 Does Earth want peace with Karn?
No two men were alike, and yet there sometimes seemed to be an eternal sameness about all men. Somewhere out there, the ships of Earth were ranged against the ships of the alien Karna in the most important war that Mankind had yet fought. To violate the rigid social setup of Saarkkad would mean the instant closing off of the supply of biochemical products that the Saarkkadic laboratories produced from native plants and animals—products that were vitally necessary to Earth's war, and which could be duplicated nowhere else in the known universe. Not the worst ones, of course; there were places in the galaxy that were less important than Saarkkad to the war effort. "A special communication for you has been teletyped in from Earth.
 The Earth is ready for peace, as interstellar war is costly.
 The Earth is ready for peace, as interstellar war is costly.  Earth needs to eliminate the Karna to protect the galaxy.  The Earth does not want peace with the planet Karn. The Karna are an evil race.  The Earth wants peace but doesn't trust the Karna to hold up their end of the bargain.