"... playing host today to nearly ten times as many aliens as
originally landed on Earth," an announcer on one of the network
stations was saying.
"Now listen," I said to Mae. "This is news, not an editorial."
"A Monolithian spokesman said the new arrivals--two hundred of them,
all male--had landed in a second scout ship, at about midnight, in
Central Park, at the northern end of the reservoir.
"The spokesman said in a statement, quote, 'The second contingent
arrived in response to the invitation implicit in the law signed
yesterday giving the Monolithians U.S. citizenship.' Unquote.
"At nine o'clock this morning, when the stores opened, the Monolithians
arrived in a fleet of taxicabs in the midtown area, where they went in
separate groups to the different men's clothing stores--Bond, Howard,
Ripley, Rogers Peet and Brooks Brothers--and to the men's departments
of such department stores as Stern's, Gimbels and Macy's. Here they
outfitted themselves in Earth-style clothing, which they charged to the
Monolithian Embassy, and left by foot, mingling with the crowds on the
sidewalk.
"Dressed like typical New Yorkers, most of them virtually
disappeared--that is, they lost their identity as aliens and became
indistinguishable from the average male New Yorker.
"The Monolithian spokesman said in answer to a question that their
purpose was that of any visitor to New York--to see the sights of the
city and become acquainted with its customs."
"There," I said to Mae. "That doesn't sound quite as bad as Fire-Eater
Fitchburn's account, does it?"
My wife seemed relieved, but she wouldn't admit it. "They're probably
playing it down," she said.
The newscaster said, "Reporters were late on the scene, but if eye
witness accounts of passersby are to be believed, the aliens split up
into groups of two or three and visited such places as Woolworth's,
book stores, movie houses, the Empire State Building, the Planetarium,
and took rides on buses and subways."
Mae said, "I'm not sure I'd like it if one of them sat next to us at
the play."
"How would you tell?" I asked her.
"I'd know," she said. "Somehow. I'm sure I would."
"Well," I said, "you let me know and we'll interview him at
intermission."
We crossed the George Washington Bridge, went down the West Side
Highway and found a place to park on Sixth Avenue in the upper
thirties. We had half an hour before curtain time and I asked Mae if
she would like a drink.
"I think I would," she said. "I seem to have a slight case of the
jitters."
We found a quiet place about a block from the theater and sat at the
bar in the air-conditioned dimness. I had a Scotch and soda and Mae had
a gin and tonic.
"Had any aliens for customers?" I asked the bartender as I paid for the
drinks.
"Not so's I noticed," he said. "At least nobody tried to charge it to
the Monolithian Embassy. We got a strictly cash trade here."
He went to serve another customer and a well-dressed young man came in
and sat down on the vacant stool next to Mae.
"Sam," she whispered, nudging me.
"What?"
"Here's one."
"Where?"
"Right next to me," she whispered. "Look at his clothes. They're brand
new."