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2: Announcements

Suspicion is the companion of mean souls, and the bane of all good society.

—Thomas Paine, Common Sense

COUNTDOWN: H MINUS SIX WEEKS

"I really don't think you should do that," Jeanette Crichton said.

Richard Owen paused with his hand on the telephone, then snorted. "Nothing you can do about it. The Army doesn't have any jurisdiction over me."

"I never said we did," Jeanette said. "And why be paranoid? But you ought to think it over."

"I already did," Owen said. "The Soviets have to know. They may already, in which case it's better if they know that we know about it. And you're nice and friendly, but somehow I've got the feeling that if I wait very long a real spook might show up." He lifted the receiver and dialed.

And now what? Jeanette thought. He's right, the Army doesn't have any jurisdiction, and the Russians probably know all about it anyway. If they don't now, they'll learn soon enough. They have a lot more in space than we do, with their big manned station.

"Academician Pavel Bondarev," Owen said. "Da. Bondarev," His fingers drummed against the desk, "Pavel? Richard Owen in Hawaii. Uh—yes, of course, I'll wait," He put his hand over the transmitter, "They have a policy," he told Jeanette. "They're not allowed to talk to Americans unless there are three of them together. Even somebody as high as Bondarev. Talk about paranoid, these guys own the copyright. . . Ah. Academician Bondarev? Your colleagues are there? Excellent. This is Professor Richard Owen, University of Hawaii, We've turned up something interesting I think you better know about . . ."

* * *

Pavel Aleksandrovich Bondarev put down the telephone and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"Is it real?" Boris Ogarkov's flat peasant lace was twisted into an inquiring frown, which made him look very unpleasant.

"Yes," Bondarev said absently. Boris was the Institute Party Secretary. He was not well educated. Boris was from the working class. Uninspired but tireless Party activities had brought him to the attention of his superiors. He was one of those raised to a position of power, who knew that loyalty to the system was the only way be would ever be more than a menial. He had cunning enough to know that the Institute was important to the Soviet Union, and so not to interfere with its work. instead be busied himself with seeing that there was a portrait of Lenin in every office, and that everyone, scientist, secretary, clerk, or janitor, voted in every election. "I know this American well," Bondarev continued. "We have published two papers together, and worked together when I was in the United States. He would not call me for a hoax."

"Not as a hoax;" Andrei Pyatigorskiy said. "But could he be mistaken? We have seen no evidence of this."

"Perhaps we have," Bondarev said. "And perhaps not, As a favor, Anditi, will you please call Dr. Nosov at the observatory, and ask his staff to examine all the photographs that might be relevant?"

"Certainly."

"Thank you. I need not say that Nosov must not speak of this to anyone. No matter what he finds."

"I can call the Party Secretary at the observatory," Boris Ogarkov said. "He will help to keep this secret."

Bondarev nodded agreement.

"But, Pavel Aleksandrovich, do you believe this story? Alien spacecraft coming to Earth?" Pyatigorskiy gestured helplessly. "How can you believe it?"

Bondarev shrugged. "If you agree that they did not lie, we have no choice but to believe it. The Americans have excellent equipment, and enough so that every observatory has comparators and computers. As you well know—"

"If we had half so much—" Pyatigorskiy said. Half the time he had to build his own equipment, because the Institute could not get the foreign exchange credits to obtain electronics and optics from the West, and unless it had been built for the military, Russian laboratory equipment did not work well.

Bondarev shrugged again. "Certainly. But there are many reasons why the Americans would see it first."

"Perhaps it has been seen from Kosmograd." Boris Ogarkov said.

Pyatiggrskiy nodded agreement. "Their telescopes are much better than those we have here."

"I will ask," Bondaiev said. And perhaps get an answer, perhaps not. Reports from the Soviet space station were closely guarded. Often Bondarev did not get them for months.

"We should see their photographs," Pyatigotskiy said. "Instantly when they come in. And you should be able to call Rogachev and tell him where to point his instruments."

"Perhaps," Bondarev said. He looked significantly at his subordinate. Andrel Pyatigorskiy was an excellent development scientist, but his career would not be aided by criticizing policy in front of Boris Ogarkov. Boris probably would not report this, but he would remember . . .

"It is vital," Andrei continued. He sounded stubborn. "If aliens are coming, we must make preparations."

"Is it not likely that they know in Moscow?" Ogarkov asked.

"Perhaps they have heard from Kosmograd, and already know."

