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, dark eyes looked beyond the glass of the window, in the direction of Central Park, scrutinising the magnificent park which, from virtually right under his feet, stretched four kilometres in length and eight hundred metres in width, representing an invaluable green space, a source of oxygen and recreation, for the almost two million inhabitants of the island.
âMr Senator, may I?" said a small bald man, with an expressionless face, knocking timidly at the elegant entrance door in dark lacquered wood. To the side, a small gilded nameplate in black italics announced, "Senator Jonathan Preston".
âWhat is it?" answered the man without even turning around.
âThereâs an encrypted video communication on hold for you."
âOkay, Iâll take it from here. Close the door when you leave."
The man walked slowly towards the elegant dark desk and sat down on the soft black leather desk chair. With an automatic gesture, he touched the knot of his tie, placed the earpiece in his right ear and pushed a small grey button located underneath the top of the desk. A large semi-transparent monitor, began to descend from the ceiling with a slight hissing sound, until it gently came to rest on the top of the desk. The man touched the screen and General Campbellâs large face appeared before him.
âGeneral, I note with pleasure that you are no longer a guest of the nation's prison service."
âSenator, how are you? I wanted to thank you, first of all, for the
