“Liz, you know my feelings about this. Radio astronomy is not disconnected from the problems of war and peace on Earth. It may, indeed, be intimately involved in the solution.”

The sophont had no nose, but he did have a name. If one started there and kept listing his attributes one would find him quite a bit more human than not. The things his species had in common with the dominant race of Earth would have surprised them both almost as much as the differences, but the most important of each has already been mentioned.

He had no nose. His name was Fetham.

“No!” he cried out in the language of confrontation. He pounded a four-fingered fist on his desktop. “Are you mad? Mad! What do you mean, the funds are needed elsewhere? The legislature agreed by almost unanimous vote. Full, permanent, emergency funding!”

The smaller being with no nose was named Gathu. He held up his hand in a newly discovered version of the Gesture of Placation directed at the Optic Nerve.

“Please, Academician! Please remember that those votes were taken years ago. There is a new Assembly now. And since the public health situation has deteriorated…”

“The problem I am trying to solve!”

“…it has fallen on the leadership to seek out new sources of finance for medical research. Surely you know that we applaud your efforts. But it seemed more and more a shot in the dark.”

Fetham’s prehensile ears waved in agitation.

“Of course it’s a shot in the dark! But isn’t it worth it? There may be a race out there that has been through what we now face. With the entire world threatened, our very survival in question, shouldn’t we make an effort to contact them?”

The government representative nodded. “But you have another two years in your appropriation, have you not? And by husbanding your funds you might make them last longer.”

“Idiots!” Fetham hissed. “Why, the first beamed message will reach my first target star only this year! It will take more years for their reply to reach us, barring any delay in interpreting the message!”