âZak," exclaimed his companion in adventure cheerfully, when he saw him emerge from the H^COM booth. âWhat did the old man say?"
Azakis stretched then answered calmly, "He gave us his approval. If everything goes according to plan weâll have the toroid, or rather Newark, the day before the planetsâ orbits intersect."
âLetâs hope we manage it. Itâs not going to be easy to configure that thing in so little time."
âWhat are you worrying about my friend?" replied Azakis with a slight smile. "If the worst comes to the worst, weâll just open up a space-time distortion. Thatâll swallow up the Earth, Kodon, Nibiru and all the other satellites, all in one go."
The two terrestrials, who were standing a little way off but hadnât missed a single word of this conversation, were petrified.
âWhat are you saying?â Elisa managed to splutter, while looking at him appalled. âA space-time distortion? Swallow up? Are you telling me that if this plan doesnât work, we will be creating the destruction of our people and yours?"
"Well, there is a small risk," commented Azakis quietly.
âA âsmall riskâ? And you tell us just like that, with that calm, serene look on your face? You must be crazy! And us, more than you."
âCalm down darling," intervened Jack, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her straight in eyes. âThey are much smarter and better prepared than us. If theyâve decided to go down this route, we cannot do anything other than support them and give them all the help we can."
The doctor let out a long sigh then said, "I need to sit down. Too many emotions today. If this goes on itâll kill me."
Jack took her by the arm and led her to the closest armchair. Elisa fell into it like a dead weight, with a low groan.
âPerhaps weâve reduced the percentage of oxygen in the air a little too much," Azakis whispered to his companion.
âI tried to make it as compatible as possible for us all and avoid having to use those awful respirators."
âI know my friend, but Iâm afraid theyâre being affected excessively by it."
âOkay, Iâll change the mixture. We can adapt much more easily."
The Colonel, however, didnât seem to be affected at all and was more high-spirited than ever. Action and risk were his bread and butter and he felt perfectly at ease in situations like this. âWell," he exclaimed, as he positioned himself just below the three-dimensional image of Newark, which still rose majestically in the middle of the room. âThis thing could save us all or lead us into absolute destruction."
âA succinct but effective analysis," commented Azakis.
âAt this point," said the Colonel in a serious tone and with a deep voice, "I believe the time has come to warn the rest of the planet of the impending catastrophe."
âAnd just how are you thinking of doing that?" asked Elisa from her chair. âAre we just going to pick up the phone, call the President of the United States and say: âHello Mr President. Do you know, we are in the company of two aliens who have told us that, in a few daysâ time, a planet will get here that is going to sweep us all away?â"
âAt the very least heâll have the call traced, get someone to come and fetch us and take us straight to the madhouse," answered Jack smiling.
âBut donât you have a global communication system like our GCS?â Petri asked the Colonel, intrigued.
âGCS? What do you mean?"
âItâs a general communication system, capable of memorising and disseminating Information on a planetary scale. We can all access it, at varying levels, by means of an N^COM, a neural system implanted directly into our brains, at birth."
âCool!" exclaimed Elisa, surprised. Then she continued, saying, "Actually, we do have a system of this sort. Itâs called the internet but we are nowhere near your level."
âAnd would it not be possible to use your âinternetâ to send a message to the entire planet?" asked Petri intrigued.
âWell, itâs not quite that simple," replied Elisa. âWe could enter information into the system, send messages to groups of people, perhaps even a short video and try to disseminate it as much as possible, but nobody would believe us and it certainly wouldnât reach everybody." She thought for a few seconds, then added, "I think the only way would be with good old television".
âTelevision?" questioned Azakis. Then, turning to Petri, he said, "That wouldnât by any chance be that system we used to receive images and films when we were on our way here?"
âYes, I think so, Zak," and so saying, he began to tinker with a series of commands on the centre console. After a few seconds, he brought up some of the sequences on the giant screen that they had recorded earlier. âIs this what youâre talking about?"
A multitude of films of all types began to appear in rapid succession: advertisements, news broadcasts, football matches and even an old black and white Humphrey Bogart film.
âBut thatâs Casablanca," exclaimed Elisa in amazement. âWhere did you get all this stuff?"
âYour broadcasts also radiate into space," answered Petri calmly. âWe had to work on our receiving system a little, but we were able to receive them in the end."
âItâs thanks to them," Azakis added, "that we managed to learn your language."
âAnd some other much more complicated ones," commented Petri sadly. âI almost went crazy with all those little drawings."
âHowever," intervened the Colonel abruptly, "this is exactly what we were talking about, but I donât think even this is the best solution."
âForgive me Jack," intervened Elisa. âDonât you think it might be best, first of all, to warn your superiors at ELSAD? After all, unless I misunderstood you, none other than the president of the United States himself is at the top of that organisation, or am I mistaken?"
âAnd how come you know all these things?" objected the Colonel, astonished.
âWell, even I have my sources" said Elisa, mischievously pushing aside a lock of hair that had fallen onto her right cheek.
âDo your women act like this too?" asked Jack, addressing the two aliens who were observing the scene with an amazed air.
âMy dear chap, women are the same throughout the universe," replied Azakis smiling.
âHowever," continued the Colonel after the rather risky joke, "I think youâre absolutely right. We need a trustworthy and credible institution to broadcast such serious and distressing news. Iâm just a little worried about these external infiltrations which involved General Campbell and the two guys who attacked us. The General was actually my direct superior, but apparently, it would seem heâs corrupt and a traitor."
âSo, in the end we really will have to make that phone call we joked about before?" replied Doctor Elisa.
âAlthough it seems absurd, perhaps that is the only solution."
New York - Manhattan Island
In Manhattan, New York, in a luxurious office on the 39th floor of the imposing skyscraper located between 5th Avenue and 59th Street, a rather short man, with a stylish and well-groomed appearance, stood in front of one of the five large windows separating him from the outside environment. He was wearing a dark grey suit, undoubtedly Italian, a flashy red tie and had smooth, sleeked back, greying hair. His deep,