The listeners
After fifty-one long years of patient waiting, the message has finally arrived.  They have dedicated their lives to trying to decipher the eerie silence that resounds from space and now there is finally a sound after decades of quiet.  In the beginning there is a hail of celebration, the Project has finally produced results, but then the questions begin.  What does the message mean?  Could it be 'we come in peace' or 'get ready for world domination'?  The message's intended meaning baffles Earth.  Only one man has the power to make that decision and it could mean intergalactic warfare if he makes the wrong choice.  Director MacDonald holds the fate of Earth, the universe and the project dedicated to answering the questions that have plagued humanity for centuries in his hands.  Will he make the correct choice?
Life on other planets, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fiction in English, American Science fiction
James E. Gunn, James Gunn, James E. Gunn
James Edwin Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he earned a journalism degree from the University of Kansas, followed by a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. He became the director of public relations for the University of Kansas. He then became a professor Professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing, and is currently a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction. He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–1972 and was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980–1982.