Radio contact with an alien ship has gone wonderfully, and its pictures show friendly beings who look very human. As reporters and officials wait on a rain-soaked airfield for the landing, the young translator Nathen cannot shake an uneasiness about something the transmissions do not reveal, and the welcome does not go as anyone planned.
A clever, much-anthologised story from Galaxy in 1951, with a twist built on pure physics. Download the free EPUB.