The captain watched the playwright put down the receiver. "Well?" he said.
Barnes sat down, gulped noisily. "I'm listening."
"We're going to have a visitor from the planet Mars. Now supposedly, they will be on a friendly mission. But that will not be so. Their purpose is to determine our strength. If they decide we are ahead in nuclear physics and rocket-ship expansion we will be attacked. If they decide we are behind in experiments then we will be safe."
"I don't understand. Why shouldn't they attack us if they know we are weak?"
"They're not in any great hurry. If they believe we are strong and ready to launch rocket ships into space then they will stop us, determined we should never leave our planet to conquer space. If they believe we are weak and backward, they will let us alone, for the time being. As long as we aren't a threat then they'll feel safe, ready to conquer us at their own sweet time. They move when they think we're strong, ready to blast ships into space, ready to conquer the stars. Till then they'll let us alone, knowing we're weak and ineffectual."
"How do you know all this?" Barnes asked, moving to make himself and Shratt drinks. This time, the captain accepted his drink. "How can you possibly know of their plans?"
"We've picked up their ship by radar. We've been listening in on their conversations with Mars through a new I.B.M. machine. And Germany has sent their best code experts to give a hand. They broke down the language. And the messages between Mars and their ship was in code. So the experts did a double job, and well too, I might add. All the governments of the world have been alerted. They're all ready to cooperate."
"Well, where do I come in?"
"We want you to write a play."
"A play?"