"I think not." Bondarev said quietly. "It is of course possible. They know much in Moscow. But I think we here would have heard, if not what they know, that they have learned something of importance. In the meantime, it is vital that we look at our own photographs. If this object shows, then we know it is no hoax." He looked thoughtful. "No ordinary hoax, at all events."

* * *

"So that's that," Richard Owen said. "They hadn't seen it." He walked over to the window overlooking the road up Mauna Kea.

"Or said they hadn't," Jeanette said.

"Yeah, that's right." He glanced at his watch. "Next thing is a press conference." He looked at her defiantly.

She shook her head. "Richard, there's nothing I can do to stop you. I think you're wrong, though."

"Don't the people have a right to know?"

"I suppose so." she said. "Do you think the Russians believe you?"

"Why shouldn't they?" Owen demanded.

"They don't often believe anything we say. They see plots everywhere," Jeanette said.

"Not Bondarev," Owen protested. "I've known him a long time, He'll believe me."

"Yes. But will his superiors believe him? Anyway, it's not my problem. . ."

"Sure about that?"

"What?"

"There's a mess of cars coming up the road," Owen said. "State police, and an Army staff car. I never saw anything like that up here before . . ."

* * *

Lieutenant Hal Brassfield was nervous. He couldn't have been more than twenty years old, and he wasn't sure who Jeanette was.

Small wonder, she thought.

"Captain," he said, "I don't really know any more than that. The orders said to get you to Washington by first available transportation, highest priority, and we arranged that. A chopper will meet us down at the five-thousand-foot level. He'll get you to Pearl. There's a Navy jet standing by there."

Jeanette frowned, "Isn't that a bit unusual?"

"You bet your sweet—yes, ma'am, that's unusual. Leastwise I never did anything like this before."

She looked at the sheet of orders. They'd been hastily typed from telephone dictation, and looked nothing like standard military orders. She'd never seen anything like them. Come to that, she thought, not very many officers had. At the bottom it said "By order of the President of the United States," and below that was "For the President, James F. Frantz, Chief of Staff."

"Those came in about an hour ago," the lieutenant said. "And it's all I know. We're a training command, Captain."

"All right, Lieutenant, but someone will have to go to my hotel. I have things there, and the bill has to be paid."

"Yes, ma'am, Major Johnston said I'd have to take care of that. I'll send your bags on to you, only I don't know where to send them." He chuckled. "I wouldn't think the White House would be the right address for a captain. But that's the only place listed on those orders."

Jeanette nodded, more to herself than to the lieutenant. Whenever she was in Washington, she stayed at Flintridge with her aunt and uncle, so that was no problem. Only it was probably a "hurry up and wait" situation. There wasn't any need for her at the White House. Not that urgently, and probably not at all. The President would want to confirm the sighting, but before she could get to Washington he'd have a dozen others to tell him about the mysterious—what? She giggled.

"Penny for your thoughts," Richard Owen said.

"What do we call it?" she asked. "UFO? But it isn't flying."

Lieutenant Brassfield looked puzzled. "UFO? All this is over a flying saucer?"

"Yes," Jeanette said.

"Hey, now wait a minute—"

"It's all true," Richard Owen said. "We've spotted an alien spaceship. It's on its way to Earth. Captain Crichton called the Army."

"Maybe I better not know any more about this," Brassfield said.

Jeanette thought of Richard Owen's upcoming press conference and laughed. "It won't hurt. Lieutenant, do you have anyone in Kona? Or somebody who can get there fast?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Have him go to the Kamehameha Hotel and collect my bags. He's to be careful with my uniform, but get it packed. All my stuff. Then drive like hell to meet us where that helicopter is picking us up. If I'm going to the White House, I am damned if I'll go bare-legged!"

* * *

KGB Headquarters was across the city square from the Institute. It was a drab brick building, in contrast to the Institute's pillars and marble facade. Pavel Bondarev walked briskly across the square. It was a pleasant day, warm enough that he did not need an overcoat.

A new man sat at the reception desk in KGB headquarters. He looked very young. Pavel Bondarev grimaced, then shrugged. What cannot be cured must be endured. He had learned patience, and he forced himself to be still, although he was bursting with the news.

A long line of citizens waited in front of the reception desk. Men in ill-fitting suits, women in stained skirts and scarves, farmers, workers, minor factory officials—they all held forms to be signed, permission slips of one kind or another. Today there were not so many farmers; in fall there would be hundreds wanting to sell the produce from their tiny private plots.

