Sidewinders From Sirius

An enigmatic alien contingent arrives posing as benevolent colonists, disarming their weapons and offering advanced agricultural and scientific aid, then reveals a G-ray that nullifies molecular cohesion and demands Earth's surrender within months. Public demonstrations vaporize entire laboratory sites, convincing global authorities of the weapon's capability and producing political paralysis. A wily intelligence officer, accustomed to high-stakes gambits, treats the crisis as one of strategy rather than open warfare and considers an audacious, preemptive plan of bluff and surrender to outmaneuver the occupiers and prevent planetary subjugation.