Olga's Star Signal

The night was quiet and bright, and the sky sparkled with thousands of stars. Olga was lying on the cushion of a garden deckchair, looking through a telescope into the cosmic distance. Sitting next to her was Maks, her best friend and specialist in inventing impossible theories. - Do you see that twinkling star over there? - Olga whispered. - Maybe it's not a star, but a flying ship! Maks smiled broadly. - Or a secret interplanetary base! Imagine if we picked up a signal from another galaxy. At that moment, a quiet crackle sounded in their headphones. Olga looked at the monitor connected to the telescope. Strange characters appeared on the screen - as if someone was trying to write something in an unknown language. - Look! - exclaimed Olga, not hiding her excitement. - I think it's a ... message! They began to transcribe the signs into a notebook. Each of them looked different; some resembled stars, some resembled planets, and some resembled something completely unlike anything on Earth. - 'Do you think it's an alien alphabet? - Maks asked, raising his eyebrows and staring at the drawings. - Maybe. 'Or a riddle for us to solve,' replied Olga, trying to match the signs to the symbols they knew. Suddenly, the monitor flashed blue and a single sound came from the speaker - clear and high, like a star singing. After a moment, a new symbol appeared on the screen - a circle in the centre, surrounded by six rays. - 'He's getting bigger,' whispered Maks, 'what does that mean? Olga pressed the zoom button, and at the same moment there was a strange metallic rustling in the courtyard. A cat ran out from behind a bush, hissing nervously, and a bright beam of light cut through the sky, stopping just above their house. They both froze. A shadow appeared on the beam - could it be that something or someone had come to answer their signal....