Bondarev shook his head. Absurd, he thought. They should be working, not standing in lines here. But it is typically Russian, and if they didn't stand in lines they wouldn't work anyway. They'd just get drunk.

If there were not residency controls, everyone would live in Moscow. Once while visiting Washington he'd heard a song at an American's party: "How you going to keep them down on the farm?" It was evidently a problem for the Americans as well as the Russians.

He walked past the line. A man at the head of the line, round-faced like Boris Ogarkov, glared at him sullenly but didn't say anything. Bondarev stood at the desk. Two men were at another desk nearby. He thought he recognized the one who was typing a report on a battered machine of German make. Bondarev wondered idly if the typewriter had been brought to Russia by the Wehrmacht. It was certainly old enough. Provincial establishments, even KGB, did not often get new equipment.

The reception officer ignored him as long as possible, then looked up insolently. "Yes?"

You will be that way, will you? Bondarev thought. Very well. Bondarev spoke quietly, but loud enough so he was certain that the men at the next desk could overhear him. "I am Bondarev. I wish to see the duty officer."

The desk officer frowned. The man at the next desk ceased typing.

"What is the nature of your business?"

"If I had meant for you to know, I would have told you," Bondarev said. "Now you will please inform the senior officer present that Academician Bondarev, Director of the Lenin Research Institute of Astrophysics and Cosmography, wishes to see him and that the matter is urgent."

The receptionist's frown deepened, but his face lost the insolent look. A full Academician would have powerful friends, and the Institute was important in their provincial city. The officer who had been typing got up from the desk and came over. "Certainly, Comrade Academician," he said. "I will go and tell Comrade Orlov at once." He looked down sideways at the receptionist, then left.

"I am required to ask," the receptionist said. His voice was sullen.

He has not long held his commission as an officer of the KGB, Bondarev thought. And he has rather enjoyed having everyone act respectful, even fearful. He did not expect to find someone to fear.

"This way, Comrade Academician." The other agent indicated a doorway.

As Bondarev passed through, the receptionist was saying, "How should I know he was an Academician? He did not say so." Bondarev smiled.

The office was not large. The desk was cluttered. Bondarev did not recognize the officer at the desk, but he was certain he had seen him before.

"Yes, Comrade Academician?"

"I must use your scrambler telephone to call Moscow, Comrade Orlov. Party Third Secretary Narovchatov in the Kremlin. It is urgent. No one must listen. It is a matter of state security."

"If it is a matter of state security, we must record—"

"Yes, but not to listen," Bondarev said. "Comrade, believe me, you do not want to listen to this call."

 

It took nearly an hour to complete the call. Then General Narovchatov's voice came on the line. "Pavel Aleksandrovich! It is good to hear from you." The hearty gravel voice changed. "All is well?"

"Da, Comrade General. Marina is well, your grandchildren are well."

"Ah. Another year, Pavel. Another year and you may return to Moscow. But hard as it is, you must stay there now. Your work is needed."

"I know," Bondarev said. "Marina will be grateful that it is only one more year. That, however, is not why I have called."

"Then?"

"I have called from the KGB station in order to use the scrambler telephone. The officer on duty is watching to see that no one listens. It is a matter of great importance, Nikolai Nikolayevich. The greatest importance."

* * *

General Nikolai Nikolayevich Narovchatov put down the telephone and carefully finished writing his notes in the leather-bound book on his desk. Once in Paris a wealthy lady had given him a score of the leather books, full of blank pages of excellent paper. That had been long ago, long enough that his baggage had been searched when he returned, and the border guards had wondered what sinister messages were written on the blank paper until the superiors he traveled with had become impatient and the guards wordlessly passed him through. Each book lasted nearly a year, and now only two were left.

He stared at his notes. Aliens. An alien spaceship was coming to Earth. Nonsense.

But it is not nonsense, he thought. Pavel Bondarev would not have been my ideal of a son-in-law. I would have preferred that Marina marry a diplomat. Still, there is no questioning that the Academician is intelligent. Intelligent and cautious. He would not call if he were not certain. The Americans have seen this object—

The Americans say they have seen this object. An American scientist calls a Soviet scientist. A friendly gesture, one scientist to another.

Could this be? Narovchatov stared at his notebook as if the notes he had taken could tell him something he didn't know. Pavel Bondarev was intelligent, he knew this American, and he believed that this was real. But of course he would. The CIA was clever. Almost as clever as the KGB.

