“Oh Mr. President, there is one other item.”
“Yes Commander”
“We have a known criminal that was last seen arriving on Earth. I believe he may originally be from Earth. At any rate, he calls himself Oria. We believe that Oria originally left Earth and took up with a gang of pirates and we consider him extremely dangerous. We encourage you to terminate him if he is found.”
Ratherson paused and considered what the Commander had just said. The Oria that Retilia spoke about had to be the same person seen on the news only hours ago.
“Commander, if what you say is true, Oria has already shown himself. However terminating him will be politically difficult. He already has established some sort of cult following.”
“Mr. President, I feared as much. Oria is a very dangerous man. I trust that you will make the right decisions. I will have a hard time selling any treaty with Earth back to the United Creyte Republic as long as Oria is allowed to live.”
“Very well Commander. We will consider your words. That is the best that I can promise you.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. That will suffice for now. We will be in touch. Have a good day.”
Helen and Retilia left Ratherson in the Oval Office and started their walk out of the White House. When the pair was finally outside of the White House, Helen drove Retilia into Virginia and let him disappear off the GW Parkway. Helen and Retilia planned to get together tomorrow once Helen could assemble a team to forward their mission. Helen’s next step required her to contact people at the State Department and the Pentagon.
3:45 PM: President Press Conference
When Helen left the office, Ratherson sprung into high gear. With the collection of medical cures left by Retilia, he was confident of making a positive splash in the news obscuring the current focus on some of his campaign financing practices. He had just enough time to make the Sunday evening news cycle.
Ratherson’s press secretary lived nearby on Capitol Hill. It didn’t take the White House operators long to reach him and order him to the White House in time for a 4:45 press conference. Ratherson also decided to have the Secretary of Health Education and Welfare and the Director of National Institute for Health report to the White House and join the press conference.
Bill Steiner, the White House Press Secretary was in the middle of painting the foyer of his house when the phone rang. His wife answered and let her husband know that once again, the President required him to report immediately to the White House and ruin their afternoon plans. Steiner shook his head again and wondered what was up this time that required his immediate attention. He hoped that it was not another one of Ratherson’s sexual trysts. It seemed like Ratherson frequently interrupted his Sunday afternoons to run damage control for his continual barrage of scandals.
Steiner put down his paintbrush, covered the paint can, cleaned his hands, and changed out of his paint-splattered clothing. In minutes, he was taking the short 15-minute cab ride to the White House. During his trip, Steiner had that feeling of being there before. Here we go again, drop whatever I’m doing and rescue Ratherson from another of his scandals or some other catastrophic event.
At 4:15 sharp, Steiner entered the Oval Office and found an excited Ratherson sitting behind his desk.
“Bill, I’m glad you were able to make it on such short notice. I have some great news!”
“Terrific, don’t tell me. Let me guess. The jerks that broke into our computer network have been caught, or maybe our friends in Congress have cleared you of all wrong doing in their latest vendetta against your campaign financing strategies.”
“No, no, nothing like that. That would be good news, but, I believe I have even better news.”
“Alright, I’m all ears.”
“How do you think the public would react if we found the cure for AIDS and most forms of cancer?”
Ratherson’s question caught Steiner off guard. He was hoping that the President hadn’t gone completely nuts. The two of them had a long history together and Ratherson becoming President was like winning the grand championship of all contests. The latest events had been stressful for both of them. The latest sequence of scandals had been particular hard on Ratherson. Steiner hoped that his longtime friend, Peter Ratherson, hadn’t just gone over the edge.
“Peter, how can you ask such a question? If you are for real, the answer is obvious.”
“I know Bill, I know. This afternoon Helen introduced me to a most remarkable person. Well, he’s not exactly a person.”
“Come on Peter, you’re sounding a bit weird.”
“I’m sure it sounds that way. Helen made first official contact with an alien race!”
“First contact? Aliens?” Bill was now sure that Peter in fact, had flipped.
“That’s right. This alien delivered us the cure for AIDS, various cancers, and some strong anti-viral drugs.”
“Wait a minute! How did she meet this alien and how do you know it’s for real?”
“First, the alien was intelligent and definitely not human. Second, I trust Helen and don’t believe she’d lie. Finally, both our Doctor friend from HEW and the Director of NIH should be here shortly to verify the drugs and reports given to us by Commander Retilia of the United Creyte Republic.”
“This sounds too good to be true. Are you sure, you want to move so fast? What if we’re wrong? Also, where’s the United Creyte Republic?”
“We can’t be wrong. If either of our guests states that these cures are false, we won’t say anything. But Bill, you know about the break-ins this weekend, and the resurrection of our database issue?”
“Yes, so what’s new?”
“What’s new? Geez Bill, you know the press is having a heyday with our database. What, if personal information from the database gets into the wrong hands? Further, what if information from our database, actually makes the press? Do you know what that means?”
“Yes, yes, you’re right. This is risky. I guess we don’t have many options. This certainly will change the focus of the press.”
