Ultimatum

When news writer Winant arrives in a small Indiana town to investigate a mysterious blue meteorite, he finds a stranger in jail claiming to be an envoy from Mars. The old man, Yardana, appeared naked in a restaurant with a heavy black box, demanded to see the president, and now insists that the device is vital to his mission. To everyone else, he seems like a harmless lunatic; to Winant, the story is too strange to dismiss completely.

Yardana says his people have studied Earth for generations and have come to help scientists develop safe atomic power. His explanation strains belief, yet the intricate box is unlike any radio or instrument Winant has seen—and the old man’s urgency feels genuine. As the reporter presses for answers, a bizarre local incident begins to suggest that the fate of more than one world may depend on what lies inside that mysterious device.