At The Pulsar II

Poul Anderson, The Avatar, XXXVII.

After their fourth jump, the Chinook crew sees:

"...a whirling sword of light..." (p. 319), i.e., the pulsar;

a T machine with two satellites, i.e., the shield and a space station;

a stellar background;

no sun.

Both satellites have a motor to counteract perturbation. The station also has a dock for spaceships. Chinook's boat, Williwaw, lands and its crew explores "...on foot and by personal rocket." (p. 324) Joelle the holothete follows events from Chinook. There is an entrance to a tunnel with branching passages. Walls shine in wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared. There are many unopenable doors. Transparent doors or force fields show antechambers to diverse environments. At the center of the station is a kilometer-wide sphere containing displays addressed to species with different sensory organs and world-views. In the most comprehensible display:

atoms, the periodic table and changing quantum states are represented;
the hydrogen-1 nucleus is a unit of mass;
its emission line is a unit of length;
its frequency is an inverse unit of time;
the entire temperature scale from absolute zero to deuterium-forming fusion is divided into twelve to the power of twelve degrees;
when instructions are followed to activate a particular device, Joelle receives and responds to binary digits and recognizable patterns;
the automatic transmitter adapts to her equipment and nervous system;
she learns that there is intelligent life on the pulsar.