“turned the antenna selection dial, cycling through all eight positions, forward and aft. The tone went away when he limited reception to the aft antenna positions. Came back when he selected the forward positions. UL FWD—upper left forward—strongest of all. Line of sight away from Earth. Receiving from the outer solar system. Jack drew breath to call to the others, get up here, you have to hear this, and then he grew abashed. His cheeks heated. It’s just cosmic noise. Or some clever-clogs hacker pranking the space shuttle. Yet he kept listening,”