He turned and spoke to someone within the lock. His language, while resembling no earthly tongue, was not much different than perhaps English to Chinese. It was foreign but not completely alien.
With the ease of a man accustomed to heavier gravity he went down the ladder easily, turning when he reached the ground to look up at the lock.
And then to the edge of the air lock, she came—the weapon! There had been no doubt in the minds of her creators as to her effectiveness—she would conquer this planet. The armed might of Earth would vanish before her. Before the year had ended the invasion would have been accomplished. As a weapon, the Earth's H-Bomb might well be a mere firecracker. She had been tested against the men of her own planet and found to be irresistible, but now would come the final test against the enemy without laboratory-controlled conditions.
The planet she had come from is unimportant, suffice to say their technology had conquered space over a thousand years ago. For over half that time they had subjugated neighboring worlds until their rule had spread to the borders of Earth. Scouting ships had been spying on Earth for the past two centuries and had brought back alarming reports concerning the rapidly expanding technology of this planet.
Soon after the aliens had discovered the secret of space flight had come the added knowledge planets could be conquered by other than the force of arms. Psychological warfare had been developed to a fantastic degree, making weapons more potent than any bombs of fissionable material.
There she stood, a monument to her creators. Eve, soon to be conqueror of the planet Earth.
To attempt description of her beauty would be an impossibility, for the languages of man do not contain the necessary word-symbols to express the utter perfection of her face and form. To each man she would appear different, for he would see in her the substance of his unconscious desires for the woman he had never dreamed might exist. For this purpose the scientists had labored in their laboratories for nearly a half century, and now she would justify the time and effort spent in her creation.