When Lenka and Tymek catch a mysterious message on their old radio telescope, they build their own transmitter and send a reply that leads to something impossible.
Lenka had long ago decided that her older brother Tymek was brilliant in the same way thunderstorms were brilliant: loud, unpredictable, and usually dangerous to be near.
That Friday afternoon, though, even she had to admit he was onto something. They were in the little house outside the city, crouched under the slanted roof of the attic, listening to their father’s old radio telescope crackle and hum beside them.
"Listen," Tymek whispered, leaning closer to the speaker. "That is not static."
Lenka frowned. Normally, that particular humming meant Tymek had knocked a setting out of place again. But this sound was different. Between the bursts of crackle, something pulsed in short, sharp beats.
...---...--...---...
Lenka’s eyes widened. "Morse code."
She yanked a battered Morse code chart from the drawer under the desk and spread it flat between them. Tymek adjusted the dial while Lenka matched the dots and dashes, line by line. The message took shape slowly, and with every word, their excitement began to feel a little less fun and a lot more serious.
COME TO EUROPE.
WE HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU.
Lenka stared at the page. "Europa? You mean Jupiter’s moon?"
Tymek swallowed. "What else would it mean?"
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Outside, the wind brushed the windowpanes. Inside, the old telescope hissed softly as if it had already picked up the next secret and was too impatient to keep it.
"Maybe it’s a prank," Lenka said at last, though her voice was thinner than she wanted.
Tymek shook his head, already reaching for a coil of wire. "No prank sounds that specific."
By the time the sky began to darken, the attic looked like a storm had passed through it. Wires tangled across the desk. A flashlight rolled near Lenka’s foot. Solder smoke hung in the air. Their transmitter was ugly, crooked, and held together with tape, spare parts, and Tymek’s stubborn certainty that impossible things could be built if you tried hard enough.
Lenka typed the reply herself.
WHO ARE YOU?
WHY DO YOU WANT US ON EUROPA?
Then she looked at Tymek, took one breath, and pressed the red transmit button.
At first, nothing happened.
Then the speaker gave a long, low sound, like a whale singing underwater. The attic lights flickered once. Twice.
Something clicked outside the house.
Every bulb in the attic went out at once, and blue light flashed across the windows, cold and bright as ice.
Lenka and Tymek froze.
A soft metallic voice spoke from just beyond the glass.
"Mission contact established," it said. "Are you ready?"
There was a tiny rustle in the garden, as if something had just stepped out of nowhere and was now waiting in the dark.