And more to the point—the KGB would not believe the Americans. He thought of the problems a provincial KGB officer would have in trying to notify Moscow of a development like this, and nodded in satisfaction. it would be hours before the senior officials of the KGB would know.

The Americans have seen something, or say they have. More important, now that they knew where to look, Russian astronomers at the Urals Observatory have seen it as well.

Not nonsense. It is real. Something is there. Could the Americans have done something like this? It didn't seem likely, but the Americans had surprised them before.

I must do something. I do not know what.

Narovchatov's ornately carved desk stood at one end of a long, high-ceilinged room. The inevitable portrait of Lenin dominated rugs covered the floor. The room was comfortable, full of quiet elegance, tasteful and restful, a room where he could work; but it was also a room where he could relax, as was necessary more and more often now.

He had first seen this room as a very young soldier at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. His special regiment had been assigned to guard duty in the Kremlin just before the Germans were driven away. It was not a long tour of duty. The OMSBON were sent to chase Germans soon after.

It had been long enough, and he had seen enough. Nikolai Nikolayevich Narovchatov would never return to Kirov, where his father worked in the hammer mill. Communism had been kind enough to Nikolai Narovchatov. It had taken him from the villages to Kirov, from the stolid peasant misery of a Russian winter to the comparative warmth of the city and industrial life. It had made his children literate. Nikolai never wanted more, but his son did. If that office came from Communism, then Communism was worth studying.

It took him thirty years, but he never doubted that he would arrive. Party work in the Army, then Moscow University, where he studied engineering and always took excellent marks in the political courses. He could have had better grades in his academic subjects, but he did not want to show up his friends, for he always sought out the relatives of high party officials. If you wish power, it is best to have friends in high places; and if you know no one in high places, meet their children.

Great Stalin died, and Khrushchev began his slow rise to power. Those were not easy years, for it was difficult to tell who would win in the inevitable struggle. Beria had fallen, and with him fell the NKVD, to be divided into the civil militia and the KGB . . . Nikolai Narovchatov chose his friends carefully, and kept his ties with the Party. Eventually he married the daughter of the Party Secretary of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, largest of the fifteen republics that together made up the USSR. Shortly after, Khrushchev fell, and the Party men became even more dominant.

From then on his rise was rapid. He became a "political general." Mostly he despised that group, but the title was useful. it paid well, and gave him ties within the Army and the Rocket Forces; and unlike many political generals, he had fought in the Great Patriotic War, and elsewhere. He had earned his medals.

As I have earned my place, he thought. Party work, arse kissing, yes, enough of that, but I have also built factories that actually produce goods. I have helped keep the Germans helpless, cannot the Americans understand why we must? I have dismissed corrupt officials where I could, and minimized the damage of those I could not do without. I have been a good manager, and I have earned my place. A good place, with my son safely established in the Ministry of Trade, and my daughters well married, one grandchild in Moscow's Institute of International Relations. . .

And now this.

At least I shall be the first to inform the Chairman. Marina, Marina, I did not approve your choice of a husband, but I see I was wrong. It was a good day when you met Pavel Aleksandrovich Bondarev. A very good day.

He pushed back his chair and stood, and feeling very weary, went down the ornate hall to the office of the Chairman.

* * *

The biggest story in history, and David Coffey was president when it happened. Aliens, coming here!

He sat at the center of the big table in the Cabinet Room. The others had stood when he entered, and didn't take their seats until he was settled. It upset David, but he'd become used to it. They didn't stand for David Coffey, but for the President of the United States.

Coffey was aware that at least half the people in the room thought they could do the job better than he could, and one or two might be right. They'd never get the chance. Not even Henry Morton. The political writers all like to talk about Henry being 'a heartbeat away from the Presidency,' but I never felt better in my life. The Party wanted Morton as Vice President, but he'll never have a clear shot at this chair.

David was a little in awe of the Secretary of State. Dr. Arthur Hart had written a best-seller on diplomacy, made a fortune trading in overseas commodities, and was a favorite guest on the TV talk shows. Hart's face was probably better known to the average citizen than the President's.

But he'll never sit here either. Hasn't enough fire in his belly. He'd like to be President, but he hasn't the killer instinct it takes to get high elective office.

David looked around the table at the others. Certainly Hart was the most distinguished man in the room. It wasn't an overwhelmingly distinguished cabinet.

