In a secluded booth at the rear of a restaurant unfrequented by newsmen, Greta leaned forward and said:
"At first, they thought it was another sputnik."
"Who did?"
"The State Department, silly. They got reports from the observatories about another sputnik being launched by the Russians. Only the Russians denied it. Then there were joint meetings, and nobody could figure out what the damn thing was."
"Wait a minute," Jerry said dizzily. "You mean to tell me there's another of those metal moons up there?"
"But it's not a moon. That's the big point. It's a spaceship."
"A what?"
"A spaceship," Greta said coolly, sipping lemonade. "They have been in contact with it now for about three days, and they're thinking of calling a plenary session of the UN just to figure out what to do about it. The only hitch is, Russia doesn't want to wait that long, and is asking for a hurry-up summit meeting to make a decision."
"A decision about what?"
"About the Venusians, of course."