Minutes passed and still he did not notice, because a report he was preparing had preoccupied him with a vague sense of superstitious dread. He tried to bury his disquiet by isolating the station’s telescopes from the computer net, just as a precaution, while there was still plenty of time to imagine low-probability events and guard against them.

“Plenty of time,” he assured himself, muttering under his breath. “Plenty of time.”

CONFIDENTIAL FROM ED BISHOP
TO CMDRS. ISAK BILENKIN AND TERESA SARGENTI

RESTRICTED: NEED TO KNOW STATUS ONLY
MESSAGE FOLLOWS:

AS REQUESTED, I HAVE COMPLETED MY SEARCH OF THE OLD VALKYRIE COMMUNICATIONS FILES. THE SCIENTIST IN CHARGE OF NASA'S SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE (HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS "SETI") DURING THE VALKYRIE BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS WAS DR. J. TARTER. I HA VE EXCERPTED CERTAIN OF HER COMMUNICATIONS WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OUR PRESENT SITUATION. I SHOULD POINT OUT THAT SOME OF THE THEORIES HEREIN, THOUGH HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL AT THE TIME (EVEN PATHOLOGICAL, ACCORDING TO CERTAIN PRESS REPORTS), NEVERTHELESS DID COMPEL DR. TARTER TO DISCONNECT THE ARECIBO AND BET A RECEIVERS FROM ALL OTHER COMPUTERS, AND FROM ALL PHONE LINES. I SUSPECT THIS ALSO EXPLAINS WHY CONGRESS ENDED DR. TARTER'S FUNDING IN 1993 AND ATTEMPTED TO SHEL VE PROJECT SETI ALTOGETHER. THIS CAUSED A TRAGIC DELAY. IF WE HAD KNOWN MORE ABOUT OUR OWN STELLAR NEIGHBORHOOD SOONER, WE MIGHT HA VE GUESSED THAT WE WERE LIKELY TO BE INVADED, AND WE MIGHT EVEN HAVE GUESSED IN TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

END MESSAGE

EXCERPTS FOLLOW:

FROM JILL TARTER, NASA/SETI
TO JAMES POWELL AND RICHARD TUNA,
CARE OF BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY
JUNE 5, 1986

OUR LAST HILTON MEETING ON INTERSTELLAR TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION WAS A REAL EYE OPENER FOR ME. UNTIL FINALLY HAVING THE CHANCE TO SIT DOWN AND TALK WITH YOU FACE-TO- FACE, I NEVER REALLY BELIEVED THAT THE GALAXY MIGHT BE A CHESSBOARD, WITH AN UNSEEN PLAYER AT THE OTHER END AND THAT WHETHER OR NOT WE CHOOSE TO PLAY WE MAY FACE JUDGMENT ON OUR MASTERY OF THE GAME—IN WHICH CASE WE MAY BE ELIMINATED AT ANY MOMENT.

ISAAC ASIMOV TELLS ME THAT HE OFTEN WONDERS ABOUT THIS, AS OUR SEARCH FOR INTELLIGENT SIGNALS FROM THE STARS WIDENS AND SHOWS THE GALAXY TO BE DEATHLY QUIET. HE POINTS OUT THAT THE SURVIVAL VALUE OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE HAS NEVER BEEN PROVED AND MAY IN FACT BE MORE OF A LIABILITY THAN AN ASSET, AS COMPARED AGAINST SUCH DEVELOPMENTS AS ENDOTHERMY AND BROADRANGING DIETARY HABITS. ONCE A SPECIES REACHES A CERTAIN LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE, IT HAS A SURVIVAL ADVANTAGE UNTIL SUCH POINT THAT IT DEVELOPS SUFFICIENT POWER TO DESTROY ITSELF AND EVERYTHING AROUND IT: AND IT MAY BE, THEN, THAT IT ALWAYS DOES. THE UNIVERSE MAY BE FULL OF PLANETS ON WHICH HIGH INTELLIGENCE AT THE HIGH-TECHNOLOGY LEVEL HAS NOT YET DEVELOPED, AND ALSO FULL OF PLANETS BEARING THE RUINS OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY CIVILIZATIONS THAT NO LONGER EXIST.

OF COURSE, ISAAC JOKES, FOR ALL WE KNOW, LITTLE STARSHIPS MIGHT BE CRISSCROSSING THE GALAXY, WITH NOT A SINGLE ONE HAVING REACHED US OR SENT A RADIO MESSAGE IN OUR DIRECTION—EITHER THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCE OR BECAUSE THEY’VE WARNED ONE ANOTHER TO “STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!”