Chapter Four
A Meeting Disturbed
In Washington D.C. Nathaniel Green paced outside The Oval Office waiting for his opportunity to go inside. A younger man approached him and Green looked up. "Hello, Peterson!" Green snapped, "Still think Christian Fundamentalism will save the world?"
"It'll take a damned good shot at it!" the other man answered. "Don't fight us on this, Nathaniel. We've put up with this for forty years. We're the mightiest nation on Earth. It's about time we started fighting back. We can beat these people, Nathaniel. We can keep this world Christian. We can keep it pure. We can keep it safe. Don't fight us! Be on the winning side."
"I've told you before," Nathaniel snapped, "never to call me by my first name. Only my friends do that, Peterson. I don't like your kind, I never WILL like your kind. We're CHILDREN, Peterson. We're playing against Powers we can't even imagine! If we're not stupid, and leave them alone, They won't bother us. But if we try to interfere with what They're doing, They'll make hamburger out of us. You're a fool, Peterson! You're a racist fool! Keep out of my way!"
"You have no right to talk to me like that!" Peterson growled. "I haven't sold out. I haven't already given my Soul over to the Devil."
Nathaniel shook his head. The door opened and the President's secretary emerged. "You may go in now, Mr. Green." she cooed.
Peterson gave an angry look and stormed off, as Nathaniel entered The Oval Office.
"Do sit down, Mr. Green, do sit down!" the President invited. "No need to be formal here. We all work for the people. Now, before you say anything, both the Chief of the Bureau and the Agency assure me their experts have this whole thing worked out. That they can control this operation, and bring an end to this threat both to The United States, and, The World."
"Mr. President," Nathaniel began, "half of the Bureau's and, the Agency's so-called experts are either fakes or lunatics. The other half base their calculations on data so fraudulent as to make their assumptions worthless. We are dealing with people that could travel faster than light, when our Ancestors were living in thatched huts and caves, and using weapons made of bone, and, stones.
My God, sir, I've seen Them do things we can't imagine! They're not going to sit by and let Peterson and his goon squad disrupt Their operations. They're at a very delicate phase right now, and perhaps the survival of mankind depends on Their success."
The President banged his desk. "Dammit! Green, you know what They did. We'd made a deal that would've been extremely beneficial for mankind, that would've guaranteed The United States would have been the technical power on Earth for centuries and They ruined it. They ruined it, Green! We'd have made history this summer. I would've been perhaps the most famous President that ever lived.
But it's all gone, Greene. They say no way. Earth shall NOT be interfered with, and BAM, years of negotiations by government after government are destroyed. A stop has to be put to it, Green. Dammit, they're aliens, Themselves. They had no right to interfere. WE have a right to ally ourselves with WHO WE WISH!"
Green shook his head. "They don't look at it that way, sir. This world is Theirs. We are Their descendants. They won't let anyone else interfere. We sink or swim sir, on our own."
The President shook his head. "I'm sorry," he finally muttered, "but it's decided, Mr. Green. It's decided we fight. We make a stand."
Nathaniel rose. "I've been told, sir, that They will take action, and that you should receive word of that action before our discussion ends."
The President was about to say more when his phone buzzed, and he stopped to pick it up. "Yes?" he snapped. "What?" The President asked. "Repeat that. Yes. Yes. Call everybody to the briefing room immediately! EVERYBODY! The Joint Chiefs, the department heads, EVERYBODY!"
The President hung up the phone and stared bewildered, at Nathaniel. "What is it, sir?" the bewildered agent asked.
"We've lost contact," the President answered, "with three of our Trident submarines, one in the Pacific, one in the Atlantic, and one in the Indian Ocean. The one in the Pacific got out a garbled distress call. Something about being stuck on the bottom and that their warheads have become active. They're trying to get a ship close enough to pick up their signal and boost it up to a satellite. You'd better hang around, Mr. Green. I think your expertise are going to be needed."
"Yes, sir!" Nathaniel snapped, "Yes sir!"