"I don't think I have it in me to be a great president," David had told his wife the night he was elected. When Jeanne protested, David shook his head. "But then I don't think the country wants a great president just now. The nation's about worn out with great this and great that. I can't be a great president, so I'll just have to settle for being a damned good one—and that I can manage."

And so far I have. It's not a great cabinet, but it's a damned good one.

"Gentlemen. And ladies," he added for the benefit of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Interior. "In place of our regular agenda, there is a somewhat pressing item which the Chief of Staff will explain to you. Jim, if you will—"

 

"It's just plain damned crazy," Peter McCleve said. "Mr. President, I will not believe it." He turned toward the President in his place at the center of the big conference table. "I simply do not believe it."

"You can believe it," Ted Griffin said. The Secretary of Defense spoke directly to the Attorney General, but he talked mostly for the President's benefit. "Peter, I heard it just before I came over."

"Sure, from the same people who told Dawson," McCleve said.

"They do seem to have checked it thoroughly." Ted Griffin was a big man, tall and beefy and built like the football player he'd been. He looked as if he might shout a lot, but in fact he almost never did.

"You accept the story, then?" the Secretary of State asked.

"Yes."

"I see." Arthur Hart put the tips of his fingers together in a gesture he'd made famous on Meet the Press. Constitutionally, the Secretary of State was the senior Cabinet officer. In fact he was the fourth most important man in the room, counting the President as top. Numbers two and three (the order was uncertain) were Hap Aylesworth, Special Assistant to the President for Political Affairs, and Admiral Thorwald Carrell.

"Assume it's true," Hart continued. "I do. So the important thing is, what do we do now?"

"I suppose you want to tell the Russians," Alan Rosenthal said.

Arthur Hart looked at the Secretary of the Treasury with amusement. Rosenthal couldn't always contain his dislike of Russians. "I think someone must," Hart said.

"Someone did," Ted Griffin announced. When everyone was looking at him, he nodded for emphasis. "I got that news just before I came over here. That astronomer guy in Hawaii called someone. . ."—he glanced at a note on the table in front of him "—a Pavel Bondarev at the Astrophysics Institute near Sverdlovsk. Yeah, well, who could stop him? He dialed direct."

"How long do you suppose it takes a story like that to get from Sverdlovsk to the Kremlin?" the Attorney General asked.

"It could be quite a while," Arthur Hart said. "I was thinking that the President might call the Chairman—"

"Moscow already knows," Admiral Carrell said. His gravelly voice stopped all the extraneous chatter in the mom. "Payel Bondarev is the son-in-law of General Narovchatov. Narovchatov's been with Chairman Petrovskiy for twenty years."

"Hmm."

Everyone turned to look at the Chief of Staff. Jim Frantz almost never said anything in Cabinet meetings.

"What prompted that, Jim?" Arthur Hart asked.

Frantz smiled softly. "The way we heard was that this Captain Crichton who found out about it was General Gillespie's sister-in-law. His wife knew Carlotta Dawson in college, and Congressman Dawson was here for breakfast."

"I often wonder if any country in the world could operate if communications went only through channels," Ted Griffin said. "So. The Russians know, and by the time we leave this meeting, the country will know." He smiled at the startled looks that caused. "Yes, Captain Crichton said this astronomer chap was calling a press conference."

"So we have to decide what to tell the public." Hap Aylesworth was short and beefy, perpetually fighting a weight problem. His necktie was always loosened and his collar unbuttoned. He seldom appeared in photographs; when cameras came out, Aylesworth would usually urge someone else forward. As Special Assistant he was the President's political advisor, but for the past nine years he'd given David Coffey political advice. The Washington Post called him the Kingmaker.

"There may be a more pressing problem," Admiral Carrell said.

Aylesworth raised a bushy eyebrow.

"The Russians. I don't know it would be such a good idea for the President to call Chairman Petrovskiy, but I think I'd better get on the horn to General Narovchatov."

"Why?" Ted Griffin asked.

"Obvious, isn't it?" Carrell said. He pushed back a gray pinstripe sleeve to glance at his watch. "One of the first things they'll do once they're sure of this is start mobilizing. Military, civil defense, you name it. Ted, I'd hate for your military people to get all upset—"

"Are you certain of this?" David Coffey asked.

"Yes, sir," Admiral Carrell said. "Sure as anything, Mr. President."

"Why would they assume this. . ."—Attorney General McCleve had trouble getting the words out—"this alien spacecraft is hostile?"

