by TJ Viola
The President’s words were not unfamiliar to Bridge, having spent the last several days berating himself in the same manner for an obvious intelligence failure. He realized he needed to move on and regain control of the situation, and the President’s confidence.
“Mr. President, with all due respect, placing blame will not change the current situation. I suggest we move on. In my opinion you have two viable options: fire me and get someone else to clean up this mess or put this behind us and discuss our next steps. Which will it be?”
The tension between the two men had been palpable, but now the President smiled. “You know, Bridge, there aren’t many in this pathetic town who would speak to me in that tone. But you’re right. Let’s move on. What do you suggest?”
Bridge gave the President all the details of Danny’s warning and demands, as well as the incident at Beaver Meadows. “I believe,” Bridge continued, “Danny sent us a message. He wants to meet at or near Beaver Meadows in Colorado. Once his conditions are met, he will make contact.”
“Are you suggesting that the upcoming economic summit of the nine most powerful nations on Earth be held at a wilderness retreat?”
“It has many advantages: remote location, easy to keep away demonstrators, and it should also be easy to capture Danny before he ever gets to the meeting.”
At this stage in the discussion, the President, who was pacing around the office, finally turned to face Bridge—he had made up his mind.
“Okay. I’ll contact the world leaders to inform them of the new summit location, but let me make myself perfectly clear. I don’t want the Gaser to become as pervasive as cold fusion, and I don’t want Commander O’Malley harmed in any way; he’s too valuable an asset. Bridge, if either occurs, consider yourself terminated.”
*****
The final meeting location was Fox Acres Resort, a beautiful private development nestled adjacent to the Roosevelt National Forest just north of Red Feather Lakes, a few miles from Beaver Meadows. The facilities were already set up for security and the accommodations suitable for the distinguished guests.
The first day’s discussions were uneventful since all the respective intelligence services had informed their leaders that Danny was once again defying his government and intended to reveal his latest invention at the summit. As a result, everyone was waiting in anticipation of Danny’s arrival, secure in the knowledge that they’d brought their own Special Forces teams to protect themselves, and Danny, if necessary.
To the participants of the summit, Danny was viewed as a world hero, a citizen of the world; the only other person to achieve such a status was Mother Teresa. There was one significant difference between the two: Danny was also a potential threat if his achievements were used for the benefit of a few and not universally shared.
Everyone was gathered in the Arapahoe Room waiting for breakfast to be served when the leader of China gestured for them to join him at one of the picture windows overlooking the golf course. To everyone’s amazement, walking hand in hand were Danny and Crystal with two mountain lions majestically striding by their sides, obviously ready to protect them.
As they watched in silent dismay, a contingent of well-armed security forces converged on Danny and Crystal, completely encircling the strange entourage. It wasn’t clear if all the weapons were pointed at Danny or each other.
Bridge slowly walked toward the object of his disdain. As he did so, the circle of firepower parted to let him pass.
“Danny. I’m surprised you would enter the lion’s den so easily.” Looking down at the mountain lions, he smiled. “Excuse the pun, but why the mountain lions?”
“We wanted to get everyone’s attention.” Glancing up at the clubhouse, Danny saw members of the economic summit looking out the window at the scene below. “It appears we succeeded.”
The smile on Bridge’s face momentarily transformed into a sneer, long enough for Danny to realize he could no longer trust his old friend.
“You know, Danny, I can’t allow you to enter the building. The Gaser in the wrong hands would be disastrous. Why don’t you and Crystal come with me, without your friends.”
“Sorry, Bridge. We’re going to attend the meeting and there isn’t a whole lot you can do to stop us.”
“Danny, I’ve always considered you idealistic, but I didn’t realize you were blind to reality. Look around you; there is enough firepower surrounding you to take out Godzilla.”
“It doesn’t appear that all the firepower you’re referring to is necessarily aimed at us. I believe we would find refuge in several other countries if we so desired.”
“It doesn’t matter. It just takes a few bullets and it’s all over. We may not be able to duplicate your Gaser, but we are certainly far ahead of any other nation. The President wants me to keep you alive, but once we reinvent the Gaser—he won’t give your demise a second thought.”
As Bridge turned to leave the enclave, Danny noticed him glancing up toward a rock outcropping. Danny felt the disturbance in his aura before he spotted the shadowy figure. The assassin’s bullet was on target and he knew the sound would soon elicit a reaction from the armed security forces surrounding them. Rolo, Bounce, and Danny encircled Crystal and emitted an aura shock wave that erupted like an earthquake from its epicenter. The economic summit members stood in shocked disbelief as they saw the air vibrating around Danny, spreading outward and literally flattening all their most highly skilled guards. Before their senses could come to grips with the spectacle that had just unfolded, Danny, Crystal, and the mountain lions were in the room.
“Ladies and gentleman, sorry for the show of force, but we had little choice. I’m afraid my government would rather see us dead than allow us to share our latest discovery with the world.”
