LITMIR.BIZ

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      â€œZak," exclaimed his companion in adventure cheerfully, when he saw him emerge from the H^COM booth. “What did the old man say?"

      Azakis stretched then answered calmly, "He gave us his approval. If everything goes according to plan we’ll have the toroid, or rather Newark, the day before the planets’ orbits intersect."

      â€œLet’s hope we manage it. It’s not going to be easy to configure that thing in so little time."

      â€œWhat are you worrying about my friend?" replied Azakis with a slight smile. "If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll just open up a space-time distortion. That’ll swallow up the Earth, Kodon, Nibiru and all the other satellites, all in one go."

      The two terrestrials, who were standing a little way off but hadn’t missed a single word of this conversation, were petrified.

      â€œWhat are you saying?” Elisa managed to splutter, while looking at him appalled. “A space-time distortion? Swallow up? Are you telling me that if this plan doesn’t work, we will be creating the destruction of our people and yours?"

      "Well, there is a small risk," commented Azakis quietly.

      â€œA ‘small risk’? And you tell us just like that, with that calm, serene look on your face? You must be crazy! And us, more than you."

      â€œCalm down darling," intervened Jack, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her straight in eyes. “They are much smarter and better prepared than us. If they’ve decided to go down this route, we cannot do anything other than support them and give them all the help we can."

      The doctor let out a long sigh then said, "I need to sit down. Too many emotions today. If this goes on it’ll kill me."

      Jack took her by the arm and led her to the closest armchair. Elisa fell into it like a dead weight, with a low groan.

      â€œPerhaps we’ve reduced the percentage of oxygen in the air a little too much," Azakis whispered to his companion.

      â€œI tried to make it as compatible as possible for us all and avoid having to use those awful respirators."

      â€œI know my friend, but I’m afraid they’re being affected excessively by it."

      â€œOkay, I’ll change the mixture. We can adapt much more easily."

      The Colonel, however, didn’t 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. “Well," he exclaimed, as he positioned himself just below the three-dimensional image of Newark, which still rose majestically in the middle of the room. “This thing could save us all or lead us into absolute destruction."

      â€œA succinct but effective analysis," commented Azakis.

      â€œAt 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."

      â€œAnd just how are you thinking of doing that?" asked Elisa from her chair. “Are we just going to pick up the phone, call the President of the United States and say: ‘Hello Mr President. Do you know, we are in the company of two aliens who have told us that, in a few days’ time, a planet will get here that is going to sweep us all away?’"

      â€œAt the very least he’ll have the call traced, get someone to come and fetch us and take us straight to the madhouse," answered Jack smiling.

      â€œBut don’t you have a global communication system like our GCS?” Petri asked the Colonel, intrigued.

      â€œGCS? What do you mean?"

      â€œIt’s 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."

      â€œCool!" exclaimed Elisa, surprised. Then she continued, saying, "Actually, we do have a system of this sort. It’s called the internet but we are nowhere near your level."

      â€œAnd would it not be possible to use your ‘internet’ to send a message to the entire planet?" asked Petri intrigued.

      â€œWell, it’s not quite that simple," replied Elisa. “We 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 wouldn’t reach everybody." She thought for a few seconds, then added, "I think the only way would be with good old television".

      â€œTelevision?" questioned Azakis. Then, turning to Petri, he said, "That wouldn’t by any chance be that system we used to receive images and films when we were on our way here?"

      â€œYes, 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. “Is this what you’re 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.

      â€œBut that’s Casablanca," exclaimed Elisa in amazement. “Where did you get all this stuff?"

      â€œYour broadcasts also radiate into space," answered Petri calmly. “We had to work on our receiving system a little, but we were able to receive them in the end."

      â€œIt’s thanks to them," Azakis added, "that we managed to learn your language."

      â€œAnd some other much more complicated ones," commented Petri sadly. “I almost went crazy with all those little drawings."

      â€œHowever," intervened the Colonel abruptly, "this is exactly what we were talking about, but I don’t think even this is the best solution."

      â€œForgive me Jack," intervened Elisa. “Don’t 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?"

      â€œAnd how come you know all these things?" objected the Colonel, astonished.

      â€œWell, even I have my sources" said Elisa, mischievously pushing aside a lock of hair that had fallen onto her right cheek.

      â€œDo your women act like this too?" asked Jack, addressing the two aliens who were observing the scene with an amazed air.

      â€œMy dear chap, women are the same throughout the universe," replied Azakis smiling.

      â€œHowever," continued the Colonel after the rather risky joke, "I think you’re absolutely right. We need a trustworthy and credible institution to broadcast such serious and distressing news. I’m 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 he’s corrupt and a traitor."

      â€œSo, in the end we really will have to make that phone call we joked about before?" replied Doctor Elisa.

      â€œAlthough 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,

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