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[Extracted from Captain Staz’s files including Ya Unsela’s interview with Ya Eloo Merofort. Also, recordings of Earth TV. RBB]
The slim blue ape-like creature was shaking as Ya Unsela comforted her.
‘Describe your experience, Ya Merofort. It will help me calm you,’ said the Terotonian, unnervingly slipping in and out of reality.
With a trembling voice, Eloo tried to recount the event. ‘I’d just put Rindo down for his afternoon nap. Daro was in the sports room. He is all right, isn’t he?’
‘Yes. Be not concerned about Daro. Rindo will soon recover from his broken arm. You can see him again shortly.’
‘Well, I’d just put Rindo down and tucked him in. Poor little mite. I returned to the cabin, sat down with a cup of deroo, and the next thing I knew, I was lying against the wall and it was no longer vertical.’
‘And that is when you realised that your ribs hurt?’
‘Yes, and now I’m stuck in this ward bed swaddled in strapping. What’s happening exactly?’
‘Calm down, Eloo. Your ribs will heal, and the children are safe,’ said the Terotonian, softly as her spidery hands encircled Eloo’s head.
‘But what happened?’
‘Be calm. Let the pain dissipate through your body. Think of warmth. Be calm. Let anxiety fade.’
‘I’m okay now, Zo. What happened?’ said Eloo, eager to know what had taken place.
‘Now I have you calmed down and steady, I’ll get Captain Staz to come to talk to you.’
‘Thank you,’ Eloo said as she tried to relax back into the comfort of the hospital bed. ‘But can’t you at least tell me what’s happened?’
‘I don’t know the detail, Eloo. Captain Staz will be here soon,’ said Ya Zo Unsela as she left the medical ward.
Normally, the ship’s movements were undetectable by its passengers or crew, except on the bridge but Eloo distinctly felt the Ronoi shake and move jerkily several times before the captain knocked and poked his elongated pink head around the door. Another vibration struck. Something had to be seriously wrong with the ship.
‘Captain Staz, come in,’ she said.
‘Ya Merofort, please call me Braden. May I call you Eloo?’ he said as he moulded himself into the unfamiliar shape of the hospital visitor’s chair, his tentacles flowing over the arms and back.
‘Of course, Braden. What’s been happening? What’s wrong with the ship?’
‘Ah, you’ve noted the partial failure of the inertial dampers. They’ll be back to normal soon. The engineers are making temporary repairs. However, I’m afraid I have some pretty bad news. You’ve seen Ya Unsela?’
‘Yes. She left about ten minutes ago. She didn’t know what had happened, either.’
‘I have very bad news indeed. We have been trying to make sense of the situation and it has only now become clear. I will need to speak to many but chose you to be first.’
Eloo sat up, wincing at the pain in her chest, ‘Bad news. What bad news?’
‘I am so sorry, Eloo, but Slindo has been killed in an explosion.’
‘What? Where? How? When? What explosion?’
‘A group opposed to Federation membership placed a bomb under the United Nations building.’
‘Nooo!’
‘I’m afraid so,’ said the captain, resting a tentacle on her arm.
Eloo cried. It was not the despairing anguishing cries which would have arisen if Ya Unsela had not provided her calming therapy, but they were tears of grief nonetheless, and would require further counselling.
‘I’m so sorry, Eloo. As you know, Slindo had become a great friend during this mission to Earth.’
‘But why did it affect the Ronoi? What caused the ship to turn over?’
‘In Central Park, we were only three miles from the explosion. The blast knocked us over. We quickly stabilised the ship and flew into orbit. Shuttles have returned to New York to look for survivors. No one survived the explosion.’
‘What, Garincha, Heldy, Bod, Lyl, Ja – all gone?’
‘Yes, and the heads of state of most of the world.’
‘What sort of bomb could do that?’
‘A small nuclear device. We think it must have been smuggled into the UN basement.’
‘So, there’s no hope at all?’
‘No, Eloo. I was waiting until we were certain before telling you.’
‘Was the whole city destroyed?’
‘Pretty much the whole of Manhattan. A ten-mile circle taking in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Union and Jersey City, the Heights and much of the east of Long Island. Even Garincha’s shuttle melted in the blast. We are very fortunate. Only our shielding protected us and even then, as you know, the entire ship was tipped over.’
‘I must tell Viro that Daro’s okay before the news reaches her.’
‘Yes, I’ll bring you a communicator. Once again, I’m so sorry.’
‘Thank you, Braden.’
‘Now, I must leave you. A new Federation ambassador, Hareen Trestogeen, is on his way in a rapid reaction FEU vessel. I must prepare a more detailed report for him.’
««o»»
[Taken from Ambassador Hareen Trestogeen’s files. RBB]
‘How’re the repairs?’ Ambassador Trestogeen asked Captain Staz. Like all Pestochians, when standing he swayed back and forth on his muscular tail as he talked. Generally fishlike in appearance, his scales, where exposed, glistened like mother of pearl with bioluminescent green tips. His body was circular yet flat, like a discus with fins developed into prehensile appendages. His head gave the appearance of looking off to one side, with both eyes on the left of his face.
‘We’re operational and I intend to take us to dry dock on Delarkon when we’re finished here.’
‘Did we lose many people?’
‘Well, all the Ambassador’s party, the councillor for the region, Ya Prold Curmbin and her two assistants, plus a handful of security officers.’
‘Find me their families names and numbers. I’ll call each of them personally.’
‘Yes, Chief Petty Officer Yeronez is already on the job.’
