The Alpha Choice (44 page)

Without another word, Tala left the room.

It took a while for Hugo to fully realise what had just happened, it took even longer to calm down enough to call the President – he did not go through Gerry Wye. The exhalation that came from the other end of the telephone was the sound of palpable relief. The President asked him to arrange on site accommodation for himself and his entourage, immediately; if he was in situ, he would be ready for the call. He was to be expected within thirty minutes - he would talk to the other three leaders, while in transit - Hugo had gifted a flyer to the White House and knew the President would keep to his timetable.
 

Once the call was over, Hugo summoned Liz and explained everything, leaving out none of the details. He relied upon her clear and objective analysis, knowing that if she had anything to say, she would tell him; her only response was pragmatic. ‘I’ll make sure the suites are ready,’ there would be no shortage of suitable rooms in a building endowed with substantial, luxuriously appointed accommodation, used by visiting dignitaries and heads of multinational corporations. She did not wait for Hugo’s reply before returning to her desk.

Alone once more, he had time to reflect on what had happened over the last few hours. They were one step nearer to safety and he was about to move out of the picture, leaving the matter in the hands of a man who did not know the Te, but who carried with him the authority of the world, a man for whom he had the utmost respect.
 

For reasons he was unable to fathom, he considered the job done. The President still had a mountain to climb, but something at the back of his mind told Hugo the meeting would go well, and the Te would agree to help. He looked out to the calm, no longer uncaring sea and smiled. None of what happened made sense to him, but he could not shake the feeling that the world would be saved, and nothing would ever be quite the same.

Δ

The meeting took place in a room previously only seen by Te’ans - when the building was constructed there were a number of rooms that were strictly off limits to anyone other than the visitors from Te’ath.
 

Only the President, Hugo, Liz and Gerry Wye were present with Tala and Beron, with the other leader’s digital images arranged around the walls, apparently Te’ans did not consider a spot of rewiring beneath them. The Te’ans made it a condition, that no security personnel were to be permitted access. In the circumstances, no one was in any position to refuse.
 

As Hugo had forewarned the President, the communication was by hologram. Once everyone was in the room and seated, the hologram was activated. Unlike the mobile emitters with which Hugo was familiar, this projection came from the actual walls and ceiling of the room, effectively removing any boundaries, save for the walls themselves.

What appeared before them was a solid, or so it appeared, three-dimensional figure of a man in his mid sixties wearing a loose fitting white gown, giving him a sage-like appearance. He looked around the room, then walked over to the President, so that they were only an arm’s length apart. From where Hugo sat, it was hard to believe the man was not physically present; perhaps Tala was being economical with the truth when she told him they had limited teleport capabilities, but he very much doubted they possessed the capacity to teleport over thousands of light years.
 

The President stood and faced the image of the man who, in a soft unthreatening voice, identified himself as Garnoth, Second Tier Delegate to the Supreme Council of Te’ath.
 

The audience lasted no more than fifteen minutes, during which the delegate appeared to listen patiently to the oratory of the President, only speaking at the end of the entreaties by confirming that he would report back to the Council, and with that, he was gone.

Hugo had seen a number of the President’s more memorable speeches; he would be remembered, in years to come, as one of the greatest statesmen of all time, but today he was mesmerising, today Hugo could see why it was right this man spoke for them all, for if he could not persuade the Te’ans to intervene, no one could.

Now that the audience was over, Tala took charge once more. Pre-empting any attempt by the President to elicit information, she politely, but curtly informed the Tellurian contingent that they would be contacted as soon as there was any decision. By turning away as soon as the words were uttered, it was made clear she would brook no further dialogue. In truth, the message was unnecessary, Hugo had fully briefed the President upon his arrival at the complex, on the background leading up to this moment.

The tiny human entourage left the room and moved, silently to a specially adapted and well appointed conference room, where they would await the decision that would determine the fate, not only of the Tellurian race, but the entire planet. It had been established that the impact of a one hundred and thirty-five kilometre asteroid would destroy all life, and significantly damage the planet, itself. The Earth, following the impact would be unrecognisable, and uninhabitable.
 

There was no conversation. Speculation was pointless. Failure could not be contemplated, never mind discussed, for the simple reason, they had no contingency plans.

Ω

With the Tellurians gone, Tala motioned for Beron to check there no one was lingering outside the room. Satisfied they were alone, she removed a galet from her pocket. Without any words or effort, the doors were secured and the holo-image reappeared displaying the image of Garnoth, only this time in his day clothes.
 

It was Tala who spoke first. ‘I take it everything is in place, and I’m not speaking to the Avatar.’

‘My dear, I am offended,’ Garnoth, responded, with mock outrage, ‘you have spent far too long amongst creatures with no sensibilities. It will be good to have you back, and yes,’ he smiled, appearing even more sage-like than his Avatar several minutes earlier, ‘in answer to your question, we are in position to execute the next stage.’

Tala thought about all that had happened, her judgement was as reliable as she had hoped, Hugo Black had been critical to her plans.

Δ

The decision of the Te’an Supreme Council came within six hours, and was favourable. Not being surprised, did not detract from Hugo’s feeling of immense relief, but by the same token, he could not suppress a creeping sense of foreboding. These same beings had made a contrary decision, just hours before. Despite the undoubted eloquence of the President, nothing new had been put to them, yet they were prepared to overturn their decision. He told himself they were not unlike some of the more fickle emperors, during the decline of the Roman Empire, who would change their minds on the fate of some poor unfortunate, facing death in the Coliseum, based upon the baying of a mob. His reasoning did nothing to abate the foreboding. Unlike those same notorious emperors, the Te were, if his experience was anything to go by, meticulous and deliberate, and Tala did nothing without a very good reason. He hurriedly buried the feeling, putting it down to jealousy - a trait he did not know he possessed - of the President achieving what he could not.

