and despair most fits.
âShakespeare,
Allâs Well That Ends Well
, 1602
I T HAD BEEN a long day. President Taylor had attended meetings with a congressional delegation trying to put together legislation to do something about the countryâs homeless population, with a State Department team trying to calm rising tensions between Gaza and Israel, and with military advisors pressing him to invest more money in a jet fighter the Pentagon did not need. Heâd been called to the Situation Room to decide on a response to another terrorist strike in Syria, and had taken time to speak with some third graders whoâd been on a White House tour. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, heâd gotten to a television to watch the events playing out in North Dakota. He was glad Walker was on the job out there. Thank God it wasnât some political hack in charge.
Someone knocked on the door. Alice. She looked upset. âMr. President,â she said, âcheck the TV.â
âWhatâs going on?â
âAliens, sir.â
No. Please. He visualized green-skinned creatures wielding handweapons that fired lightning bolts. He grabbed the remote and turned on the television. April was on-screen, describing what sheâd seen, creatures that looked somewhat like us but were smaller and were just out walking around. Their features were a bit different, eyes farther apart, ears a bit larger. The good news was that there was no indication theyâd realized we were there. And Walker had shown the good judgment to cancel the mission and pull his people out before whoever was over there found out theyâd been visited.
He pressed the intercom. âAlice, get me Chairman Walker.â
Moments later, his phone sounded. âHello, Mr. President.â
âHi, Jim. Looks as if you had an interesting day.â
âIâll tell you, sir. It was a scare. But our people handled it exactly as they were supposed to.â
âThey arrived inside a large building?â
âYes. Fortunately, it was empty.â
âYouâre sure the aliens donât know we were there?â
âNo, sir. Thereâs no way to be certain. A few of them were outside the building. We saw them go by through windows. None of them reacted in any way, or seemed to be in a position to see our people. So it doesnât look as if we were spotted. But thereâs a possibility there were surveillance cameras. We have no way to know for certain.â
âOkay. Can you post a few extra security people in the Roundhouse for the next few days?â
âIf the aliens respond, if someone comes back through the link, theyâd arrive in the Cupola first. Before they could come here.â
âOkay. How about we put some people in the Cupola then? If we were seen, I want to know about it.â
âYes, sir. Weâve already done that.â
âI can send some marshals and beef things up a bit, if you like.â
âNot necessary, Mr. President.â He hesitated. âWell, maybe it wouldnât be a bad idea. Send about a dozen. Okay?â
âYouâll have them before the end of the day.â
âGood.â
âSomething else, Jim. I think it would be a good idea to clear everyone out of the Roundhouse when you donât have a mission running, except the security force.â
âI agree.â
âAlso, please notify me if someone does show up. And instruct your people not to behave in an aggressive manner unless theyâre attacked, okay?â
âMy thoughts exactly, Mr. President.â
âIs there anything more? Anything you didnât tell the media?â
âNo. Theyâve got everything.â
âAll right. Thanks, Jim. Your people did a good job. And by the way, I have one more suggestion. It would be a good idea to install a destruct mechanism that would enable you to level the place if you need to. Iâll arrange to have my
Fuyumi Ono
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