 What do the Venusians want?
The DELEGATE FROM VENUS By HENRY SLESAR ILLUSTRATOR NOVICK Everybody was waiting to see what the delegate from Venus looked like. One part of his mind wanted him to play it cagey, to behave the way the newspaper wanted him to behave, to protect the cozy Washington assignment he had waited four years to get. "It just seemed strange, all these exchanges of couriers in the past two days. They split off a few blocks later, and Jerry walked until he came to the Red Tape Bar & Grill, a favorite hangout of the local journalists. In a secluded booth at the rear of a restaurant unfrequented by newsmen, Greta leaned forward and said: "At first, they thought it was another sputnik." They got reports from the observatories about another sputnik being launched by the Russians. "But it's not a moon. It's a spaceship." "A spaceship," Greta said coolly, sipping lemonade. "They have been in contact with it now for about three days, and they're thinking of calling a plenary session of the UN just to figure out what to do about it. The only hitch is, Russia doesn't want to wait that long, and is asking for a hurry-up summit meeting to make a decision." "About the Venusians, of course." The spaceship's from Venus; they've already established that. They know about the UN and everything, and they want to take part. They say that with all the satellites being launched, that our affairs are their affairs, too. The Senator thinks that if we don't agree, they might do something drastic, like blow us all up. The press secretary's secretary, a massive woman with gray hair and impervious to charm, guarded the portals of his office with all the indomitable will of the U. S. Marines. I'm just doing my job; I think the public has a right to know about this spaceship that's flying around—" His words brought an exclamation from the others. It's our opinion that secrecy is essential, that leakage of the story might cause panic. Since you're the only unauthorized person who knows of it, we have two choices. "You'll be taken into our confidence, and allowed to accompany those officials who will be admitted to the landing site. But you will not be allowed to relay the story to the press until such a time as all correspondents are informed. That won't give you a 'scoop' if that's what you call it, but you'll be an eyewitness.
 The Venusians don't want the people of Earth to use nuclear weapons.
 The Venusians want galactic peace.  The Venusians want to join the UN.  The Venusians want to atomize the Earth.  The Venusians don't want the people of Earth to use nuclear weapons.