When the decision was communicated to the small group of Tellurians, they were, as Tala expected, overwhelmed. However, unbeknown to Tala, Hugo’s misgivings were shared by Liz, who was also unconvinced of the genuineness of the Te’an turnaround. The looks the two of them exchanged were, to any observer, in accord with the feeling of euphoria all around them, only they could sense what the other was thinking, and they knew better than to discuss it amongst the others. There would be time to mention it, and the ramifications, later.

Matters moved very quickly, once the decision had been made to intervene. The President hurriedly conferred with the other three leaders, promising to update them regularly as more information presented itself.
 

Within an hour Tala had arranged a briefing in the room where the President had pleaded Earth’s case to Garnoth. Once the group had got over their initial excitement, she explained that it was necessary to provide them with additional, critical information. As before, the only other Te’an present was the taciturn Beron.

The woman before them wore a genuine smile. ‘I want you to know, I’m personally relieved the Council saw fit to grant your request. We must act swiftly. Our only options are to fragment the rock into more manageable segments, or deflect it before the failsafe point. The only ship with the capability of deflecting the target, is over three hundred light years away, and by the time it arrives the asteroid will have passed the failsafe point. This leaves fragmentation as the only solution, but a single ship can’t attack the separate fault lines that need to be fractured. In other words, we can neither deflect, nor fragment the asteroid with our nearest ship,’ she did not mention the ship behind the moon.
 

‘We have a number of small ships which, if armed, would be able to fracture the asteroid. A significant amount of work would need to be done to the drive of each ship, and weapons systems would have to be installed. The timeframe will be very tight, but we believe it can be done.’

‘Can those ships deflect the asteroid? The President asked.

Tala shook her head. ‘By the time the conversion work is complete, the asteroid will be much closer to Earth. Deflection at that distance would require substantially more energy than these ships can produce. The only solution is fragmentation, but I should warn you, some remnants of the asteroid will strike Earth, and a few might be large enough to cause significant, albeit not catastrophic, damage.

‘Is there any way of determining the level of damage from the debris, and where it’s likely to occur?’
 

‘I’m afraid not.’

The President’s mind was already racing. Until now he had been a bystander, but as the threat was reduced to a level they could survive, he was in territory he could navigate. There would need to be worldwide planning, on a scale never before seen. They had a timeline to work to and could, by the time of any impact, cancel all flights and shipping. Emergency response time would be taken to its highest level, and instead of people being panicked with thoughts of Armageddon, they would be taught how to improve their survival prospects. Mankind would, for the first time in its history, act together in order to survive. There was another matter he needed to raise. ‘Can we help with the conversion?’

‘Te’Corp will handle the conversion. Your planet will supply the crews. We’ll train them and, by the time we are finished, they will be more than competent.’

Nice touch,
thought Michael Conway,
crews from around the World.

Hugo only half listened to what was going on around him. He had no doubt the Te'ans would succeed in averting disaster, just as he was convinced the world leaders would rise to the challenge of minimising the consequential damage. One thing was certain, in a world which had experienced immense change in just three, short years, matters were about to change in ways no one could imagine. There would soon be a new world order, loosely based on the current model, with four powers taking centre stage
but
, he wondered,
what part will the fifth power portray in what’s about to unfold?

While the first hurdle had been cleared, the cadre - the four leaders - faced the difficult task of informing a population of seven billion, that an asteroid was on a collision course with their planet, and their only route to salvation depended on the intercession of an alien race, who had been walking among them for three years, almost certainly longer.

However, there was another matter that troubled Hugo enough to take Tala to one side, while the cadre discussed disaster contingency logistics. He spoke so that no one but Tala could hear him. ‘Tala, I knew nothing of these ships, if they were built in TeCorp units, I should have been told.’

She looked genuinely surprised. ‘I'm sorry Hugo, it never occurred to me you would object. They were initially meant to be a parting gift, from our people to yours. Please tell me you forgive me.’

He was puzzled, Tala had never been so contrite,
this is not like her,
he thought, as the trust between them evaporated. He shook his head. ‘There’s no need for apologies.’ She smiled warmly, and suggested they rejoin the others.
 

After lengthy discussion, the four leaders concluded that if there was to be an effective containment of the impact damage, everyone had to be informed. The true nature of the risk had to be explained, as it was only a matter of time before amateur astronomers discovered the asteroid, and the panic began. So the question remained, how to break the news that aliens were providing the means to remove the threat? It was agreed, the only way forward was to introduce the Te’ans as the beneficent beings responsible for the amazing advances over the last three years. Only then, would the announcement be made of the impending collision, and the plans to avert disaster.
 

Despite the need to remain professional, Tala found it a little strange that the Tellurians, in order to dupe their own people, were adopting the early part of her plan.
Perhaps,
she thought,
we’re not so very different, after all.

The group agreed that it was essential for people to put a face to their benefactor, otherwise imaginations would run riot and all control would be lost. The collision might be averted, but there would still be countless millions who would die in the ensuing panic. The one barrier to the plan was Tala, who was resolute in her refusal to, as she put it, ‘
be paraded as an item of curiosity
.’

The President of the EU, a tall imposing Frenchwoman - with impeccable English and a formidable command of Russian and Chinese, both Mandarin and Cantonese; a polymath, as much at home in the arts as the sciences - believed she had the solution. ‘We need to show the world a representative of those who would save us…’