by Bob Mauldin
Galway’s voice sounded harried. “You know I don’t. But, if I may, Wing Commander, this call is to get a specific time arranged for our two principals to get together. You appreciate the demands that Vice-President Reese has on him, I’m sure. Not to say that Captain Hawke isn’t very busy, as well, but...”
Kitty let him off the hook. “I do see your point, Mister Galway. Do you have the Vice-President with you? I can get Simon here in ten minutes so that there won’t be any more delay on the matter.”
Galway answered, “That much speed won’t be necessary, Ma’am. The other thing I was to tell you was that there is going to be a special press conference starting in about half an hour. President Drake will be making an announcement that I’m sure you will want to hear. I believe that any time after that press conference, Vice-President Reese will be available to speak to Captain Hawke.”
Kitty sighed in relief. Finally! “Thank you, Mister Galway. I appreciate the heads-up, and will pass the information to Simon immediately. Do your best to stay close to the Vice-President and try to be in a secure area, so he can speak freely. We’ll wait for your call after the telecast.”
Simon and Kitty, Lucy and Stephen all gathered around the ready-room table. They had been joined by Commander Shipley and several other officers to view the broadcast and get their reactions, if necessary. Kitty had set up the TV and VCR as soon as she had informed Simon of Galway’s call so that a permanent record of the broadcast could be made.
By the time Simon arrived the room was full and coffee was on the table. Simon settled himself into his chair and asked what, specifically, Galway had said. She repeated the conversation as close to word-for-word as she could and Simon commented, “They’re cutting it a little close. Of course, there’s a lot more of them that have to be in the loop than there are up here. Can you imagine the uproar this is going to make in Congress? And the House? First, all of those guys will have to be informed and convinced before this broadcast. I wish I could have heard some of those conversations. So, let’s see what’s on the agenda for tonight.”
As the final minutes wore down before the broadcast, Lucy fidgeted, Stephen doodled, and Simon sat still and raptly watched the last few minutes of a prime-time sitcom as eight PM Eastern time approached.
About ten seconds into an ad promising less redness if you just used a certain eye drop, the signal suddenly cut off and was replaced by a face most Americans knew even if they couldn’t put a name to it. No one was left to guess for long as the man holding the microphone said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Wolf Blitzer, NBC News correspondent to the White House. I’m standing here in the press room tonight by special invitation along with several dozen other correspondents from various agencies around the country and the globe who have been able to get here in time. We have been informed that President Drake will be out shortly to make an announcement. Speculation is rampant as to the content and the atmosphere is charged, and no one, least of all this reporter, has any idea what is going on. We have only been told that the President will be out momentarily to make an announcement of global significance.”
The scene cut to a newsroom with a male and female anchor staring out at the country while behind them was the usual backdrop: a map of the globe surmounted by half-a-dozen clocks showing the time in various places around the world. The man asked, “Wolf, do you have any idea what could be of such great importance that President Drake would call a conference on such short notice?”
The camera cut back to Wolf standing in the press room amid a confusing jumble of people and camera equipment, the Presidential seal prominent on the podium behind him. Several agitated people were standing on the stage to each side of the podium looking confused. The only islands of serenity in view were the secret service agents standing in various places in the camera’s view. Wolf, microphone in his right hand, left hand to his ear, said, “No, Don, we have no idea. No one here has a clue as to what the President has to say. Which is why we are at such loose ends tonight.”
A mumbled voice spoke from off-camera, Wolf looked over his shoulder, and then back at the camera. “Don, it looks like President Drake is about to come out now. Yes, I believe he is, preceded by two secret service men. He is stepping onto the stage followed by Vice-President Reese.” Wolf faced the front and stepped to one side so the camera could get a clean view.
The President walked across the stage with a grace that belied the fact that he had been effectively sand-bagged by the ultimatum handed out by Simon just a few hours previously. He stopped at the podium, faced the audience, and in an unusual departure for a man who liked to look like he was speaking off the cuff, pulled a piece of paper from his inside coat pocket and made a show of flattening it out on the podium before he spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen of the press. I want to thank you for being here on such short notice tonight. First, let me say that I have an announcement of earth-shattering proportions to make. Second, I must say that I will take no questions on this matter tonight. I leave that to my scientific advisory staff. I do feel that the nature of what I am about to reveal to you, and the gravity of the situation, compels me to stand here tonight and make this announcement. What I am about to say is going to be unbelievable coming even from a President.”
Drake took a deep breath as he glanced down at the paper he had laid out, and his knuckles visibly whitened as his hands gripped each side of the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said as he looked down. He then raised his head and looked directly at the bank of cameras before him and said, “It is my duty to inform you that… we… are… not… alone… in… the… universe.” Not one sound came from any corner of the room as the shock wave moved outward from the podium. The members of his staff on the stage glanced first at each other than at the President and the Vice-President standing beside him as if they, too, were stunned by this revelation.
