Bing Walter, alien, has been given a human body (more or less) by his superiors and he’s an advance scout to prepare Earth for extra terrestrial contact. His mission: to get a job with TIME Magazine and once there, insert a cover story detailing the forthcoming arrival of an alien spaceship. His home planet has been sending out signals, but humans are not getting the message. Bing feels perhaps the UNIVAC computer at S.E.T.I. - which calls itself Rufus - would be more helpful...but the message code is so simple, that even Rufus needs help figuring it out and humans haven't got an earthly! Cover art by Bill Wenzel.