaur. This corespondance alone was sufficient to tell anyone receiving the signal back on Earth that this was a planet suitable for human existence. Here they would find fellow Earthlings, the settlers of Taran.
    But Taran was more than just a human colony; it was the
only
human colony. Since arriving two hundred years ago, not a single signal had been received from Earth. It was as if everyone had simply vanished, or for reasons unknown were unable to broadcast or respond to the light speed messages sent from Taran. The original Signal tower had been designed and built on Earth, as a long range transmitter/receiver, with an exact replica built by the settlers when they arrived on Taran. The idea was that the settlers would be able to communicate with those left behind on Earth, so they could coordinate more transport ships to make the journey, letting them know the planetary conditions and whether or not they were able to accept more ships. However, no signals had been received, and certainly no additional ships had arrived.
    In addition to weather logs, atmospheric composition readings,