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[Taken from Washington Post interview of Nancy Howell. RBB]
‘Nancy!’ shouted the Vice President from the oval office.
She entered and stood at the doorway.
‘How do we contact the aliens?’ he asked.
‘Messages are sent via the QE transmitter over there,’ she pointed towards a laptop-type device on a table by the wall, ‘and my name is Mrs Howell, Mr Vice President.’
‘What? Well come in here. We have a message to send.’
‘I regret that I’ve suddenly developed a migraine, Mr Vice President. I’m going home,’ she said and turned to go.
‘You leave here, Mrs. Howell, and you will not return,’ he said angrily.
She left and shut the door behind her.
In her office, a young intern, Sandy Beech, who’d heard the conversation, looked up and asked, ‘What should I do, Mrs Howell?’
‘Sandy, you’re the President’s aide. You have a choice – support him or not. I’m leaving,’ she said as she gathered her bag and coat.
««o»»
[Taken from Robert Nixon’s autobiography. RBB]
President Spence sat on one of the beds in our cell, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and hands cradling his head. I sat at the top of my bed, leaning back against the wall.
Vernon Ledermann, majority house leader, spoke loudly from the next cell, ‘They cannot do this, Mr President. A sitting president of the United States cannot be arrested. The so-called secret Congress meeting which created a special indictment, is impossible. They cannot do this.’
Jack Spence replied, ‘In case it has escaped your notice, Vernon, we’re the ones sitting in jail cells.’
‘But, sir,’ Tim Brownlee added, ‘Vernon’s right. It would take a full sitting of the house to enact anything close to this sort of action.’
‘We are, when all is said and done, proposing to allow aliens to take over our country. Perhaps the circumstances can be seen as so dire that such a measure could be justified.’
‘But you were acting in the national interest, sir,’ said the leading Democratic candidate, Harry McBride.
‘Whatever our intentions, the President is right,’ I said. ‘We could be seen as being treasonous.’
‘Can’t believe that idiot, Slimbridge, could pull this sort of stunt. He’s too fucking stupid!’ said the President.
‘Mr President,’ said Mark Deloitte, ‘there will be forces working for us behind the scenes. This will be stopped.’
‘Could the aliens get us out?’ asked Peter Stone, ‘like they did with their own people in Iraq.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘They’d need permission. We could claim asylum if we could get to the starship or the UN, though.’
The President laughed. ‘Anyone here got any experience staging jailbreaks?’
««o»»
[Taken from Yol Slindo Merofort’s files. RBB]
‘Read this,’ said the Ambassador, passing a piece of paper to Slindo. Heldy flew to his shoulder to read it at the same time.
Attention Ambassador Garincha Dela Moroforon.
You are required to remove your ship from the United States of America immediately. None of your diplomatic staff are to remain in the country.
By order of the acting President of the United States, John Slimbridge.
‘Presumably, this ties in with what Perfect was saying about the President being arrested?’ said Slindo.
‘Why don’t we go get them?’ asked Heldy.
‘I’d like to, but such an action would not be allowed without the USA’s official permission. Our hands are tied,’ said the Ambassador. ‘Slindo, get Captain Staz to check everyone is aboard then take us out over international waters. Heldy, get me a number for the Canadian Prime Minister.’
««o»»
[Taken from the White House intranet. RBB]
John Slimbridge, two four-star generals, and an admiral sat in the oval office with coffee.
‘Toronto?’ asked the Vice President.
‘Yes, the starship left Central Park, spent a couple of hours hovering over international waters then travelled to Toronto where it is sitting in an open space just as it did here,’ said General Burko, of the Air Force.
Army General Braun added, ‘The Ambassador’s shuttle has detached and is now sitting in the United Nations complex so, technically, not in the USA.’
‘Are you attending the General Assembly tomorrow, sir?’ asked Admiral Mann of the Navy.
‘Too darn right. Now’s the time to stop this madness before it goes any further.’
