1 {scene: A meeting of the US President's top advisors and chiefs of staff.}
1 Loren: The President "refuses" to surrender to the Martians.
2 Loren: Though his tone suggests he considers the Internet rumours of their existence a Clear and Present Danger to US security.
3 Loren: Our course of action is clear.
4 {scene change: Ishmael's college dorm room.}
4 Ishmael: E-mail from the White House! The entire Earth has surrendered to you!
4 Martian 1: As expected.

Alternate punchlines:

• Martian 1: What, already?
• Martian 1: You're kidding.
• Martian 1: About time.

But in the end I went for understatement. Because I figured it would be so much less expected than any of those. And it implies the Martians know what's happening in the Halls of Power...

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2017-08-19 Rerun commentary: The first three panels are a deliberate allusion to the film Clear and Present Danger, by the way, in case anyone missed that. And not just the title either, for those of you haven't seen it, but indeed the plot. The final panel kind of turns that completely on its head, to provide a twist/gag for those familiar with the movie.