"A warning seems almost...cruel," he said after a moment. Valinor had practiced this little speech a hundred times before this moment, but still felt unprepared for it. "Even if all of the governments of your world rallied together today and dedicated all of their resources to defense, it would make no difference. The Wraith are far too advanced for you to fend off. That's why we resisted communication at first. Knowing the truth seemed worse."<br/><br/>Without thinking, he reached out and took one of her hands. "But I'm not telling you all this so you will think the situation is hopeless. Wraith technology is formidable, but in rare circumstances, we have defended worlds from them. That's why we are here now. This ship is home to a council that can decide to commit the considerable resources that would be necessary to protect the earth."<br/><br/>He felt like he was throwing too much information at her, but there was no way to break this conversation up into chunks. "That's why you are here right now. I sit on that council, but so far, I think I'm the only one leaning towards taking military action to protect your world. Since I'm effectively the leader of this side of the argument, I have a great deal of latitude in terms of how I persuade the others. If we are going to protect this world, I believe that choice will be made based off what your culture can teach ours. I was hoping you might help with that. Your culture is new to me, so experiencing it with a human could help a great deal, and allowing others to see that exchange might start to change their minds."<br/><br/>He couldn't bring himself to say the rest of it. That he had picked her, specifically, because he was drawn to her. On earth, it was probably absurd for someone to feel a connection to one they hadn't met.