The Infinity Link

The Infinity Link is Jeffrey A. Carver's 1984 first-contact hard SF novel, in which a NASA radio-astronomer technician named Mozelle Moi finds herself in undeclared dialogue with an alien intelligence broadcasting on a frequency that only her implant can decode. The novel runs on two parallel tracks: Mozelle's growing relationship with the entity, and the federal investigators trying to figure out who at NASA is leaking classified signals.

Carver writes the procedural texture with real care. The NASA-era 1980s aerospace material is well-sourced; the implant technology is presented with the kind of rigorous extrapolation that 1980s hard SF made its signature. The relationship plot (Mozelle and her boss Bill, the implant interactions) is more interior than the first-contact plot, which is unusual for the era and one of the book's quieter pleasures.

Recommended for fans of 1980s hard SF first-contact novels (Carl Sagan's Contact, James Gunn's The Listeners), and for readers looking for books like The Infinity Link in the procedural-first-contact tradition. Four stars and a strong entry into Carver's catalog.