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said. “ET learned we are here. He told us he is there. What is the added benefit of exchanging postcards?”
    Satterswaithe stiffened in her chair. “I feel that acknowledgment is the least we can do, Madam Ambassador. ET has given us an enormous gift. Thanks to his message, we finally know that humans are not the only intelligent beings in the universe. I also believe it is in our self interest to maintain and enhance the dialogue. We have so much to learn from each other.”
    “Surely the least we can do is nothing,” Charise said. Behind discreetly positioned hands, several ambassadors may have smiled. “Doctor, we can discuss interstellar etiquette on another occasion. I would rather you expand on your second point. I am struck not by how much we can learn but by how little. And at the cost. The task force has diverted many of the world’s preeminent scientists to the rediscovery of arithmetic.”
    Satterswaithe frowned, but thought better of saying—something.
    Ticked off by a lack of Commonwealth solidarity? Too bad, Charise thought. Belize is independent , Doctor.
    “Madam Ambassador,” Satterswaithe finally said, “I believe that characterization gives insufficient credit to our accomplishments. The task force has made great progress in building a common vocabulary.”
    “What indication has ET given of having anything to say?”
    “We haven’t finished reading his message.”
    “That is to say, none.” Charise smiled humorlessly. “And what conclusions has the Reply committee reached on an answer from Earth? I believe the answer there to be the same.”
    Satterswaithe squared her shoulders. “Again, I could refer to interim progress. Surely it is not unreasonable to take some time in deciding how to respond to a whole new civilization.”
    “Tell me about that civilization,” Charise demanded. “What do they look like? Do they breathe oxygen? Are they ruled by a parliament or a potentate?”
    “The part of the message we have decoded to this point does not address cultural and biological matters.”
    Charise checked her notes. “Can you say what planet of their sun they live on?”
    “No, Ambassador.”
    The steerers looked down at their table or around the room or at one another, everywhere but at the ambassadors. Dean Matthews, in the visitors’ gallery, was seething. Say one word, Charise thought, and I’ll have you expelled. “In fact, Dr. Satterswaithe, ET’s signal intentionally disguises all evidence of the planet he is from.”
    “Respectfully, Madam Ambassador, I believe that to be a mischaracterization of ET’s signal maintaining a constant frequency.” Satterswaithe’s posture bordered on dis respect.
    “That is your interpretation, Doctor. I’ll ask that you stick to facts. ET has not indicated what planet he is from, although he has shown he knows we are on Earth. Is that correct?”
    “Not in what has been decoded so far,” Satterswaithe said stubbornly.
    Charise looked one by one to her colleagues. “We staffed the Reply committee with veteran diplomats. It is no surprise to me that they have been unable to draft a response. How could they reply to an alien race that has offered absolutely no information about itself?”
    ■□■
    If Bridget had seemed angry by the end of her exchange with Ambassador Ganes, Dean was furious. The questions had all been variations of, “do you still beat your spouse?” Any direct answer was either an admission or an apparent evasion.
    Bridget had, quite properly, pointed out that ET’s message was only partially analyzed. That worked fine once or twice. After that, it came across as an excuse and a stall.
    Dean had to give her credit for maintaining her composure. Perhaps there was no politic way to tell an ambassador that she was full of crap. Antinov’s performance yesterday had been one of a kind, and only his unique career allowed him to pull it off.
    While Dean fumed, Roderigo called a recess. The ambassadors congregated at