The President went on. “There has been controversy since nineteen forty-seven, and even earlier, as to whether or not the human race was alone in the universe. Conspiracy theorists said the government cleaned up the wreck at Roswell and hid it along with bodies and that proved that aliens existed. Others said there was no wreckage and that proved that there is no life out there. When I took office, I was asked by various factions to look into the situation. I asked questions, I assigned people to look into it, and nothing concrete turned up. I didn’t follow it any further. The exigencies of my office precluded spending any more time on a matter of such, seemingly, small significance.
“My personal feelings on the matter aside, I, and a very few members of my staff have been made privy to the fact that citizens of the United States have come into possession of a spaceship of alien origin. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, living, intelligent beings, born on a planet that circles a sun other than ours built a spaceship, and for one reason or another that ship wound up here and derelict. Citizens of the United States found the ship and took it for their own. They have decided, unwisely, I feel, to refrain from turning that ship over to this government or any other government on this planet. Their stated reason is that to do so would upset the balance of power and precipitate a nuclear war from which we would never recover. Their stated goal is to use the technology that comes from this vessel to benefit mankind as a whole, not just one country or group. As far as we have been able to ascertain, in the slightly over two years that they have been in possession of this vessel, they have done nothing that did not follow their stated goals.
“They have recruited and trained some two thousand persons mostly from the United States and, to the best of our knowledge, have three bases in the asteroid belt, and aside from the original ship, they have built and crewed two other ships. Our sources tell us that one more base is to be built, and then each of these four bases will be turning out a steady stream of ships. It has further been brought to my attention that shortly after completion of the first base, it was attacked by persons or beings,” here the President’s speech stumbled a bit, “o
f unknown origin. Most likely, we are led to believe, by a second race that is an enemy to the race that originally built the ship our citizens possess. The attack was fended off at some loss of life to our citizens but they have carried on their program of expansion.
“Now to the reason for this press conference tonight: the Office of the President along with a select few others has known of the existence of this group for almost two years. Once I ascended to this office, I was informed of the existence of this group, as well. This knowledge has stayed at the highest levels as we tried to work out policies for dealing with this new and disturbing situation.
“Unfortunately, the decision no longer rests with us. Beginning right now, in the time zone that includes Rangoon, Burma, New Delhi, India, Kathmandu, Nepal and portions of Tibet, China and Russia, a telecast is being made to the peoples of Earth. This telecast is designed to acquaint you with this new group and their goals. According to our sources, after each telecast, an aerial demonstration will be performed over the major cities of the area. We ask all countries that you do not, repeat, do not, interfere with the demonstrations or fire on these vessels. They are friendly and only demonstrating their existence.
“One of the things that has been requested by this group is a series of embassies on Earth. Three in all. One on the European continent, one in Asia, and one on the North American continent. Another thing they have requested is freedom from prosecution, persecution, arrest, harassment, or interrogation for all their people based on their choice of who they choose to work for. They do agree that they should be subject to the laws of any nation they visit if they break those laws, just like anyone else. They ask that they be allowed to recruit volunteers for their space-based labor force and earth-side embassies, station personnel and shipboard personnel. They offer in return, access to the technology of this marvelous vessel to increase the quality of life on Earth. They ask that all peoples of Earth be allowed to apply regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity and insist that any technology traded is to be given to all countries simultaneously so that no one country gets an advantage over another.
“Artificial gravity, anti-gravity, new manufacturing techniques, methods that will help us clean up our water and air, methods to help restore the ozone layer, make our homes and automobiles more efficient and cheaper to operate, and easier methods to feed our hungry are among the items this group, this Terran Alliance, is willing to trade for the concessions that they have requested. At the same time, these ships will give the human race the universe. I ask you, do not be alarmed. You will be seeing vessels operated by human beings over the next twenty-four hours in your skies. These vessels will be there to show you their abilities and to show you that they actually exist.
“Negotiations with the leaders of this group will commence immediately headed by Vice-President Reese and attended by representatives of various nations of Earth. Knowing that I am being listened to as I speak, I extend an invitation to the leader of the group, Captain Simon Hawke, to meet with Vice-President Reese at Camp David so that negotiations can begin and an alliance can be forged that can take the human race to the stars. It is my understanding that two vessels are currently in orbit around our planet at an altitude of about twelve thousand miles. They have turned off their shielding so that they can be seen by professional and amateur astronomers alike to make my revelation easier to believe.” He looked down at the paper on his dais. “Two major radio-telescope arrays and more than a dozen optical telescopes from observatories around the northern hemisphere have confirmed the existence of two objects at a height of about twelve thousand miles directly above the North American continent. I hasten to point out to all the peoples of Earth that this is not, I repeat, not, an American endeavor. It is simply a matter of Americans finding the technology. And it is they, themselves, who insist on making it something that crosses all national borders, all racial barriers, and all religious barriers. They are the ones who insist on bases outside the U.S. and accepting anyone who wants to join. As soon as negotiations can be completed, we hope to see all three embassies up and running, but this not something that can happen overnight. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming.” The President turned to leave the stage and pandemonium broke out among the reporters. Microphones raised, voices raised, questions screamed, but, ramrod straight, President Drake walked out of the room, led by secret service and trailed by Vice-President Reese.