At first, the summit members were climbing over each other to get as far away as possible from the lions, but seeing that they weren’t in immediate danger, a semblance of order prevailed. As Danny’s words began to penetrate the veil of potential danger that existed in the room, a visible hostility formed toward the President.
Recognizing he was in an awkward position, the President went on the defensive. “Please, this isn’t the time to turn on each other. I’m sure there was just a misunderstanding. As you must recall, my administration called this meeting and we picked this location so Danny could share his latest invention, just as the United States did with cold fusion many years ago. Danny, why don’t you proceed?”
Before Danny could begin, several questions were fired at him as the meeting bordered on anarchy.
“What happened to our men?”
“Why bring these animals to our meeting? What do they have to do with your invention?”
“Before we proceed, security should be reestablished.”
It was clear that shock was being replaced with anger and had shifted toward Danny, away from the President. Crystal recognized the dangerous situation they found themselves in and spoke up.
“Please take your seats. Danny will answer your questions shortly and believe me no one was seriously injured.”
She took a deep breath and visibly relaxed as everyone followed her advice.
“Many years ago, when Danny and I were only fifteen, we saw a projection of our future. Not just Danny’s and mine, the world’s. It is now time to share these images with you because only you can change them.”
As she spoke these few words, the members of the UN Security Council listened as if in a trance. This was certainly more than they had expected. Danny stepped forward, gave Crystal a gentle hug, and proceeded.
“What I’m about to say and what you are about to witness must stay in this room, and together we must develop a plan of action. What I’m asking for is a level of cooperation between our nations that has never been achieved in human history, and if we fail here today, mankind will be vanquished as a result of our actions.
“You are all correct in your assumption. We have developed a new weapon, a weapon more powerful,
more destructive, and more transforming of warfare than any other. You might ask why we would work on developing such a lethal device when we could have put our talents to more useful pursuits. The answer to this question would be simple if you had witnessed what was revealed to us. It is intended as a space weapon, just like cold fusion was intended to power our future spacecrafts. Certainly, cold fusion has provided the world with an unlimited source of clean energy, but it has also enabled us to build a fleet of spacecrafts capable of maneuvering in deep space.”
Danny paused to allow his words and those of Crystal’s to coalesce in their minds. It was the Chancellor of Germany who asked the unfathomable question.
“Danny, are you and Crystal suggesting Earth is in danger of an alien attack?”
“I see by your smile and those of your colleagues that this thought is too preposterous and is, therefore, being dismissed.”
As he looked around the room, the smiles disappeared one by one as everyone recognized he was deadly serious.
“I once agreed with all of you. It is hard to believe; it was difficult for Crystal and me to believe. As we all know since the 1960s, mankind has been listening and looking for any signs of life in our galaxy and in the Universe. To the best of our knowledge, we are alone.”
The Chancellor sat down; the smile erased from his face.
Danny continued. “Let me ask you a few simple questions. What if we’re wrong? What if we’re not alone? What if the Universe is teeming with life and many civilizations are significantly more advanced than ours?”
“But that’s preposterous!” the Russian president declared.
“I agree,” Danny said. “Given all the information we have, it is preposterous. But what I’m asking is, what if it’s true?”
“Why, we would be completely vulnerable, unable to coordinate any type of unified defense.”
The reality of the Russian leader’s words had a profound impact on the gathering, and all eyes turned to Danny, waiting for his next revelation.
“Precisely, and that is the future Crystal and I witnessed.”
The president of China stood erect and looked sternly at Danny. “Danny, we have a great deal of respect for you and Crystal and have certainly benefited from your past accomplishments. But, with all due respect, what you are asking us to accept is most difficult. Do you have proof to back up you claims?”
Danny and Crystal exchanged glances, knowing they were about to take a giant leap of faith. Hopefully, the truth would galvanize the world leaders to take collective action for the good of mankind.
“We do have proof. I would like you to meet Rolo and Bounce, two androids from the planet Grillion, in the Orb Galaxy.”
Rolo and Bounce rose majestically and stood on either side of Danny.
“These androids have the ability to take on any form, both animate and inanimate. They can absorb an incredible amount of information and contain miniaturized cold fusion cells, which provide them with unlimited amounts of energy.”
Everyone, except for Crystal, looked at Danny as if he were someone to be pitied; a once great scientist reduced to childish gibberish. Seeing their disbelief, Danny cautiously continued.
“I don’t mean to turn this meeting into a sideshow, but we know of no other way to convince you that our claims are true. Rolo and Bounce will give you a demonstration of their transformation abilities and turn into their normal state.”
Rolo and Bounce immediately reconfigured themselves into two balls of electrified energy. The sight before the summit members was more than their human minds could reasonably absorb, and their collective reaction was explosive. Everyone jumped out of their seats en masse only to find that all points of egress had been electronically locked as part of the summit’s security precautions.