‘Any news about what happened?’
‘Inspector Ya Strin Verolmoron is on the ground in London and relaying television news broadcasts. There’s one due in about three minutes. Want to watch?’
‘Yes, please, captain.’
The two beings left the captain’s office and hurried along to a room just off the corridor which led to the bridge. Captain Staz switched on the monitor and they settled down to watch, Ambassador Trestogeen no longer swaying, now that he was seated.
‘This is the evening news from the BBC at eleven o’clock,’ said the presenter.
Big Ben’s chimes struck the hour and he continued.
‘The headlines today. There is still chaos in New York, where terrorists blew up the United Nations building during a full meeting of the General Assembly, killing over one hundred and eighty heads of state, including Prime Minister Hood and the entire Federation diplomatic team.’
As he spoke, aerial footage of New York was being shown. Hardly a building remained within ten miles of the UN HQ. Stumps of skyscrapers reached forlornly towards the heavens, yet, in the distance, buildings in Newark and beyond were unscathed.
‘Tributes are being paid to Prime Minister Ken Hood and Maureen Church has visited the king for permission to form a government.’
Wispy trails of smoke from some quarters and thicker, darker plumes rose into the air from Manhattan as the video switched to recordings from closed circuit cameras to show the explosion, as it occurred, from all points of the compass.
‘Federation inspector, Strin Verolmoron is at Number Ten at this moment. As far as we’re aware, she is the only Federation survivor, although a camera in Harlem appears to show the Ronoi lifting off through the smoke of the firestorm.’
The video depicted the vague shape of the ship, stuttering into the sky from its Central Park mooring, through billowing clouds of smoke, swaying back and forth, and listing heavily to one side as it cleared the city.
‘We’re hoping to talk to Ya Verolmoron when she emerges.’
The Ambassador and captain sat in silence as the news continued.
‘More news is arriving by the minute. It now looks as if the bomb was planted by a rebel contingent of the US military headed by General Burko. Sources in Washington tell us that he is at the White House and in discussions with Vice President John Slimbridge who has been released from custody. More than three million are feared dead. The EU President, Philippe Dupont, has condemned the action of the rebel group.’
‘This is dreadful,’ said the Ambassador, ‘simply dreadful.’
‘What’s to be done?’
‘Tell the FEU force who brought me, that I want Ya Verolmoron recovered from London and brought to see me. I’m going to my cabin, captain. I’ve a call to make to President Dimorathron.’
‘I’ll organise that, Ambassador,’ said the captain and the two of them left the viewing room.
««o»»
[Taken from Ambassador Hareen Trestogeen’s files. RBB]
‘And that’s all we know, Ye President,’ said the Ambassador.
‘Do you think any of it is recoverable?’
‘I doubt it, but I should be seeing Ya Verolmoron shortly. I’m having the FEU collect her from the place called London.’
‘Okay, Hareen. Call me as soon as you have the full picture.’
‘I will, Ye President.’
««o»»
[Taken from Ambassador Hareen Trestogeen’s files. RBB]
‘Sit down, Strin,’ said the Ambassador.
Ya Verolmoron took an easy chair opposite the chaise longue, preferred by the Ambassador for its comfort given his fishlike shape.
‘Did you speak to the new Prime Minister?’
‘Very briefly. She said she’d be condemning President Slimbridge and his military supporters in the strongest possible terms. Frankly, we’d barely exchanged pleasantries before I found myself aboard the FEU vessel.’
‘What’s the public’s mood like down there?’
‘Horrified. They are all deeply shocked. It was so totally unexpected. I can’t believe the whole diplomatic team was killed.’
‘Your partner, Yol Serin, was on board at the time, so you and he are the only survivors. He’s in medical with a broken leg. Captain Staz told me that they also lost four crew who were sightseeing and there are twenty walking wounded who were knocked about when the explosion rocked the Ronoi.’
‘What’s going to happen, Yol Ambassador? Are you going to try to reopen negotiations?’
‘Frankly, I don’t know. Now I’ve seen you, I intend to watch another news broadcast from London and talk to President Dimorathron again. We’ll then make a decision.’
The Ambassador made his way to the captain’s viewing room and watched the main morning news bulletin.
In Washington, President Slimbridge had announced a new federation-sceptic government and was being backed by the military. The new Presidents of Russia, China, and India had condemned America for its action against the UN. Forces were being mobilised and the threat was clearly nuclear. Ambassadors were being withdrawn from Washington.
News journalists were talking about the lack of action by the Federation. Extreme worries were being expressed that no contact had been made since the explosion. There was concern that there might be a military reaction by the aliens. Could they see it as an act of war against them? The sudden unannounced disappearance of the Federation inspector from Downing Street added to the concern. How would the Federation view the murder, without warning, of an entire diplomatic team?
Elsewhere in the world, America was being condemned by the majority of nations who were prepared to sign up to Federation membership. It was as if utopia had been snatched away at the point of the so-called Rapture.
US borders were put on alert. American ambassadors were expelled from Moscow, Beijing, almost every Middle-Eastern country, and many of the African capitals.
Russia announced that a state of war now existed between itself and the United States of America. European governments were begging them not to overreact and China, other than a verbal condemnation, was remaining inscrutable.
In the USA, news channels had castigated the new administration and both CNN and Fox had been shut down by emergency presidential decree. Others were told to think carefully before they repeated the criticisms on air.
Ambassador Trestogeen trudged back to his cabin and called the Federation President.
The people of the world looked on with bated breath.