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and we're stationary, but it is equally valid to say it's stationary and we're moving. It's remaining fixed, always facing in the same direction, while the direction we're facing constantly changes as we rotate around the Earth's axis.”
    Standing beside him, Cathy looked confused. The scientists, though, looked interested.
    Teller handed Mason the gyroscope, giving the weight inside the gimbal mounts a spin.
    “It's like this, like a gyroscope mounted on gimbals. The law of the conservation of angular momentum keeps the gyroscope always pointing in the same direction. Only with us, instead of the gimbal frame moving, it's the Earth that's moving. As the Earth turns each day, the anomaly remains stationary relative to the stars, always facing the same patch of sky regardless of which way we turn.”
    Mason seemed lost in thought. Teller pointed at the anomaly as he continued.
    “Look at the bowl of earth beneath the concrete slab. It looks and moves like the dish of a radio telescope tracking a single star over the course of a night.
    “We tend to think of ourselves, our home, this road, those buildings, these trees, as fixed in place. We think of them as stationary, but they're not, they're moving, spinning around as the Earth turns each day. New York is constantly changing the direction it faces out into space as the Earth rotates, so the anomaly is compensating and remaining still, stationary, staying fixed on a certain part of the sky, just like a radio telescope would if it were looking at something interesting in the heavens. It's just like our gyroscope.”
    The NASA scientists milling around became very interested in Teller's comments. They were caught off guard by the concept.
    “OK,” said one of the older NASA scientists. “So you're saying the motion of the anomaly is an illusion, that it's not moving, we are. And the apparent motion relative to us simply allows it to keep station with another celestial body?”
    “Yes,” replied Teller, impressed with how quickly he grasped the concept. “Whatever it is facing is at a right-angle to the slab, perpendicular to it.”
    He pointed up into the sky above the slowly moving concrete slab.
    “Up there somewhere,” said Teller somewhat absentmindedly. “I think it's pointing at something outside our solar system.”
    “How do you know this?” asked another of the scientists.
    “Well,” said Teller. “There are reports on the Internet that the anomaly's period of motion is slightly less than a full day, which is what you'd expect from something that is aligning with a point outside our solar system. Ah, and its angle. It tilts down at night, but it doesn't turn completely upside-down.”
    “So what is it facing? What is it pointing at?” asked Mason.
    “It's pointing at home,” said Susan, looking up at all the grown-ups standing around her, keen to be part of the conversation. To her, it clearly seemed like a simple concept.
    “What she means,” said Teller, regretting getting the kids so excited with his pet theories, “is that it is facing the point it came from. I think it's facing Vega.”
    Everyone paused. It felt a little awkward so Teller continued, trying to break the silence.
    “It's a message. It's like a signpost saying, Over here. At least, it seems to be facing the star Vega, it's hard to tell with just a rudimentary sky map and only a vague, approximate notion of its direction. So it's a guess, really.”
    One of the scientists whispered in Mason's ear. Mason said something back to him and he nodded.
    “Vega,” said Mason. “Why Vega? What's so special about Vega?”
    “I don't know,” replied Teller. “It's a pretty ordinary star about 24 light years away from Earth.”
    The scientist beside Mason spoke up.
    “Vega was in that movie about meeting aliens, right? Contact, with Jodie Foster.”
    “Ah, yeah, I guess so,” replied Teller.
    “Don't you find that a little surprising?” added Mason. “That our first contact with