Cafe de
Paris are apt to be potato salad, a few anchovies, olives, and possibly
some cheese. Free lunch, they used to call it in the States.

Just to say something, I said, "Where do you think they came from?" And
when he looked blank, I added, "The Flying Saucers."

He grinned. "From Mars or Venus, or someplace."

"Ummmm," I said. "Too bad none of them ever crashed, or landed on the
Yale football field and said _Take me to your cheerleader_, or
something."

Paul yawned and said, "That was always the trouble with those crackpot
blokes' explanations of them. If they were aliens from space, then why
not show themselves?"

I ate one of the potato chips. It'd been cooked in rancid olive oil.

I said, "Oh, there are various answers to that one. We could probably
sit around here and think of two or three that made sense."

Paul was mildly interested. "Like what?"

"Well, hell, suppose for instance there's this big Galactic League of
civilized planets. But it's restricted, see. You're not eligible for
membership until you, well, say until you've developed space flight.
Then you're invited into the club. Meanwhile, they send secret missions
down from time to time to keep an eye on your progress."

Paul grinned at me. "I see you read the same poxy stuff I do."

A Moorish girl went by dressed in a neatly tailored gray jellaba,
European style high-heeled shoes, and a pinkish silk veil so transparent
that you could see she wore lipstick. Very provocative, dark eyes can be
over a veil. We both looked after her.

I said, "Or, here's another one. Suppose you have a very advanced
civilization on, say, Mars."

"Not Mars. No air, and too bloody dry to support life."

"Don't interrupt, please," I said with mock severity. "This is a very
old civilization and as the planet began to lose its water and air, it
withdrew underground. Uses hydroponics and so forth, husbands its water
and air. Isn't that what we'd do, in a few million years, if Earth lost
its water and air?"

"I suppose so," he said. "Anyway, what about them?"

"Well, they observe how man is going through a scientific boom, an
industrial boom, a population boom. A boom, period. Any day now he's
going to have practical space ships. Meanwhile, he's also got the H-Bomb
and the way he beats the drums on both sides of the Curtain, he's not
against using it, if he could get away with it."

Paul said, "I got it. So they're scared and are keeping an eye on us.
That's