away in the kitchen, the owner of the restaurant was talking quietly in Arabic, on the phone, âItâs him, Iâm telling you, itâs him.â
âItâs incredible that heâs come there without a proper escort.â
âHeâs with two other people. I know one of them very well and Iâm sure heâs part of some strange organisation that could be linked to him in some way.â
âCan you take a picture of him and send it to me? I donât want to get all ready to pounce and then realise itâs simply a case of mistaken identity.â
âAll right, Iâll see what I can do. Give me a few minutes.â
The man closed the call, turned on the camera on his mobile phone, then placed it in his shirt pocket so the lens was not completely covered and, picking up an aluminium tray, placed three large glasses on it. He opened three bottles of beer and placed them next to each of the glasses. Then he lifted the tray up with his right hand, took a deep breath, and set off towards the table occupied by the three dining companions.
"I hope the brand is to your liking," he said while handing out the drinks. "Unfortunately we don't have many different types. The laws here are very strict about alcohol.â
"Yes, yes, don't worry," said the big guy as he grabbed a bottle and started pouring it for himself, filling the glass with foam.
The man, paying special attention to position himself right in front of the general, picked up his glass, tilted it slightly and carefully poured almost half the bottle into it. Then doing the same with the thin guyâs, he exclaimed "There you go! It doesnât need a poor Iraqi to teach three Americans how to pour beer, right?"
Loud laughter erupted spontaneously from the three diners who, raising their glasses, clinked them together in an auspicious toast.
The owner, having bowed slightly, withdrew once again into the kitchen. As soon as he crossed the threshold, having checked that nobody was watching, he looked at his mobile phone to check the recording heâd just made. The pictures were a little shaky but the chubby face of general Campbell was clearly visible. He immediately sent the movie to the number he had called earlier on and then waited patiently. Less than a minute went by and the phone vibrated slightly warning him of an incoming call
"It's him," said the voice on the other end. âWeâll be there within an hour at the most. Don't let them leave before we get there for any reason.â
âTheyâve only just arrived and they still have to start eating. Youâve got plenty of time,â and he hung up.
Theos spacecraft â The Admiral
Elisa was still observing the strange little object that Azakis had dropped into her hand when the door of internal communication module number six opened. Petri emerged, a broad smile on his face, holding the Colonelâs mobile.
"Done it," he exclaimed "or at least I hope I have." He quickly joined the three of them at the centre of the command bridge and continued âItâs a decidedly antiquated system but I think I've identified its operating principle. Iâve hooked up to one of those satellites that slowly circle around the planet in a much lower orbit than ours and now I think itâll be possible to make a âcallâ.â
âWell done my friend,â exclaimed Azakis. âI didnât doubt youâd manage it.â
âBefore singing victory, let's see if it actually works,â said Jack, taking the phone out of the alienâs hands. The Colonel looked carefully at the screen then said in a surprised tone "Thatâs incredible, Iâve got three notches of signal."
âGo on, try it,â suggested Elisa, all excited.
Jack rapidly ran through his list of contacts and found Admiral Wilsonâs number. But before calling, a doubt suddenly struck him, "what time is it now in Washington?"
"Well, it should be about two thirty in the afternoon," replied Elisa, after glancing at her wrist watch.
"Okay, Iâll try then." Jack took a deep breath then pressed the "ENTERâ key. The phone rang. Incredible...
He waited patiently and only after the seventh ring a husky deep voice answered, "Admiral Benjamin Wilson, who's there?"
âAdmiral. Itâs Colonel Jack Hudson. Can you hear me?â
âYes son, loud and clear. Itâs a pleasure to hear from you after so long. Is everything alright?"
âAdmiral... Yes, yes, thank you...." Jack was very embarrassed and didn't really know where to start. âIâm disturbing you about a matter of the greatest urgency, but itâs somewhat rather incredible.â
âFor goodness sake son, donât keep me on tenterhooks. What the devil is going on?â
âWell, itâs not easy to explain. You trust me, right?â
"Of course, what kind of question is that?"
"What I'm about to say may sound absurd to you but I can assure you itâs the plain simple truth."
"Jack, if you don't tell me straight away, my poor old heart may well stop beating.â
âOkay.â The Colonel paused slightly, then in a single breath blurted out, "At the moment, Iâm orbiting around the Earth. I'm in an alien spacecraft and I have some terrible news to report directly to the President of the United States. Youâre the only person I trust who can put me in touch with him. I swear on the memory of my father that this is not a joke."
Several very long seconds went by with no sound coming out of the phoneâs speaker. For a moment Jack feared he had scared the Admiral to death. Then the husky voice on the other end said, "But are you really calling me from up there? How the devil can you do that?â
Wilson really is amazing. Instead of worrying about aliens, heâs wondering how I can use my mobile from up here ... Fantastic...
"Well, with their technology they managed to make some kind of connection with a telecommunications satellite. I can't tell you much more than that.â
âAliens. Where are they from? And what exactly is this imminent catastrophe? And why did they choose you exactly?â
âAdmiral, itâs a long story that I really hope Iâll have the time to tell you, but for now the most important thing is for you to put me in contact with the President as soon as possible.â
âMy dear boy, I trust you blindly, but to get our beloved President to believe a story like that, I'll need something more than a simple phone call from you."
âYes I thought so and it only seems rightâ continued Jack. âAnd if I were to tell you that at the moment you are sitting in a dark brown armchair and you have a copy of the New York Times on your lap, would my story be more convincing?â Petri had been able to identify the Admiralâs coordinates through his phone signal,
