“Hell, it’s bad enough our encrypted cables get intercepted by the Russians. We know the Japanese and the Israelis have cracked all our codes. We just pray the Russians can’t do it yet. But you see what I mean, the problem. About reading minds.”

“Oh yes.”

“Your report will have to take that into consideration.”

Norman promised it would.

A White House staffer said to him, “You realize the President will want to talk to these aliens personally. He’s that kind of man.”

“Uh-huh,” Norman said.

“And I mean, the publicity value here, the exposure, is incalculable. The President meets with the aliens at Camp David. What a media moment.”

“A real moment,” Norman agreed.

“So the aliens will need to be informed by an advance man of who the President is, and the protocol in talking to him. You can’t have the President of the United States talking to people from another galaxy or whatever on television without advance preparation. Do you think the aliens’ll speak English?”

“Doubtful,” Norman said.

“So someone may need to learn their language, is that it?”

“It’s hard to say.”

“Perhaps the aliens would be more comfortable meeting with an advance man from one of our ethnic minorities,” the White House man said. “Anyway, it’s a possibility. Think about it.”

Norman promised he would think about it.

The Pentagon liaison, a Major General, took him to lunch and over coffee casually asked, “What sorts of armaments do you see these aliens having?”

“I’m not sure,” Norman said.

“Well, that’s the crux of it, isn’t it? And what about their vulnerabilities? I mean, the aliens might not even be human at all.”

“No, they might not.”

“They might be like giant insects. Your insects can withstand a lot of radiation.”

“Yes,” Norman said.

“We might not be able to touch these aliens,” the Pentagon man said gloomily. Then he brightened. “But I doubt they could withstand a direct hit with a multimeg nuclear device, do you?”