The Nine Billion Names of God

Speaking in the first person in the style of a nonfiction article, Clarke describes how one of his original ideas became so commonplace that no one knows he is responsible for its inception. He is concerned that his idea led to the moral degradation of America. He claims that along with the “aid of the late Dr. Alfred Kinsey, I have unwittingly triggered an avalanche that may sweep away much of Western civilization” (23).

In 1945, Clarke was a Royal Air Force radar operator. In this position he thought up the idea of using a satellite for a television transmitter to broadcast messages globally. He suggested placing “a network of relay satellites twenty-two thousand miles above the equator” (23) in an article published in a magazine called Wireless World. Later, the technology was invented and put to nefarious use by Russia and China to spread propaganda.

The story shifts to a cocktail party in an unnamed “Eastern capital” (24) where Clarke lives with his partner, Mike. They are invited to the Soviet Embassy for a celebration of a Russian oceanographers. There, a clean cut, American man named Gene Hartford approaches Clarke. Clarke is flattered that Hartford recognizes his name and knows his writing. Hartford is amazed to meet the author because he found Clarke’s 1952 publication of Exploration of Space so riveting. Clarke doesn’t like the impression Hartford is making, but he continues speaking with him in the hopes that he may have a useful connection. Hartford invites Clarke to meet him at his hotel the following afternoon.

After speaking together at length, Clarke is disgusted with Hartford. He compares Hartford to Benedict Arnold who betrayed the United States, only he feels that Hartford’s mission is much worse. Hartford reveals that he is working with the Russians to make Clarke’s prediction come true: They are installing global satellite communications systems, with the help of the Chinese government. Hartford’s firm was hired to produce content that will attract American viewers. The end goal is that American viewers will get so hooked on the tantalizing content being transmitted to their televisions, they will also watch the educational propaganda content. Hartford shows Clarke an example. He carries a film with a deceptively boring title so as not to arouse suspicion when he travels: “Aspects of Thirteenth Century Tantric Sculpture” (29). The film shows pornographic sculptures in India, set to intense music.

When Clarke expresses his shock at the prospect of this material being broadcast, Hartford assures him that it is tame in comparison to some of their other content. Hartford adds that people “enjoy being brainwashed, if you set about it the right way. […] We’ll be using America’s own decadence as a weapon against her” (32). Clarke is horrified at this prospect, and finishes his cautionary tale with the words, “but into my heart blows a cold wind from the past; for I remember Babylon” (33).

Sitting in a spaceport on a small moon near Mars, Detective Rawlings and the narrator await their ride to Earth. Detective Rawlings has one interesting story to share that is especially interesting for Mr. Maccar, an art dealer. Detective Rawlings, referred to as the Inspector, tells a story of a jewel thief named Danny who attempted to steal “Meridian Museum’s greatest treasure—the Siren Goddess” (35). This sandstone sculpture found on Mars depicts a female human head. The discovery of this statue contradicts what they know of Martian civilization: They were intelligent crustaceans that died out before humans developed on Earth.

The Inspector goes on to explain the jewel thief’s plan: Danny knew that Sundays on Mars were very quiet, as everything shuts down and people stay home to watch television. So, he plans to steal the statue on a Sunday and leave the next day, when he would look like any other tourist leaving with a replica of the statue. In fact, the narrator has just such a replica in his pocket. Danny spends Saturday in the museum, developing his plan. At closing time, he hides in a wall. No security measures are in place at the museum because the nature of life on Mars makes crime nearly impossible: “[E]very city on Mars is a closed little world of its own beneath the force-field that protects it from the freezing near-vacuum. […] [A] man will die in seconds without protection” (37). Therefore, no one can steal on Mars and run away with their goods.

Danny saws his way into the cabinet where the Goddess is kept on display. His plan is to replace the statue with a replica, reseal the cabinet, then mingle with the tourists who enter the museum on Monday morning until he can make his exit. However, on Sunday morning, with his work half finished, he is shocked by the appearance of the museum staff. He runs out the emergency exit and heads back to his hotel, still confused by the bustling activity of the city which should have been resting at home on a Sunday. The inspector explains to the narrator that unlike on Earth, where the international date line lies in the ocean, on Mars it falls on dry land. This means that in Meridian West, where Danny began, it was Sunday, but when he crossed the park to the museum in Meridian City, it became Saturday again, foiling his plan. Thus, he was easily caught at his hotel and received three years punishment.

The narrator asks the Inspector if he has any leads on the people who put Danny up to the task of stealing the sculpture. The Inspector responds that they don’t have any leads, “but a policeman always keeps his eyes open—like an art dealer, eh, Mr. Maccar?” (39). The art dealer looks sick and pale, which alerts the narrator to the idea that that the detective chose to tell this story as a way of letting Mr. Maccar know that he suspects him of being involved with the attempted theft.