"They're jamming our radar," he explained. "It's so fogged up we can't locate the unmanned rockets."
"Then they're not friendly," I said. I'd suspected they wouldn't welcome us with open arms, and I think the others had felt the same way.
"Maybe playing safe," he said.
"If we could only find a way to communicate with them," I said. "Maybe we could make them understand that we're friendly."
Axel shook his head. "Would you believe everything a man from outer space told you?" he asked. "With three rocket ships circling their planet, they must expect an invasion, now that a bigger one is approaching."
"At least they don't have missiles," I said. Then a sudden thought struck me. "This fogging of the radar may prove something. Maybe they don't have eyes."
He gave me a blank look. "How do you figure it?"
"They have radar and they must know we'll contact the rest of the 'fleet.' They figure it'll be by radar. Since they don't seem to suspect that we can see the rockets, maybe radar is their only method of seeing."
"Even if you brought that in from left field, you're thinking, boy," said Axel.
But the fogged radar had given us a distinct message: Earthmen, you're not welcome because we don't know your reasons for coming here. We don't want you to land. The message was as plain as if it had been sent in English.