"Idiot Stick" is a science fiction short story by American writer Damon Knight.
They request 500 acres (2.0 km2) of level ground to erect buildings, and induce humans to work for them by passing out capsules that produce a feeling of temporary bliss.
The workers are given sticks, each a "light metal or plastic rod, five feet long, with a curved handle and a splayed tip": "When the command 'Go' is heard," said the alien's voice clearly, "you will all proceed directly forward at a slow walking pace, swinging your sticks from side to side."
On one occasion he becomes drunk (from aspirin), and lets slip that the building will house a giant drill, which will be used to place a bomb in the core of the Earth.
The purpose is to increase the amount of dust in the space around the Sun as a means to slow down spaceships and to protect the aliens from invasion.