Chapter 23: Translation

Tom had Mia on-screen over a highly encrypted channel. Everyone stood around the screen.

"So, first of all congratulations on your discovery. Second, thank you for contacting me over an encrypted channel. This is not something we want to broadcast immediately. Believe it or not, the mission planners for this colony actually wrote a 'First Contact Protocol' to follow. However, that assumes we are meeting aliens in person and not just finding artifacts. So, we are pretty much on our own to make this up as we go!" Everyone chuckled at Mia's humor, though they all knew that it was in fact the truth.

"I would like to bring Shamus out here," Daria stated. "He may be a chemist, but he is also an expert in Latin and Greek. He has published several papers about ancient civilizations. I guess that is what can happen when you are a chemistry professor at Notre Dame and a Jesuit priest as well."

Mia said, "I think that is a great idea. We also know he can keep a secret. Maybe I will tell him this is a confession!"

Tom chimed in, "We probably need some additional equipment as well. If indeed there is some kind of 'gift' here left by these aliens, then we need to be able to find it. If it is technology, then again we are going to have to make some decisions about disclosing what we have found."

With a serious look Mia said, "I absolutely agree. I still feel we can trust our own people, but I am not so confident about our colleagues back on Earth. We do not want another battle up here over what might be in that cave."

The four explorers all nodded their heads in affirmation of Mia's statement.

Mia went on, "OK, here is my plan. I will send Shamus first thing in the morning. Houston is aware of your mission. So, I will tell them that you found some possibly unique chemistry and he is needed to study it. I am also going to send day after tomorrow a pair of technicians with ground penetrating radar much stronger than what Herman has. They can help find any hidden spaces. All of this means that, Julie and Ian, you have a critical role. You two need to come up with plausible reasons and data to justify this extra work. This will keep Houston occupied and not asking uncomfortable questions about why we are deploying these people and equipment. Their closer scrutiny lately is driving me a little nuts, but there is little I can do. Mainly we need to keep them occupied with more mundane things. So, Tom you will coordinate and Daria you will work with Shamus when he arrives. Commander out."

Tom turned to the others and said, "We all now know what we are going to be doing. Let's eat some dinner and try to get some rest. Tomorrow promises to be a big day!"

23.2

Tom stood outside of the cave as the copter approached. He mused about how with the 8 rotors the craft resembled the toy drones he and the kids had played with many years ago. Still, it was a very useful craft and this newest version could transport two people almost an unlimited distance if equipped with thorium reactors. Though air transport options were limited here on Mars, it was good that they at least had the option. There were simply times when you needed to get from point A to point B in a hurry.

The craft settled down on its landing legs and the cockpit opened. Out stepped a man who was somewhat taller than Tom and appeared to have a very solid build. He was wearing a surface suit, so Tom could not make out his face. He was carrying a small travel case.

Walking up to Tom, Shamus extended his hand and said, "Shamus Leary at your service."

Taking the man's hand and shaking it Tom replied, "Tom Sloane. Thank you for coming out Father."

Shamus chuckled and said, "Don't feel you need to call me Father Just call me Shamus. I am out here just like everyone else. I was told you need a chemist. If you need a priest, then I am not certain I brought the right equipment!"

"Good enough, Shamus," Tom responded. "I think you may have met my wife Daria already, but I am not sure you have met Ian and Julie our geologists."

"I don't think I have. You would think that in six months I would have met everyone, but I still find I am meeting new people every day! Let's get inside and talk about this job you have for me. I brought two changes of clothing and some additional reagents for chemical analysis."

Tom and Shamus walked into the cave and around the rover and habitat to the main airlock. They cycled in and once inside removed their surface suits. Tom then introduced Shamus to Ian and Julie. Daria brought out some snacks and they all started talking.

Shamus asked, "So what is this unique chemistry you want me to look at?"

Ian said matter-of-factly, "So Mia didn't give you details on this assignment?"

"No she didn't. She just said that I needed to get on a copter with a kit to look at some possibly unique chemicals in this old cave."

Daria jumped into the conversation, "Well, we didn't bring you here to look at chemistry."

Shamus eyes widened and with a puzzled look asked, "So why bring me here? There are plenty of others who could do various jobs here. Why me?

Daria sighed and said in total deadpan, "The following is classified Top Secret. None of this is to go beyond this group in any form except to Commander Ramirez. Understood?

Everyone acknowledged that they understood.

Daria went on, "Shamus, we need your expertise in Latin and Greek. We have found inscriptions which appear to be in those languages deep in the cave. We are the first humans from Earth to come here. Yet we have these inscriptions and we believe they are in Latin, Greek, and other languages. It is not much of a stretch to think that the inscriptions are alien in origin. There is no other explanation."

Shamus bit a piece off of the meat stick he was eating and thought for a moment as he chewed. He swallowed and barely audibly said, "Wow. That is potentially one of the most significant discoveries of all time!

"Which is precisely why this is all classified Top Secret," Daria deadpanned. Handing Shamus a thin tablet she added, "Here are images of the inscriptions. I think we are looking at Latin, Greek, Chinese, and Mayan."

Shamus zoomed in and began studying the texts very closely. It started 'Ad eos qui legunt hoc salvete. Tertius planeta a te veniet super nos quia in hoc ratio. Ab Andro Cythnum traiecerunt MM sidus gyros abround in hac planeta quartus atque excursum facit ad nos relinquens mundo...' Interesting, Shamus thought. The others sat and more or less stared at him as he read. The silence was deafening.

