"That's easy," I said bitterly. "I should have caught on months ago. It's Wallace Starr. Starr is a Kiriki."
Having better sense than to go home, I rented a cheap room on 125th Street. I didn't sleep much. I paced and ate cigarettes. Very early next morning I woke up a cleaner on Third Avenue and bought a cheap uncalled-for suit out of his window. It was the most uncalled-for suit I ever did see, but it fit pretty well and made me decent.
A quick coffee and I went up to the office. I had given Alice strict orders not to come to work until I phoned her. I didn't want her mixed up in this. Starr hadn't liked her from the first. Maybe he figured she might catch on to him better than me.
I picked up a manuscript from the slush pile, called Challenge of the Slime People. The phone made me jump.
"Morning, Maxie. This is Ric Planter."
"Ric," I found myself blurting. "The most terrifying thing has happened!"
"Invasion of Kiriki, no doubt."
Planter had that way. You wanted to wring his neck. Somehow, the way he said it, made me backtrack. I didn't want to get the horse laugh from him and all fandom. For the first time I asked myself, could Alice be right? Could it have been an illusion?
"Listen, Ric, how does this sound for a plot? Suppose an alien, but alien, culture from the stars decides it wants to take over our system. They don't want to just drop in on us. They dislike physical warfare because it isn't orderly. Also they don't want to kill any of their numbers, or their potential slaves. Also a sudden alien invasion might drive humans completely off their rocker.