««o»»
[Taken from Robert Nixon’s autobiography. RBB]
‘They’re obviously trying to keep us isolated,’ said Vernon.
‘Yes. They’re breaking the law. We’ve not had any of our legal rights,’ said Harry. ‘That short, stocky guard told me our lawyers have been trying to get access. He also said the aliens have been deported and are now in Toronto and the UN complex.’
‘Wonder what they have in mind. The General Assembly meeting is tomorrow,’ said the President.
‘You think they’ll try to stop the vote?’ asked Vernon.
‘No. They can’t stop the vote, but the Security Council all agreed not to apply vetoes. Slimbridge could veto any positive result,’ said the President.
‘The entire world will hate us,’ said Harry.
‘Exactly... and that is where my concern lies. It could bring us into direct conflict with China and Russia,’ said the President.
‘War?’ asked Vernon.
‘Not impossible. We have to get out of here somehow, before that moron starts a real conflict!’ said the President.
‘I’ll try to talk to that guard again,’ said Harry.
««o»»
[Taken from Yol Slindo Merofort’s files. RBB]
‘We think John Slimbridge will veto any result tomorrow,’ said Perfect Okafor as she sat at the head of the conference table in the UN side room. Facing her were Ken Hood, Jeanne Meunier, Da Cheung, Dimitri Ivanov, the Ambassador, Yol Merofort, and Ya Mistorn, who sat cross-legged in the middle of the table.
‘You can’t rescue them?’ asked Da Cheung.
‘No. Diplomatic procedures prohibit it,’ said the Ambassador.
‘We need to prepare for the vote. We could circulate minutes from the meeting where we decided vetoes wouldn’t be applied,’ said the Secretary General.
‘It won’t wash,’ said Ken Hood. ‘It was a voluntary arrangement.’
‘So,’ said Dimitri Ivanov, ‘we’re likely to be in a situation where the USA is vetoing a motion supported by most of the world.’
‘It’s happened before. Ukraine comes to mind,’ said Jeanne Meunier.
Dimitri Ivanov looked at her disapprovingly.
‘Is it possible they could be freed by their supporters? There’s hell to pay in the US media at the moment,’ said Ken Hood.
‘Trouble is, they’re all lone voices,’ said Jeanne Meunier. ‘Slimbridge is ruthless. The way that young intern, Beech, was dealt with was frightening. Frogmarched to jail because he wouldn’t fetch coffee.’
‘We’re prisoners to the course of events,’ said the Ambassador.
««o»»
[This Swedish television debate was compiled from digital video material stored in Yol Hareen Trestogeen’s office. RBB]
Questioner, ‘I don’t understand how you are going to stop wars, like the Syria situation if it starts up again.’
Ya Lindron, ‘A large number of robots will collect weapons, from official armies and revolutionaries. Neither side will have the wherewithal to fight an actual war.’
Questioner, ‘It is impossible to get all weapons out of the hands of these groups.’
Ya Lindron, ‘Your distrust of our robots’ abilities is misplaced. It is certainly a simple task for them, and it will go on to include explosives, knives, swords, and any other improvised weapons. At the same time, Syria’s leader will no longer be living in the way he does today. Levelling of incomes quickly takes away one of the benefits of having political power. Regimes throughout the world will soon discover that there is no point in running their countries for their own benefit alone.’
Another questioner, ‘What about religious fanatics?’
Ya Lindron, ‘Because of the sheer number of robots, fanaticism can be kept in small groups and will not be allowed to taint other people who do not believe the same way. Laws will be carefully created to ensure peace and freedom for all is maintained. I’m not privy to how that will be achieved as it will require delicate negotiations. The Federation believes everyone should have the right to worship their god or gods without interference.’
««o»»
[Taken from Robert Nixon’s autobiography. RBB]
Much had been going on behind the scenes and it finally resulted in action.
‘Mr President, sir, wake up,’ a man in black said, shaking the President’s shoulder.
