Veezee: The Invasion

by Clyde Key

  * * *

  “That is complete manure,” said Halloran, when he finished reading the proposed draft. “I wonder how much they spent to come up with that crap.”

  “Considerable, I imagine,” said Saxon. “I understand their group has rented an office building and hired an administrator, a librarian, and a public relations expert. In addition to the secretarial pool.”

  “We can’t let them get away with this!” said Halloran. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Maybe we can talk Jantzen and Rogers into expanding the commission. If we had about a dozen ordinary citizens... “

  “Nah. The last thing we need is for this to turn into a major bureaucracy,” said Philips. “I propose we just handle it quietly.”

  “How’s that?” asked Saxon.

  “Simple. They publish anything they want to, but it’s like you said. They don’t have any way to know what we’re sending. And besides that, if we decode what the aliens are saying, we get to publish the translation.”

  Halloran grinned. “I like it!”

  “Still and all, Jantzen asked us to put our comments on this stupid letter. Who wants to do it?”

  “Give it to me. I’ll do it,” said Halloran.

  “But please be tactful,” said Saxon.

  “Yeah. Sure.” Halloran grinned.