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harmonic analysis with periods of seconds. Again the computer complained.
    WARNING!
    SPECTRAL ANALYSIS SCALE INCOMPATIBLE WITH DATA DIGITALIZATION RATE.
    PLEASE CONFIRM COMMAND.
    There was no hesitation this time: Jacqueline had hit the confirm key long before the computer had printed its objections. The spectral analysis plot flashed on the screen. There was a large spike around one Hertz that represented the one per second data digitalization rate, but at 0.005 Hertz there was a strong spike, indicating a periodic fluctuation with a 200-second period. However, the 200-second variation could have been caused by a beating between the one Hertz data sampling rate of the spacecraft and some high frequency oscillation that was close to some harmonic of the sampling rate. Jacqueline felt from the behavior of the data that a high frequency variation was causing the scruff, but it would be hard to prove it with the spacecraft sampling rate set at one sample per second.
    Jacqueline, her enthusiasm finally exhausted by confusion and sleepiness, dropped the hardcopy printouts of the data into Professor Sawlinski’s mailbox and went off to bed. She again had a dream about flying above the Solar System, only this time she was whirling around rapidly. She awoke feeling dizzy, then went back to sleep to dream ordinary, quickly forgotten dreams.
    After awakening the next day, Jacqueline went by Professor Sawlinski’s office. His door was open, and her data sheets were spread out on his desk. He was talking with Professor Cologne, the astrophysicist.
    “This high frequency scruff is definitely not random noise, for there is evidence of a strong periodicity of 199 milliseconds, or a little over five cycles per second. The beating between the 199-millisecond pulsations and the one-Hertz data sampling rate gives it the 200-second beat pattern. However, it is not a 200-second fluctuation because the engineering interruptions in the science data are not exactly an even number of seconds long, and the 200-second beat starts with a new phase after each engineering readout. If you take enough data, and do an analysis of it, you find the 199-millisecond periodicity.”
    As he spoke, Professor Sawlinski held up Jacqueline’s printout. Professor Cologne studied it briefly, then returned it with the comment, “It has all the earmarks of a pulsar, but there just isn’t any known pulsar of that frequency. I would suspect the spacecraft somehow has found a way to become a low frequency radio oscillator.”
    Professor Sawlinski saw her standing in the door. “Ah, Jacqueline, come in. I was just showing Professor Cologne our latest data. I have decided that we ought to arrange to have the data digitalization rate increased to at least ten times per second, so we can obtain a better idea of the time varying nature of these pulsations.”
    “But the cost …” Jacqueline interjected.
    “Yes, it will cost some money, but by the time the computer billing gets to us, we will be well into the new planning year,” he replied. “Could you visit the JPL people and arrange for the change?”
    “
Nom de Dieu
!” muttered Jacqueline under herbreath. “First, not enough money, and now plenty of money.”
    Aloud, she replied, “Yes, Professor Sawlinski. Do you also want to try reading out the antennas sequentially?”
    “Nyet!”
he replied brusquely. “How many times must I remind you, only change one parameter at a time in an experiment!”
    “Yes, Professor,” she said, and practically bowed her way out of the office.
    Once in the hall, she found herself automatically heading down the stairs to the computer room. She stopped and started to turn back to go to JPL, but then she decided to spend a little more time learning how the spacecraft command system operated. She felt that perhaps she could not only satisfy Professor Sawlinski, but also her own curiosity.
    After a few hours spent browsing through the engineering handbooks, she smiled and headed