I awoke too and saw Harvey Madden leaning over the President.
‘Harvey, what’s going on?’ I said as the President also came into wakefulness.
‘Harvey, what’s happening?’ he asked.
‘We’d had enough, sir. I’ve got the whole squad with me and the FBI are keeping the police off our backs,’ said the man in the ninja-like outfit.
The secret service to the rescue, I thought.
‘But you let me be arrested,’ said the President.
‘I’m afraid we believed the VP’s story and the document looked pretty official, plus the DA. They conned us. Not the sort of thing you expect a Vice President to do.’
‘What’s the plan?’
‘Come with us, sir. Others are releasing the rest of your party as we speak.’
We grabbed our jackets and left the jail cell. All the others were joining us in the dimly lit corridor.
Once we were all together, four secret service officers in stealth clothing led us towards the exit. Two more brought up the rear.
Harvey opened the door, poked a mirror into the crack and, once satisfied there were no surprises outside, pushed it open. In the passageway, a man in a crisp blue suit, smart shirt, and tie walked towards the President.
‘Gil. How lovely to see you,’ said the President.
‘So sorry we allowed this to happen, sir,’ said the FBI director, shaking the President’s hand.
‘Everything still clear, Mr Derry?’ asked Harvey.
‘All quiet,’ he replied.
‘What’s the plan, Gil?’ I asked.
‘We intend to get you out of here. We have a minibus outside to take you to a location where we have a chopper waiting. Then on to the UN complex,’ said the head of the FBI.
Within minutes, we were outside the precinct HQ, the chief of police shook the President’s hand and said how sorry he was that the VP had hoodwinked him, too. Soon we were heading out of the city centre and arrived at a school in the suburbs. A Sikorsky Sea King sat in the middle of the baseball diamond.
The party evacuated the minibus and made their way quickly to a single-storey building. They followed around the building in single file, were met by another dozen secret service officers and guided to the helicopter.
In the distance, sirens could be heard and looking back along their route, the slight mist was being illuminated by myriad flashing blue lights.
‘They’re on the way. Quick, everyone on board!’ said Harvey.
There were a couple of mechanical choking sounds and the Sikorsky’s powerful engines burst into life.
The cavalcade was moving very quickly, and the advance contingent turned into the school as the helicopter lifted into the air.
There was a volley of gunfire, several rounds hitting the Sikorsky as it banked sharply towards the north and set off at maximum speed.
‘Anyone hit back there?’ shouted the co-pilot.
They all looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief when they realised how near a miss it had been.
‘Five more minutes and they’d have had us, sir,’ said Harvey.
‘He might have scrambled the Air Force,’ said the President.
‘We’re flying a zigzag pattern at very low altitude, sir. Even if they did see us, they will dare not fire.’
‘Don’t bank on that, Harvey. If we escape and can speak to the media, his game will be up.’
Harvey made his way to the cockpit and warned the pilot that a pursuit might be more likely than first thought.
As the Sikorsky approached Manhattan, two jets screamed overhead.
‘We’re being told to land immediately, or we’ll be shot down,’ said the pilot. By now the President and I had earphones and could hear what was happening.
‘He can’t bring us down over New York,’ said Harvey.
‘Don’t you believe it,’ shouted the President. ‘Any resultant death and destruction would be blamed on terrorists hijacking this bird.’
‘I’m flying in among the buildings, sir. Don’t think anything could get a fix on us in here. Hold tight, though!’
The helicopter flew incredibly low and skyscrapers could be seen out of each side.
‘We’re in Park Avenue. Almost there,’ said the pilot.
The machine slowed almost to a stop and turned sharp right into East 42nd Street, picking up speed again as it dashed towards the UN complex.
‘Almost there, sir.’
The Sikorsky slowed rapidly, nose up to shed speed, flew over the 1st Avenue tunnel, turned towards the UN complex, and that was when the missile struck, sending the flaming wreck of the machine tumbling into the East River.