Iâll be damned," exclaimed the Admiral jumping up and dropping his paper on the floor. âHow on earth do you know that? There arenât any hidden cameras here. My office is checked and cleared every day.â
âWell, what Iâm seeing you with isnât really a âcameraâ. Letâs say itâs an absolutely incredible viewing system. Weâre 50,000 kilometres from Earth and I could easily read your newspaper from here. I could even tell you how fast your heart is beating at the moment.â
"You're joking, right?"
Jack glanced at Petri who immediately changed the display mode.
Now the Admiral appeared as a reddish figure with various yellowish and dark grey nuances. Some numbers appeared to the right at the top of the screen. Jack read them and said, âYour heart beat is ninety-eight beats per minute and your blood pressure is 135/90 mmHg.â
âYes, I know, itâs a bit high. I take medication to keep it under control but it doesnât always work. Itâs my age, you know...â Then he pondered a moment and exclaimed âBut this is absolutely incredible, itâs amazing! Do you think youâll be able to do the same with the President too?"
âI think so,â replied Jack, looking for a sign of agreement from Petri, who merely gave a slight nod.
âCould you give me a clue at least of what is about to happen to us all? Considering theyâve bothered to come from who knows where to let us know, it must be a pretty damn serious event.â
âOkay, I think itâs right you should know about it.â
Elisa was encouraging him to carry on with sweeping hand gestures and pulling strange faces with her mouth.
âTheir planet is approaching ours at breakneck speed. One of its satellites, Kodon to be precise, will come near to hitting us in a little less than seven days and could produce a series of indescribable upheavals. Our orbit and the moonâs, could even be affected. Tidal waves on earth could sweep away submerged land and the waters could carry away millions and millions of people. A catastrophe, in a nutshell."
The Admiral was speechless. He slumped heavily into his brown armchair and, in a very small voice, just managed to whisper, âWell Iâll be damned.â
"Actually, our friends here, would be happy to make a system available to us that would be capable of containing most of the disastrous effects, but itâs a very dangerous procedure, that has never been completely tested before. Moreover, even if everything were to go in the best possible way, we won't be able to get through the event unharmed. A part of the planetary influence, although small, unfortunately cannot be contained. Therefore, we should be preparing ourselves to reduce the damage and losses to a minimum."
"My dear boy" replied the Admiral feebly. "I really think the President should know everything youâve just told me immediately. I just hope, for both of us, that this isnât some kind of joke, because neither of us would get away with it although, in my heart, Iâm really hoping it is. Perhaps Iâve simply fallen asleep in my chair and Iâll wake up soon realising that this is nothing more than a bad nightmare."
"I wish that too, Admiral. But unfortunately, this is not a bad dream but the stark reality. Iâm trusting in you to get this news to the President."
"Okay. Just give me a bit of time to find the right way to get to him. How can I get in touch with you?â
"I think you can simply call me back on this number," said Jack looking at Petri who, with a rather hesitant expression, shrugged his shoulders. "It should work" continued Jack. "However, if I don't hear back from you within the hour, Iâll call you again, okay?"
âAgreed. Until later then.â
"Thank you very much," said the Colonel and closed the conversation. He remained perfectly still for a few seconds, staring into space then, turning to the three who were literally hanging on his every word, very quietly said "Heâll help us."
"Let's hope so," said Elisa a little hesitantly. "I donât think itâs going to be easy to convince the President this isnât a hoax."
"Only he can do something like this. Letâs just give him a bit of time." Then, turning towards Petri, he said, " try and put on a good show with your âsensorsâ or whatever other wizardry you want to use. We must surprise them with something really exceptional, that will leave them all open mouthed."
"Leave it to me," said Petri with a sardonic little smile. "Weâve got plenty of special effects."
"If you want, I can show you the exact location of the White House, the official residence of the President of the United States of America and of the Pentagon, which of course is the general headquarters of the Department of Defence."
"Well," said Elisa approaching Azakis, âwhile you two are having fun scaring those poor souls on Earth, I'd now like you to explain to me what this strange thing is that you gave me earlier on."
"Like I said, I think it may be the solution to all your waste problems.â
"Youâre not going to tell me that I can just turn it on to make all the plastic thatâs laying around disappear, are you?"
"Unfortunately we haven't invented something like that yet but this might help you replace it.â
"I'm all ears," and she handed it to him.
"This little object is nothing more than a mini forcefield generator. Thanks to some very simple programming it can take any shape you want.â
"What do you mean?"
âI'll show you now. Open your hand." Azakis gently clasped the small dark rectangle between his thumb and forefinger and placed it on her open palm. Not even a second went by and, as if by magic, a beautiful vase in a thousand variegated colours materialised in her hand.
âWhat the heck...â Frightened, Elisa instinctively drew back her hand and let go of the vase which fell on the floor bouncing untidily here and there, but without breaking and, above all, without making any noise.
"Sorry," was all Elisa managed to whisper regretfully. "I really didnât expect that," and she bent to pick it up again.
She held it, lifted it above her head and began to observe it from all sides. Despite the completely smooth surface, the light did not seem to be reflected on it in any way. To the touch the object was a little colder than she expected and it did not seem to be made of any material known to her.
"This thing is absolutely amazing. How did you do it?â
"Itâs all thanks to that," replied Azakis, indicating the small black object that seemed to be set into the bottom of the vase. "Thatâs whatâs generating a forcefield in the shape you can see."
"And could you also do this in the shape of a bottle?"
"Certainly,â said Azakis with a smile. "Look." So saying, he rested the fingertip of his index finger on the small rectangle and the vase disappeared. He gripped it again resting his thumb on it and an elegant cobalt blue bottle, with a long, thin neck, appeared out of
