“WE’RE CONFRONTING A TECHNOLOGY THAT’S UNPRECEDENTED IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY. A TECHNOLOGY WE’VE ONLY EVER DREAMED OF...”

perhaps be useful to determine their axis of symmetry? Maybe if we were to extend the lines of the three axes, they would meet at one point? How about measuring the edge lengths? Which unit would I use?

My eyes swept over the stones in alarm.

Then the fourth lot appeared, forming a pentagon. But not all the sides were equal; it seemed only four of them were. I felt as if an idea was hatching.

Zhao Gang let out a snigger, snatched the transmitter, and positioned it among the fourth set of stones.

So that was it! And like that, it all fell into place.

The transmitter and the five other stones now composed a regular hexagon.

As if in reward for a correct answer, the four groups of stones flashed several times, then all simultaneously blinked out of existence.

I looked at Zhao Gang in delight. I was at a complete loss. My mouth wore a stupid grin. It was all I could do to go on repeating:

“What splendid geometry, what splendid geometry...”

I put an arm around him, saying: “Exquisite work, buddy!”

“Huh?”

He hadn’t understood. I couldn’t furnish a ready explanation myself, so I hurried off to inform Base Control. This was a potentially explosive development.

The line wouldn’t connect. I checked over the link again. Rebooted the device. It was no use.

I gazed out the window at the slice of dusk.

Then I approached the window. The outside world was completely detached from reality, as if covered

by a gray gauze. It was daytime on Mars. Those rocks and hillsides ought to have been oxide red, but instead they stood there, gray.

Zhao Gang came over. He craned his neck to look out.

I walked back over to the bed by myself and sat down.

Evidently what we had witnessed was no mere natural phenomenon, but a deliberate action taken with clear purpose and meaning. Our counterparts had employed the universality of geometry as a simple means by which to establish contact, hoping to communicate. I realized now, truth be told, that they had been attempting to communicate with us all along. But previously their stones had all been carted off by researchers, until I’d had the funny idea of taking them and putting them back...

This intelligent species boasted the ability to teleport certain objects. If humanity could only grasp how...

Now the question was, what was their next move? That our communications were on the fritz surely had something to do with the strange phenomenon on the Martian surface, but what did it all mean? I thought of the aliens in science fiction stories, plotlines of

as new, as if fresh from the factory. They were even clear of Martian dust. I imagined the hands of that strange race that had wiped them down and pondered their purpose.

I surveyed the scene on all sides. The striking mountain ranges and the gravel. Perhaps those mysterious intelligent beings were hiding there now, carefully noting our every movement.

“Zhao Gang!” I cried out.

“Relax, it’s all been recorded,” he answered from behind me. Say what you like about him, he was still the partner that understood me best.

Suddenly, a rock appeared in front of every rover. They were visible for a few seconds, then vanished, then were visible again in slightly altered positions.

I took a few steps back. Resembling determined insects, these rocks made their way toward the entrance of the observation station. I felt threatened. I retreated to the entrance, watching the stones as they slowly pressed on.

“Are they hoping to start the Star Wars?” Zhao Gang asked.

I was thoroughly unnerved, so much so I didn’t have it in me to smile.

The stones stopped two meters in front of me and gathered together.

They then resumed their individual starting positions and once again started coming toward us.

After they repeated this twice, they stopped. They flashed in place a few times, then disappeared. They didn’t appear again.

“Done?” Zhao Gang ventured after 10 minutes.

I declined to comment, instead walking over to the closest rover.

I had only taken a few steps when a low rumble spread through the surrounding mountain ranges—the gravel, dust, sky...it all changed.

Someone was fiddling with the hue and saturation settings of the universe. Red. Pale blue. From a muddled and drab gray, the world familiar to me gradually surged forth again.

We rounded back on the observation station, our communicator already buzzing. We debriefed Base Control on everything that had happened. After that, we sat by the window and looked out at those ancient rovers that had met with a mysterious intelligent species, until we heard the droning of a human spaceship approaching.

I basically agree with the conclusion of the scientists that have undertaken every type of imaginable analysis of the matter: “This is the Martians’ warning to humanity.”

Consider a moment, that you had spent a good long while happy in your house. Then people tossed a stone in from outside, then another. And afterward, they even forced their way into your home: turning over everything, ripping up the floor, tossing rubbish everywhere, and so forth. What would you do about it? As a matter of fact, the Martians had been polite enough.

They’d taken it upon themselves to tidy up these bits and pieces and lay them out for us—ready for us to remove.

However, every time I look up at the night sky at that impetuous god of war, Mars, I think: If the day comes when we finally meet with them, what would happen? They could teach us how to teleport, but what could we offer up in exchange? Perhaps we could teach them to play Go?