"Because they think everything is hostile," Carrell said.

"Afraid he's right, Pete," Arthur Hart said. The Secretary of State shook his head sadly. "I could wish otherwise, but that's the way it will be. And they'll very shortly be demanding an official explanation of why one of our scientists called one of theirs, instead of passing this important news through channels as it ought to be done."

"That's crazy," Peter McCleve said. "Just plain crazy!"

"Possibly," Secretary Hart said. "But it's what will happen."

"To sum up, then," David Coffey said. "The Soviets will shortly ask us for our official position, and they will begin mobilizing without regard to what that position is."

Admiral Carrell nodded agreement. "Precisely, Mr. President."

"Then what should we do?" Hap Aylesworth asked. "We can't let the Russians mobilize while we do nothing. The country won't stand for it."

"I can think of senators who would be delighted," Coffey said.

"On both sides of the aisle," Aylesworth said, "Doves who'll say there's never been anything to be afraid of, and will move resolutions congratulating you on your steady nerves—and hawks who'll want to impeach you for selling out the country."

"Admiral?" David Coffey asked. Admiral Carrell was another advisor the President was in awe of. They'd known each other for more than a dozen years, since the day Vice Admiral Carrell had walked into a freshman congressman's office and explained, patiently and with brutal honesty, how the Navy was wasting money in a shipyard that happened to be one of the major employers in David's district.

Since that time, Carrell had become Deputy Director of the National Security Agency, then Director of the CIA. David Coffey's first officially announced appointment was Dr. Arthur Hart to be Secretary of State, but he'd decided on Thorwald Carrell as National Security Advisor before his own nomination, and the announcement came the day after Hart's appointment.

"I think a partial mobilization," Admiral Carrell said. "We'll need a declaration of national emergency."

"This is senseless." Commerce Secretary Connie Fuller had a surprisingly low voice for such a small lady. "If we believe this is really an alien ship—and I think we must—then this is the greatest day in human history! We're sitting here talking about war and mobilization when—when everything is going to be different!"

"I agree," Arthur Hart said. "But the Soviets will begin mobilization."

"Let them," Fuller said. Her brown eyes flashed. "Let them mobilize and be damned. At least one of the superpowers will behave like—like responsible and intelligent beings! Do we want these aliens—Mr. President, think of the power they have! To have come from another star! We want to welcome them, not appear hostile."

"That's what Wes Dawson thinks," President Coffey said. "Matter of fact, he wants to meet them in orbit. He thought that might impress them a little."

"An excellent suggestion," Secretary Hart said.

"Couldn't hurt," Ted Griffin agreed.

"Except that we don't have a space station," Admiral Carrell said.

"The Soviets do," Connie Fuller said. "Maybe if we asked them—"

"That's what I planned to do," David Coffey said. "Meanwhile, we have a decision to make. What do we do now?"

"Put the military forces on standby alert," Admiral Carrell insisted. "Get the A teams on duty."

"That works," Aylesworth said. "We can call in the congressional leadership before we do anything else."

"Spread the blame," Admiral Carrell muttered.

"Something like that," David Coffey agreed. "I'll call in the standby alert from the Oval Office." He stood, and the others, after a moment, stood as well. "Mr. Griffin, I think it would do no harm to examine our civil defense plans."

"Yes, sir, but that's not in the Department of Defense."

Coffey frowned.

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an independent agency, Mr. President."

"Well, for God's sake," Coffey said. He turned to Jim Frantz. "Statutory?"

"No, sir. Created by executive order."

"Then get out an executive order putting the damned thing under the National Security Council. Ted, I want you to stay on top of this. The news will be out in an hour, God knows what people will do. I'm sure some will panic.

"You'll all want to call your offices," Coffey said. "There's no point in denying anything. I think the official policy is that we do in fact believe an alien spaceship is coming here, and we're trying to figure out what to do."

"Mr. President!" Hap Aylesworth was shocked.

David smiled. "Hap, I know you'd like the public to think I'm infallible, but it doesn't work that way. The Pentagon gives out infallibility with the third star, and the Vatican's got a way of handing it to the Pope, but it doesn't come with the job of President. I think the people know that, but if they don't, it's time they found out. We'll tell the simple truth."

"Yes, sir."

"Meanwhile, let's figure on getting back together in two hours." Coffey turned to the Chief of Staff. "Jim, I think you'd better get the crisis center activated. It looks to be a long day."

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