“You got that right. Bill, there’s one more item.”
“Go on.” Events were sweeping too fast for Steiner’s liking and Ratherson’s latest comment compounded his fears.
“Bill, please relax. Commander Retilia mentioned something about Oria, the man our DOD is following and making headlines about. As it turns out, he is some sort of outlaw, at least to the Creytes.”
Steiner’s look of concern multiplied on Ratherson’s comment about Oria.
“Peter, did you pick up the news today?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know that the public is making this man out to be some sort of Indian Spirit God?”
“So what, we can assassinate his character just like we’ve done with all the others.”
Bill gently shook his head no, rolled his eyes and then replied, “Yes, I guess you’re right.”
“Come on Bill, we’ve been here before. Face it, that’s part of how we got to where we are.”
“I know Peter. It’s just that I don’t like being so blunt about it.”
“That hasn’t stopped you before.”
“No, I guess not. Somehow this time seems different.”
“And how so?”
“I can’t put my finger on it. This man, Oria, is revealing incredible technology, and has only asserted himself to protect either himself or others. What this Retilia says just doesn’t add up.”
“Bill, you have a point. I don’t know much about Commander Retilia either. He sure has Helen sold on him.”
Bill glared at Peter. “Is that your head talking or your hormones?”
Ratherson guffawed. “Touché, you’ve got me. However, Helen is really sold on this alien.”
“Peter, how much do you know about Helen? Have you read her file?”
“Most of it, I know she has some embarrassing things in our file.”
“Yes, the file that just got hacked! Does Helen know what you know a
bout her past and more importantly, what does the press already know?”
“Good point, Helen may be under some sort of coercion.”
“Exactly, Peter there may be hope for you yet.”
“Even if this Oria is not a bad person, it looks like Retilia has given us some useful cures.”
“Maybe, we need to check them out.”
“Of course Bill! I still need the press conference. Let’s just say that we are real close to a cure. Retilia is definitely not human and definitely, an intelligent alien life form. If this Oria is for real and Retilia has given us bad stuff, Oria may still be able to make it right.”
“Yes, but what if he doesn’t”
“Then we will hold another conference and say that we were mistaken.”
5 PM: SECDEF Briefing
Helen arrived back at her office and prepared to initiate several tasks resulting from her meeting with the President. She needed to set up a team to work with Retilia’s representatives. Her emotions were oscillating between extreme excitement and fear that the release of personal information would ruin her life. In the back of her mind the thought that we’re not alone, the world will forever change, and I already am a major player in bringing it about, began to win out over her fears.
One of the first tasks Helen performed was to text the SECDEF and the Secretary of State. While she waited for them to return her text messages, she started to write up a general outline of how she planned to bring the two worlds together.
The SECDEF was the first to respond to her text. She answered the secure phone “Hello”
“Hello, is this Helen”?
“Yes, hi John”
“You caught me getting ready to take my family out to dinner. What’s up?”
“I just left the President and we have a new situation. An alien government just contacted us and wants to establish relations between our worlds.”
“What? Did I hear you correctly? We made contact with aliens?”
“That’s right. We need to assemble a team to meet them and map out a plan to coordinate our two worlds coming together without creating a massive panic.”
“Whoa, hold up Helen. Who else knows about this?”
“The President, Steiner, and whoever else the President has told. Look, I want to set up a meeting tomorrow morning to map out staffing and put a team together that can work directly with the aliens.”
“Where do you want to meet?”
“Let’s meet in my Crystal City office. Oh one other thing, John, I’ve been hearing some news accounts about one of your teams investigating a stranger called Oria.”
“Yes.”
“Oria is a known criminal to our new allies. He was originally from Earth and is extremely dangerous. It would be convenient if he disappeared.”
“Wait a minute Helen. How do you know that you can trust these new aliens?”
“John, you may not have a choice. President Ratherson has declared Oria an enemy of the state.” Helen knew that she just stretched Ratherson’s words. She could deal with getting Ratherson to back her later. After all, she was his mistress.
“Fine; I’ll require confirmation from the President.”
“So be it”
9
Monday May 29
7 AM: Pentagon - Operation Laser Watch Briefing
Bob and Karen entered General Bronson’s conference room and took seats near the head of the table. Lt. Johanson, Colonel Johnson, and Captain Martello were already there. Colonel Henley was visible on Bronson’s video conferencing screen.
Henley saw Bob and Karen enter on his monitor. “Hello Major Brown and Captain Jackson. I see you made it back from Ocean City in one piece.”
Karen looked tired and worn out. She looked at the video camera sitting next to their monitor and replied, “Yes Colonel. It seems our trip back to Washington was the most uneventful part of our vacation.”
Henley responded, “Yes. I was sorry to hear about Jack’s death. His family has set the funeral for Friday.”
“Yes Colonel, I just hope we can safely attend it.”
