Of Beginnings and Audiences

I read about it in the papers, in the subway, on my way to work, I read it and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again. There it was, the second-biggest secret in the history of mankind, in black-and-white on every newspaper headline on Earth.

"Sources: Secret Moon Base Listens For Signs of Alien Civilization"

With the newspaper folded neatly under my arm with my other papers, I walked quickly into General Murphy’s office. "General, I…"

The General’s shot an even sterner look at me than usual, and pointed angrily at his speakerphone. I silently moved to stand by the chair near his desk as the voice at the other end of the call continued, "so you are absolutely certain that this leak did not come from your command?"

"Yes sir", the General responded, "there is no way this could have been communicated from here without being detected."

"Very well. Jackson out."

The General keyed the receiver on the phone. He reached for the bottom drawer of his desk, and produced a bottle of whiskey, capped with glass. He began pouring a glassful as he looked up at me and said, "Well, Doctor? Tell me I didn’t just lie to the President."

"You know as well as I do how tightly communication is controlled here."

"Yeah? What about that makeshift radio confiscated from one of your scientists last month?"

"That radio had no transmit capability. I could barely pick up a signal from a kilometer away, let alone send one over three hundred thousand."

The General swallowed his glass of whiskey, and roughly grabbed the newspaper and documents under my arm.

"What of this then? You’ve read it by now I hope. You saw the level of detail?"

"Yes. Obviously someone with knowledge of the site…"

"Some knowledge!? There might as well have been a picture of the two of us at the ribbon-cutting ceremony four years ago!"

He crumpled up the papers and fired it across the room. It made a quiet thud as it hit the wall, and we watch as it rebounded slowly back into the center of the room, settling gently back onto the General’s desk.

We looked at each other for just a moment. The General cracked a wry smile. "Damn it. You’d think I’d be used to the gravity here by now."

Tirade over, the General finally motioned for me to sit. "I’m sorry, Doctor. I’m not accustomed to intelligence leaks from my command. Especially when it’s the biggest secret the world’s ever known."

"Actually, sir, I’d say it’s the second biggest."

He stopped momentarily, and stared at me as if to open my soul. "Second biggest?"

"Well, the newspaper article said we were listening for signs of alien civilization," I said, as I uncrumpled the newspaper on the desk to remove my other documents from the wad. "It didn’t say what we found last night."

The General sat back in his chair. "Oh hell," he said, as he reached into his desk for another glass. "You and I are going to need at least one more of these before we call the President back."