But hen to contradict herself, she staggered over to her adjoining bedroom, opened a file folder, withdrew and removed a photograph that she conspicuously hid, and then presented the incomplete folder of Mike""s clippings to Marlowe.The alien is having trouble in Earth""s modern-day world - he has inspected other objects in the room - a tennis racket and an easy-open umbrella.Coughing and feeling his feverishly-warm forehead, Bud takes his temperature with a thermometer, and realizes how sick he really is.The futuristic world in the 22nd century had magnified all of the worst traits of current society, including hedonism, materialism, and a complete reversal of common vices (i.