"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke
There are many ways to test humanity to destruction. Serving tea and cakes is one of them.
And it is over tea and cakes that the enigmatic Mr. Day makes his proposition to skeptical diplomat Thaddeus Maine.
The offer is for the United Kingdom to become the sole distributor of technology so advanced as to be out of this world. A conduit, delivering wonders to the rest of the globe.
Naturally, the United Kingdom will want to attach a premium, to cover their costs and so forth...
But when it comes to a sufficiently advanced technology, we are so conditioned by what we see at the movies that the real thing no longer seems magical.
And unfortunately, that's exactly what happens.