After about five long minutes Shamus said, "Well, I can say the following: first, it will take me a few hours to have a truly satisfying translation of the Latin and Greek texts. Second, I think that the two likely say the same thing. Third, I would date the word usage to around 1000 AD. So, that means the inscription is somewhere around 1000 years old. The Greek is clearly Byzantine, which is somewhat later than the Biblical or Koine Greek I know best. However, I think I can get a good translation."

Ian asked, "Why don't we just use a program to translate it?"

Shamus replied, "Well, even with all the years of development language translators have their limits. They still tend to be word-for-word translations and not capture subtle meanings. Also, any slang that might be in the phrase is likely not going to be recognized. As a result you may fail to catch the exact meaning. Software is good for a first pass, but you still need a person to interpret the meaning. That is why you see speeches at the United Nations today using such stilted language. The speeches are all written so that the software can correctly convey meanings. It is efficient, but you hardly get stirring rhetoric or subtle jabs in speeches anymore. You don't even hear a good joke there anymore."

Julie chimed in, "So what you are saying is that the software is still totally inadequate."

Shamus added, "Not totally. It is fine for material written with machine translation in mind. However, I would not use it to translate works by Faulkner, Solzhenitsyn, or Hesse."

Turning to Tom, Shamus stated, "So what I would like to do is first spend about three hours working on the Latin text. I should have a decent translation by then. After we discuss what is stated in there I want to go and see the actual inscriptions. We can take some samples from the engravings in the rock. This may give us some corroboration on the timeframe of the inscription, assuming that rock here develops a patina as it does on Earth." Then he looked at Ian and Julie, "That is where you two come in. I need to know if patinas develop here and at what rate. I can then analyze the samples we take and hopefully determine age of the inscription."

Julie said, "Ian and I will get right onto it."

Smiling, Shamus turned to Daria, "I am not leaving you out, Daria. I will give you a list of books I need downloaded from the Library. Since I did not know the nature of the mission, I did not bring anything along to support me in translation. Can you do that?"

"That won't be a problem," Daria stated matter-of-factly. "I can access the full library from here as long as I have a strong computer link." Looking at Tom she added, "It will need to be heavily encrypted. Otherwise we risk prying eyes."

"I'll make that happen," Tom said.

"Good. Now if I can have a quiet place to work I will get started," Shamus said.

23.3

At the end of three hours Shamus went to find Daria. The others were outside working on their various tasks. He found her in the rover cataloging images.

Shamus cleared his throat and said, "Daria, I think I have a translation of the Latin text. Thanks again for getting those books for me."

"No problem," she replied.

Sitting down across from her he began, "So here is what we have. I have a translation of the Latin text and looking over the Greek text I am certain it is the same. Therefore, I am going to conclude that the Chinese and Mayan texts are the same as well. Scholars back on Earth could possibly use this as a 'Rosetta Stone' for the Mayan writing."

"That sounds really exciting," Daria exclaimed. There was even a touch of true excitement in her voice. "So, what does it say?"

Shamus showed Daria his tablet and the she looked wondrously at the words in front of her. "First is the more literal translation of the text."

"To those who read this greetings. We assume that you come from the third planet in this system. After spending 2000 rotations around the star on this fourth planet and making excursions to your world we are leaving. Perhaps in a few thousand rotations we will visit again. In that time we pray that you will have learned to work together to create, explore, and do those things which will move you forward as a species. Upon our visits and even occasional attempts to set up a small village we have been amazed at your ability to work collectively to destroy us and each other. We were appalled and still remember those of us who were eaten by you. We are saddened to see budding civilizations crumble under mass brutality. We can only imagine what may happen as you gain technology. Hopefully you will not be the instruments of your own extinction. You have too much potential and could bring so much to a universe that often lacks the art, imagination, and cultural innovations of your species. With some good makeup we are able to walk among you and you could walk among us undetected. We leave you praying that you will overcome what seems to be part of your nature. In order to come to this place we are assuming that you have advanced enough socially that we can reveal some secrets to you. Thus, we leave you gifts and an invitation to come and visit us."

As she looked up Shamus took the tablet and said "So, now here is the translation with more of a feeling of meaning:"

"To those who read this greetings! We assume that you come from Earth. After spending 3500 Earth years here on Mars and making excursions to your world we are leaving. Perhaps in a few thousand years we will visit again. In that time we pray that you will have learned to work together to create, explore, and do those things which will move humanity forward [together]. Upon our visits and even occasional attempts to set up a small village [on Earth] we have been amazed at your ability to work collectively to destroy us and each other. We were appalled and still remember those of us who were eaten by humans. We are saddened to see budding civilizations crumble under mass brutality. We can only imagine what may happen as you gain technology. Hopefully you will not be the instruments of your own extinction. You have too much potential and could bring so much to a universe that often lacks the art, imagination, and cultural innovations of your species. With some good makeup we are able to walk among you and you could walk among us undetected. We leave you praying that you will overcome what seems to be part of your nature. In order to come to this place we are assuming that you have advanced enough socially that we can reveal some secrets to you. Thus, we leave you gifts and an invitation to come and visit us."

"Wow," was all that Daria could say.

Shamus looked at her and almost whispered, "You realize that this means that there is a hidden chamber or some place where the 'gifts' and other information are being stored!"

"Wow," was the only way Daria could think of responding. They were now at a point where they not only had alien inscriptions in hand, but there might be alien technology here as well.