A Simple Truth

"Two hours ago a wideband radio signal was received that covered all the high frequency channels. It was strong enough to block all normal communication and was received across half the world. The message was as follows - 'Earth, One Gigahertz, Procyon,' in plain English, clear as you like." This momentous development triggers a chain of swiftly unfolding events, bringing alternating hopes and fears, along with frustrations, misconceptions and blunders. The story explores how humanity - outwardly civilised, capable and sensible; yet inwardly mistrustful, unpredictable and desperately insecure - might struggle to cope with the immense potential offered by such a contact. In the background unseen eyes are watching, ever watching, and secretly but inexorably directing events towards a final and decisive confrontation. Python function terminated unexpectedly [Errno 9] Bad file descriptor (Error Code: 1)