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afraid one gee feels quite a strain after the moon's gentle pull." 
    There were no objections so he continued.  "You suggest that perhaps I wasn't as taken aback as everyone else, but let me assure you I was quite dumbfounded.  At first I was convinced that the signal was a hoax, but when our own telescope confirmed it I was stunned.  Although we appear to have very little to go on as yet, in fact we already know quite a lot, and it is appropriate that we should consider the implications of our knowledge without delay.  We know that the signals are from Procyon, or Alpha Canis Minoris to give the star its full name, and this star is over eleven light years away from the solar system.  The message is in our primary language, English, so the aliens have detected our own radio signals, have realised that they are the product of intelligence, have decoded them and understood the meaning of them." 
    He paused.  He had the complete attention of his audience.  This was rather a daunting situation, his opinion would carry much weight with this small but influential group, and the recommendations of the group would strongly influence world reaction.  He knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and hoped desperately that he could find the words to do it justice.  Best to work up from a solid foundation of fact, to show hopefully that he knew what he was talking about, to stay calm and not push too hard.  Clear thinking was not too easy after a journey of almost half a million kilometres and a six-fold increase in gravity, but he would do his best.
    "Now we know that the ionosphere reflects all but high frequency radio signals," he continued, "but there are plenty of them and they are the signals that our friends have received.  Also, to receive them at over eleven light years distant, when the transmissions were not specifically beamed at Procyon, and to pick them out from the background noise of the sun signifies a high order of detector sensitivity and resolution.  The more significant feat in my opinion is the decoding of our audio and probably also video signals and the understanding of our language.  We cannot understand the languages of our own marine mammals yet we share the same planet and the same evolutionary roots as them.  So how have the aliens understood us?  There are many, myself amongst them, who would have claimed that such a degree of understanding between species of unconnected evolutionary backgrou nd was impossible with only one- way communication. We were wrong."
    So far so good; n o yawning yet, he was still in control.
    "There is no doubt in my mind that these beings have shown themselves to be our technological superiors.  They have been monitoring our signals for at least eleven years and probably very much longer so they must know all about us.  They know our ethical standards, our behaviour towards each other and to animals, our aggressions and passions.  And knowing all this they have decided to make themselves known to us.  We must be very careful indeed.  On no account should we show any sign of mistrust, or of hostility towards these people.  We have before us at least two possible futures.  One in which we learn rapidly the secrets of science and technology, in which we learn to live with each other in harmony, and find the way to a happier existence beyond our wildest dreams.  Or one in which we show ourselves to be dangerous, an aggressive, insecure, and unpredictable animal who is developing rapidly in technological sophistication, and who might very soon present very real dangers to our stellar neighbours."
    He leaned forward and looked earnestly into the faces of his audience.
    "And sensible people deal very firmly with dangerous animals."
    He had made his point.  He could say more but now was not the time.  He had shown them heaven and hell and they clearly understood the possibilities.  Any further elaboration could be left until later, now it would only