Contact: A Novel

The chapter begins with a quote from Cecil Rhodes, who laments that the Earth has been largely conquered and then looks to the untouched stars.

During the World Message Consortium in Paris, Ellie and Vaygay Lunacharsky discuss the fact that the Message contains blueprints for a machine of unknown purpose. They ponder the political risks involved in building this machine. At the Elysée Palace, they present their data to the delegates, and David Drumlin reveals that the Message also contains blueprints for entirely new industries that must be developed before the Machine can be completed.

A Soviet delegate warns that the Machine could be a Trojan Horse that would allow the aliens to attack Earth. He urges them to destroy the data rather than risk building the Machine. Devi Sukhavati, an Indian biologist, counters that such an advanced civilization would not need to resort to deception if it wanted to destroy humanity. Ellie points out that the diagrams show five chairs designed for human occupants; in her view, the Machine is meant to be a transport. Xi Qiaomu, a Chinese delegate, calls the project an invitation and says that to “decline” would be the height of rudeness. He proposes building the Machine in an isolated location to mitigate the potential risks.

In this chapter’s introductory quote, Vincent Van Gogh speaks of gazing at the stars and dreaming.

Because an increasingly harried and distant Ken cancels a date with Ellie at the last minute, she arranges to tour Paris together with Devi Sukhavati, who discusses various cultural interpretations of Vega and shares her own personal history, admitting that she was disowned by her upper-caste family for marrying a lower-caste man who then died within a year of their marriage.

At a US delegation meeting, Michael Kitz outlines the strategy to build the Machine and outlines the possibility of using the information involved to gain an edge over the Soviets. The delegation begins weighing the issue of crew selection. Later, Ellie meets with Vaygay, who fears that a superior intelligence could easily humiliate humanity. They part without resolving the ethical dilemmas involved in building the Machine.

This chapter begins with a line from St. Augustine’s Confessions (400 CE): “With the basest of companions, I walked the streets of Babylon” (181).

At Project Argus, the team confirms that the Message is now finally repeating itself. However, the primer that the scientists hoped to find at the beginning of the message is simply not there, and they are at a loss as to how to decode the message and unlock the full meaning of the diagrams. Frustrated by this setback, Ellie seeks out the eccentric billionaire industrialist, S. R. Hadden, for advice, as his area of expertise is in developing advanced technologies. She meets him in a penthouse at his lavish New York amusement park, Babylon. Hadden suggests that the primer may be hidden in the signal’s phase modulation. He then reveals his own ambition to build the Machine. When Ellie leaves, she is wary of Hadden but resolves to pursue his technical lead.

In the opening quote, George Santayana compares skepticism to chastity, claiming that it is best not to give up one’s skepticism too early.

Following Hadden’s hint, the team uses phase modulation and finds the primer interspersed throughout the Message. Ken briefs the president on the decoded Message, revealing that it contains an extremely detailed engineering curriculum for how to build the Machine. The American crew selection committee narrows its candidates down to either Ellie or Drumlin, and both are put through a rigorous process of questioning. Although the president admires Ellie’s accomplishments, she nonetheless considers Ellie to be too volatile and favors Drumlin.

Later, in response to a note that Palmer Joss has left at her hotel, Ellie meets the religious leader at a museum, where they engage in a congenial debate about faith and scientific certainty. Joss recounts his near-death experience with a lightning strike, which he interprets as a face-to-face encounter with God. As they talk, Ellie is paged with the crew selection decision.

The opening quote features poet Walt Whitman’s contemplations on the constellations.

Over the next several years, the world’s nations work together to construct twin Machines in Wyoming and Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, a barrage of new religious splinter groups arises, inspired by varying interpretations of the Message. Some are benign, and others are highly volatile and dangerous.

During a test of the partially assembled Machine in Wyoming, Ellie, Drumlin, and others discuss the implications of the project. As they move to view the latest tests, a bomb suddenly detonates, destroying much of the constructed Machine. Drumlin pushes Ellie to safety at the last moment but dies in the explosion.

Later, Ellie reflects with deep shame on the fact that her first reaction upon seeing Drumlin’s corpse was to reflexively think that his death has cleared a path for her to be one of the five to travel in the Machine. Investigators confirm that the explosion is the result of deliberate sabotage. Although many different groups claim responsibility, no definite perpetrators are identified, and the American project is halted. Guilt-ridden over her survival and her initially self-serving thoughts, Ellie attends Drumlin’s funeral but refuses to give an oration. As time goes on, she isolates herself.

In the opening quote, William James observes, “The God whom science recognizes must be a God of universal laws exclusively” (239).

Months after the tragedy of the explosion, Hadden invites Ellie to his private space station, Methuselah. The narrative explains that space tourism has become wildly popular among those who can afford it. Some elites subscribe to scientific studies suggesting that a zero-g environment can prolong life, and a rarified few—Hadden among them—have decided to live their lives entirely in space.

The view of Earth from orbit gives Ellie a sense of planetary unity. Hadden reveals that he and his partner, Yamagishi, have secretly built the components needed for a third Machine; these components are being stored in Hokkaido, Japan. Hadden proposes assembling a third Machine there and informs Ellie that he has the pull to ensure that she will be the US crew member. He advises her that any immortal beings she meets across the stars will be extremely cautious because they take a long view of existence. Ellie privately resolves to accept Hadden’s offer.

In the opening quote, Gustave Flaubert compares human speech to “a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to” (254). In the second quote, Cicero, a famed ancient Roman orator, opines that humanity has a conception of the divine because “nature herself” has willed it to be so.

Before her departure for Hokkaido, Ellie learns that her mother has had a severe stroke. Feeling guilt-ridden over her lack of communication with her mother ever since the Message was discovered, she visits her mother and finds her largely unresponsive. Even so, Ellie does her best to reconcile with her mother and is heartened when the nearly immobile woman squeezes her hand in response.

In Japan, the five crew members assemble. In addition to Ellie, the team will include Vaygay Lunacharsky, Devi Sukhavati, Xi Qiaomu, and Nigerian Nobel laureate Abonnema Eda. At a dinner, a Zen master tells a story illustrating that the only way to understand an alien being is to become it. As the crew discusses the journey’s stakes, they all forge stronger bonds with one another.

The opening quote features a haiku about the Milky Way, written by Matsuo Basho.

Construction of the Hokkaido Machine is completed during the Tanabata Festival, and Ellie is amused to realize that the traditional festival is dedicated to celebrating Vega. Later, she receives an anonymous gift of an engraved gold medallion; the narrative obliquely implies that it is from Palmer Joss. On the day that the Machine is to be activated, the team members (collectively known as “the Five”) enter the dodecahedral passenger pod. Strict mass limits permit them very little in the way of supplies or personal items. Ellie elects to bring only a palm frond, in honor of her home planet. As the Machine is activated, the walls suddenly turn transparent, and Ellie feels the ground drop away as the transit begins.