It was a full fifteen seconds before veteran reporter Wolf Blitzer realized his cameraman was filming an empty stage. He stepped in front of the live camera, the look of shock as apparent on his face as it was on the faces of everyone in sight, and said, “Don, for the first time in my life as a reporter, I am absolutely speechless. I can only say that the President’s speech, if true, speaks for itself and only time will tell that tale.”
The scene cut back to the newsroom and the male anchor said, “What was that about aerial displays?”
The scene cut back to Wolf. “Oh, yes, Don. President Drake said there would be a broadcast from this group of people in each time zone followed by an aerial display of some type to prove that they were telling the truth. We can only wait and see. What I remember hearing is that the first broadcast and demonstration will take place over India, and actually, should be taking place right now. You should be getting reports from that part of the world any time now.
“This is a situation where we will know very soon whether the statements made here tonight by the President are true or whether he has somehow been hoaxed into giving us this misinformation, if that is what it is.” With one more look over his shoulder at the stage, Wolf turned back to the camera. “It appears that there will be no more from this quarter tonight, so this is Wolf Blitzer in Washington DC. Back to you, Don.”
The camera cut back to the newsroom one more time, the two anchors looking as composed as they could, given the circumstances. Simon reached down, picked up a remote and shut off the TV. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “Mission accomplished.” The sound of the cheers made him wince in the confines of the small room. “We’ll air the alternate tape before each demonstration. Don’t want to embarrass our new partners any more than we already have, do we?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Simon handed a tape to Kitty. “Would you see that this gets to Communications, Dear? We don’t want the wrong one to air. And see if you can raise Galway. We’ll send him a copy for his boss, so they aren’t uninformed. Seems like good manners, since we just got all we asked for, don’t you think?”
Kitty agreed that it was, indeed, good manners. “But, what are the changes you’ve made in the second tape? I saw the first one, but actually didn’t have any idea that there was a second.”
Simon seemed to be enjoying himself. “Well, it wouldn’t have worked if President Drake hadn’t made a mistake. He used the word ‘embassies’ in his speech. Several times. I had used it during our talks with Galway and company, and it got to his ear and came out of his mouth. What the second tape does is leave out any reference to disagreements or coercion in getting recognized and refers to us three times as the Terran Alliance.”
Stephen, quick to see the implications, spoke up. “You’re looking for status as an independent power, aren’t you?” he asked. “Only political entities have embassies, and the President is talking about granting them. That is, of course, if the other nations agree.”
Simon grinned. “Oh, they’ll agree, all right. Just how fast, is the question. We’ve dangled some bait already. Showing our ships up here. And more bait to come in the aerial displays. Of course, some countries will try to shoot our guys down. That’s a given. But nothing they have can penetrate our shields, even on a Mamba, and those things are just way too fast, even in atmosphere. My only concern is that our hot-shot boys and girls will do something stupid before they get used to flying in atmosphere. So far, all they’ve done is play around where there is none. I made sure that they know to be careful and remember their limi
tations, but you know how kids with new toys are. Especially when they get to show off.”
Kitty looked at her husband closely. “This is one even I didn’t see coming, Simon. What do you have planned?”
“It’s not so much a plan as a dream, Hon. And all of you,” he said as he turned to the people gathered in the room, “I hope, will see the wisdom in this. If we are independent, we can write our own rules and grow in our own direction. I hope that direction is one that will lead us to the stars as a responsible, caring group. And group is the key word, here. We need to be unified. If we buy into the philosophies down there now, we’ll wind up just like them, factionalized, and fighting over every little word or punctuation in every little document. We need to keep to the bigger picture and follow the spirit, as much as the letter of whatever we lay down as our operating guidelines. If we stay independent, we stand a chance of influencing them to join us to re-unite the human race.”
People began excusing themselves to get back to whatever they had been called from. Some to their duty stations, and some to bed or off-time. The first to leave was Commander Pritchert, head of Flight Ops. “I’ve got people ready to fly and I need to be there. We plan to have an oversight craft filming each demonstration as well, so I have that much more to do.”
Kitty nodded in approval. “Filming is a good idea. We’ll have something to show to the holdouts about what advantages we have. That if these hotshots know they’re being filmed, it might help hold down some of the wilder stuff. They’ve been told to play around, but to be careful. I’ve told ‘em that anything I find on one of these flights that I don’t like, I’ll pull their license so fast it’ll make their heads swim.”