Danny and Crystal called the members back, reassuring them they weren’t in any danger. As they were returning to their respective seats, they witnessed another transformation, one that appeared less threatening.
“Rolo and Bounce are androids and as I said,” Danny continued, “they can take on any form, including human. As you can see, Rolo has transformed into my exact double and Bounce into Crystal’s. We can assure you they are our doubles in every way conceivable. It’s impossible to tell us apart.”
Slowly, the world leaders began to accept what their senses perceived, and their instinctive flight reaction subsided, replaced with natural curiosity. The president of France spoke what was on everyone’s mind. “Comander O’Malley, all this is incredible and extremely difficult to comprehend. My eyes have seen these transformations, but my mind refuses to accept this as reality. It’s just too, how do you say, fantastic.”
“We completely understand, Mr. President. You can imagine how difficult it was for us as children, but I assure you, everything you have seen and heard is absolutely real. I’m going to now turn the discussion over to two scientists from the planet Grillion, Zeiss and Yolan, who have been working with us for many years to prepare Earth for the future invasion we mentioned.”
The room once again erupted into confusion as members of the summit looked frantically around for the aliens from Grillion.
“Ladies and gentleman, please calm yourselves. Rolo and Bounce will now transform into Zeiss and Yolan and answer all your questions, as well as provide you a look into our future.”
*****
The summit meeting lasted until dawn; the participants were exhausted, but united in a common cause. The revelations of Zeiss and Yolan were indeed sobering and caused everyone to take a long, hard look at the state of mankind, its history, and its future. No one liked what they saw. Time was running out and they would only have one chance to change their destiny. In the course of human history, common enemies had often made strange bedfellows, and this current crisis was no exception. Critical decisions were made without the usual filibustering, compromises, and political intrigue. They were all committed to a common cause and a united plan:
- The revelations of Danny and Crystal would remain top secret in order to avoid widespread panic.
- A fleet of space vehicles would be armed with the newly invented Gaser and remain under the command of Danny’s father, Philip O’Malley. The fleet would consist of nine mother crafts, one from each nation represented at the summit.
- The current space station would be modified to conceal several large space vehicles that would represent Earth’s first line of defense.
- Danny and Crystal would continue to collaborate with Zeiss and his team to learn more about how the Ammagans were able to so effectively plan their invasion of Earth. In addition, they would immediately begin work to find a defense against the Ammagans’ deadly radiation rays. Danny and Crystal would also attend all future summit meetings and personally provide status reports.
It was equally understood by all how imperative it was for the Ammagans to gather the same intelligence of Earth’s defenses as they did in 2060. The Ammagan attack sequence needed to be identical to the future invasion as foretold by Zeiss and Yolan; otherwise, Earth would lose the element of surprise and, more than likely, the war.
*****
Yolan and Zeiss were exhausted after their session with the UN security summit, but also exhilarated by what they had accomplished. The leaders of Earth were united against a common enemy and preparing for war. Zeiss understood there was still a lot to accomplish, but a major milestone had certainly been achieved in their road map to defeat the Ammagans. He also recognized that he owed most of the project’s success to Yolan’s ability to analyze information and adjust to dynamic circumstances, and to her quick intellect.
As they were about to leave the control room, he reached out to stop her so he could express his appreciation. Yolan turned and readily fell into his embrace.
“Yolan, you were terrific, not just tonight but throughout the years. Finally, I feel we are making real progress.”
Yolan’s dreams were being realized, she could hardly believe she was in his arms. She st
arted to express how she felt.
“Zeiss, I—”
“No, don’t,” he interrupted. “Don’t deny yourself the credit you so richly deserve. Without you, this project would have failed a long time ago.” He gave her another hug and wished her good night. “We’d better get some rest. By the time I tell Titch about what we accomplished, who knows when I will get to sleep.”
Yolan was stunned and, after he left, crumbled to the floor.
Danny was startled by the feelings of anguish and despair that suddenly overcame him. He grabbed Crystal’s arm in an attempt to stabilize himself and then sat down.
“My God, Danny. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Yolan; she’s heartbroken. I think she’s dying.”
“You have to do something! Try to comfort her.”
Danny was at a loss for what to do, but then his emotions took control and his love for Yolan flowed to her.
“Yolan, we are here for you even though we are light years away. You have given us love, strength, and the courage to continue because you have these qualities in abundance to share. Let us help you.”
“Oh, Danny, thank you, but there is nothing you can do.”
“Yolan, listen carefully! I want you to summon two androids and have them transform into Crystal and me. They can transfer all the information needed from Rolo and Bounce.”
Yolan realized she needed help from a friend and did as Danny asked. Soon Danny and Crystal were at her side gently lifting her into a chair. She knew they were only androids, but she also knew that the care and feelings of love and concern being expressed were truly Danny’s and Crystal’s.