General Bronson entered the room and glared around the table. He looked angry. “Listen team. I am not happy about this weekend! You succeeded in losing a good man, attracting most every intelligence agency in the world to our mission, and creating a slew of legal and political problems starting with Major Brown’s wild trip across the Eastern Shore and ending with multiple acts of violence in Ocean City. Major Brown, do you have anything to say about this?”
“No sir.”
“Does anyone in this room even know where our target is?”
The room was deathly silent. Bronson glared at each person and focused on Captain Martello. “Captain Martello, wasn’t it your job to keep track of Oria?”
“Yes sir. We did not see him leave the safe house. He should not have been able to disappear without us knowing about it, at least with technology known to us.”
“Then Captain, he must have used technology unknown to us. Is that your best answer?”
“Sir, I don’t have a good answer.”
Bronson roared back “I know you don’t Captain! None of us do! I am hearing rumors that the White House has an interest in Oria. In a conversation with the SECDEF late last night, he suggested that President Ratherson might have declared Oria an enemy of the state. We may receive orders to terminate him. If that position is confirmed, can I count on each of you?” Bronson glared directly at Karen with his last remark. He knew that she would be the weakest link.
Bob shaking his head replied “General Bronson, that doesn’t make any sense. If anything is true, it looks like Oria is trying to help us.”
“Captain, this is one of those times where we may have to just follow orders. No one has given us any orders to terminate Oria, at least not yet. I’ll know more after my 11AM White House meeting with the SECDEF. Until then, we will continue to look for Oria. Major Brown, if Oria contacts you; you must immediately notify the command center.”
11:00 AM: White House, SECDEF Meeting
General Bronson arrived at the White House and entered a large conference room with the Sectaries of Defense, State, and about half of the Joint Chiefs of Staff already seated around the table.
John Wilson, the Secretary of Defense, began the meeting. “Let’s get started and go over some details before the President joins us. A lot is happening and it is happening very fast. As all of you know, last week a man called Oria shook the scientific community by revealing new concepts of physics and the possibility of weapons technology and space travel far beyond any of our current capabilities. This weekend, after the White House murders and hacking of their computer network, Helen Marshal met and subsequently introduced the President to a visitor from another planet.”
The room fell stone silent. This was the first time that most of the senior officers on the Joint Chiefs had heard anything about contact with an alien life form.
Wilson continued his briefing. “This visitor introduced himself as Commander Retilia and presented the President with several so-called gifts. These gifts include the cure for AIDS, several cancers, and a series of anti-viral drugs. If you have been paying any attention to the news, you would know this. The only thing not presented was the contact with Commander Retilia. Commander Retilia also requested that we work towards establishing relations with their world and that we help them capture, detain, or terminate Oria.”
Wilson’s last comment sent the conference room buzzing. It wasn’t until the President entered with Helen Marshal that the room settled down. Ratherson looked at each person with his trademark smile and took his seat at the head of the table. “I just want to thank everyone for making this meeting on such short notice. John, are you done with your initial briefing?”
“Yes Mr. President.”
“Very good; I’ll be short with my points and then open the floor for discussion. First, we are not releasing any of the medical technology provided to us at this time. We sent the
package given us by Commander Retilia to NIH for testing. Second, I haven’t decided how to best respond to Commander Retilia’s request on capturing Oria. General Bronson, I do want your team to continue your current mission. Let’s find out who Oria truly is before we make any decisions. Finally, let’s go ahead and put the teams into place to explore opening formal relations with Commander Retilia and the United Creyte Republic. Are there any questions?”
Helen looked stunned. She was sure that Ratherson had agreed to take a more active role in bringing Oria in. She was terrified that Retilia would be upset and release-incriminating evidence on her ruining her life. “Mr. President, are you sure we shouldn’t at least detain Oria. We wouldn’t want to upset an alien power when we’re just starting to talk. Besides, if we hold him captive, we can still get to the bottom of who he is.”
“Yes I’m sure Ms. Marshal. I know your thoughts on this matter. Oria has not yet threatened us and giving the General’s plan more time should not put us in grave peril. We are a country of laws and any entity that wants to work with us must understand that. Maybe in a week we can revisit this position. In addition, how do we know that we should align ourselves with the Creytes and not with the world that sent us Oria? For now my decision stands -- anyone else?”
The room again fell silent as everyone considered the latest sequence of events. Earth was no longer alone and its future was forever changed. The only mystery remaining was how Earth would change and what would the impact be on each person’s life.
President Ratherson waited a full minute for a response to his last question. The silence was deafening. Ratherson finally interrupted the silence. “Good. General Bronson, I believe your team is continuing the investigation of Oria. I want all of the Pentagon’s efforts coordinated through your team. Ms. Marshal, I want you to continue spearheading the group investigating a formal relationship with the Creytes. I don’t want the United States falling into the middle of an intergalactic war. All communications between the two teams should be coordinated through my office. If there are no other questions, everyone is free to go and carry out their missions.”
Legend of Oria 1: Initial Contact Page 23
