At this point Ser Madi revealed his knowledge of the Earth language. "I assure you, gentlemen," he said to the strangers, "that this is not a trap. Please follow us peacefully."
The invaders were stunned into silence, but it took the leader only a moment to recover. "I'll be damned!" he exclaimed. "The sly little devils understand English! Jensen! Have these creatures escorted onto the Star. This is something we'll have to talk over on the ship."
At a signal from the man called Jensen, eight of your people advanced toward the four members of our welcoming committee. Ser Madi spoke again: "I warn you, sir, not to try to abduct us. Order your men back."
The leader of the Earthmen laughed. "Look at them!" he said to his lieutenant. "These things are threatening us!" The soldiers had paused at Ser Madi's words. "Go on," the leader ordered them. "Take them aboard the ship!"
"You were warned," Ser Madi said sadly. He motioned to his companions and, in an instant of brilliant light, the space ship was reduced to smoldering ashes.
The stunned Earthians were easily taken into custody. They were completely awed by the destruction of their ship, which had been accomplished with "invisible" weapons. Ser Madi did not think it necessary to explain the compactness and efficiency of the atomic scorchers to them. They would not have been able to comprehend the principles behind the finger ring weapons.
Captain Daniels, the leader of the Earth expedition, was interrogated at great length, but he remained hostile and uncooperative. The only information that he offered was his name, rank and serial number, which he repeated over and over again. Jensen and the remaining crew members refused to answer our questions also, insisting that their captain was the spokesman for all of them. This action increased our fears that the intellectual and emotional make-up of Earth was incompatible with that of Venus.
We accomplished nothing in four days of questioning. It seemed impossible to determine the means whereby we could arrive at some workable line of reasoning. It was equally impossible for us to ascertain whether the hostile actions of the Morning Star represented the attitude of the Earth government or if they were merely the impulsive results of the emotional strain endured by Captain Daniels and his crew on their voyage.
The Supreme Council decided it was necessary to visit Earth now, make our presence known, and see if friendly relations could be established with that planet. We had hopes that this might be done, for there had been no war on Earth for almost fifty years. It was hoped that the people had finally achieved a civilization capable of friendly interplanetary exchange.