Dr. Bruber turned toward the director and blinked through his heavy glasses. "I'd rather ask our distinguished visitor why he came."
"Yes, Dr. Bruber. Please do," said Olbu.
"All right. Why did you come here?"
"We wanted to decide whether to wipe out the solar system or not."
For a moment it was silent in the room, except for the sound of the electricians outside the door. "Goddamit," said an electrician. "You can't use that hookup on the Y-circuit. You'll cut out the monitors."
Ralph Rodkey tiptoed to the bedroom door and closed it.
"Surely you're joking," said Dr. Bruber. "Quite a sense of humor. Ha-Ha."
"No, I'm not. We discovered there was at least one habitable planet here—and where there are habitable planets, there are likely to be human beings. Human beings are dangerous."
Rodkey cleared his throat. "Gentlemen. Far be it from me to interfere in a scientific discussion like this, but if I were you I'd try another tack. A large number of our viewers might not understand it."