CHAPTER 45
THANKFULLY, a quick scan of the room showed that no one in here was doing the shouting. The TV screens were live and showing a variety of religious and other protests going on. The shouting was coming from a Club Fifty-One True Believers and Church of Hate and Intolerance rally on one screen, and several different screaming protests in what were clearly Middle Eastern countries. Frankly, there were protests going on all over the world, it looked like.
“You’re just in time,” Jeff said as I took my seat next to him. “Paul’s on speakerphone, by the way. He’s the one who told us to turn on the TVs.”
“I hate this show. Let’s find a Love Boat marathon.”
“I wish. The hackers are also listening in. I have them on mute, however. They’ll text Chuck if they have something key.” Jeff heaved a sigh. “Raj, turn it down, please, I think we all get the gist.”
While Raj complied, took a look around the room. Everyone from earlier in the day was here, along with extras like the Chief Usher, Antoinette Reilly, which made sense since she would be intimately involved in planning my FLOTUS World Tour. I wasn’t stressing her out every minute of every day anymore, but I was pretty sure I was still causing her pain on an hourly basis. There were a ton of other important folks here as well. Nice to be popular.
The Secret Service, K-9 squad, dogs, and sorta prisoners weren’t in the room. Had no idea where they were, but in this room wasn’t it. Maybe Jeff had sent them to hang out with Hacker International over at the Zoo, which was what we called the second building of our Embassy Complex.
Wherever they were, it was good they weren’t in the LSR, because I wouldn’t have had a hope of getting in if they’d been here. Basically, the room—the extra-large room we were using because we had so many people—was packed. Wondered if I should sit on Jeff’s lap to make a seat available, then decided that was a question I should never voice aloud unless I wanted to give Antoinette a heart attack and hear everyone else tell me I wasn’t acting appropriately for my station, which was never in both cases.
“Paul,” Raj said when the sound was finally turned off for all the screens, “this definitely makes your points, both of them.”
“Figured it was easier to show you than to try to explain it,” Gower said from the speakerphone.
“Which points were?” I asked Jeff quietly.
“That I’m staying here and you’re starting your tour in the Middle East and leaving, most likely, tomorrow. Don’t play like you don’t know—Paul told us he’d already spoken to you.”
“Wasn’t trying to hide anything.” Well, not about that. “I just wanted to be sure we were on the same page and all that.” Chose not to focus on flowers and instead to worry about whether or not the kids should be coming with me. It was a legit concern and something Jeff would expect to pick up from me emotionally.
Wisely, as it turned out. Jeff squeezed my hand. “I think we’ll have to leave the decision on the kids to your mother and uncle, baby.”
There were so many people in here that I’d missed him, but my Uncle Mort was indeed in the room. The fact that I’d missed him was just a testament to my lack of observational skills, since he was in the Military Corridor. Colonel Marvin Hamlin, Colonel Arthur Franklin, and Captain Gil Morgan were with him, and they weren’t the only ones.
I was kind of surprised to see Lt. Col. Sergio Gonzalez here, in from Home Base, aka Area 51, and Colonel John Butler, too. Butler was now an in-control android, but under the circumstances, couldn’t argue about having the additional military support, and presumably Gonzalez had felt it was worth it to bring Butler along. That Hochberg wasn’t sitting with them was only due to the fact that he was sitting with the rest of Jeff’s Cabinet, who were all bunched together.
In fact, Alpha Team and Airborne were sitting together, along with Christopher, Doreen, and the others from our Diplomatic Mission. The Planetary Council were together, with White next to Alexander and Doreen, or as I was fast coming to think of it, bridging the gap. Meaning we were aligning according to groups. Just like the rest of the world. This boded.
People were talking amongst themselves, mostly about what we’d seen on TV. Nudged Jeff. “Did you request that everyone sit according to party lines?”
“No.”
Chuckie, who was on Jeff’s other side, leaned over. “Humans are tribal,” he said softly, “and right now, every human in this room is frightened and huddling with their tribe.”
“You’re not.”
He grinned at me. “You’re my tribe, Kitty.”
“You’re part of Hacker International’s tribe, too.”
“They’re huddling in their tribal location,” Chuckie said with another grin. “I’m not. I’m huddling with my smaller tribe.”
“What am I, chopped liver?” Jeff asked.
Chuckie laughed. “No, I include you in the Tribe of Kitty, Jeff. And, apparently A-Cs are tribal, too.”
“And just as frightened,” Jeff agreed. He heaved a sigh. “I don’t want us reacting out of fear or hatred. I want us going forward in the way I know we can—as representatives of the best Earth has to offer.”
Jeff hadn’t been speaking loudly and there was a lot of noise in the room, but A-Cs had hearing far superior to humans. White made eye contact with us. “That is the correct goal, Jeffrey. World cohesion, greeting the new horizon bravely and compassionately.”
“Then we need to do our best to help and support,” Jeff said. “And convince the rest of the world that they want to do the same.”
“That’s the religious summit’s stated goal as well,” Gower said. “Not sure if we’re going to manage to actually achieve it, but at least everyone here is willing to work for that goal.”
“Everyone? Really?” Mom asked. “I find that shocking, honestly.”
Gower chuckled. “Well, seeing aliens arrive outside of Pueblo Caliente today gave those of us pushing for unity a boost.”
“Do the other religious leaders know we have more aliens coming?” Chuckie asked.
“No. I didn’t know until Kitty told me. I’ll ask Alpha Team why they kept that from me later.”
“We didn’t want you distracted,” Reader said. “And that’s because you’re the one who told us to not distract you.”
“I didn’t get that memo, my bad.”
“Your timing was good, Kitty,” Gower said.
“Paul is my favorite.”
Sent Stryker Dane, the Head of Hacker International, a text telling him to put the best hackers in the world onto my newest craze that was right up their Conspiracy Theory Alley—find all of the triangles in the world that could be alien landing sites. Asked for specific focus in the Middle East, but didn’t tell them where. Not because I was trying to be coy, but because I wanted to see what they found without my influence.
Stryker’s response was suitably enthusiastic. Apparently I’d finally given Hacker International a job they were excited about. Go me.
Len and Kyle came in now, Kyle pushing Olga’s wheelchair. He placed Olga in between White and Alexander, while Adriana stayed standing, just like Buchanan, Siler, Wruck, and the boys, once Olga was situated. Meaning the guardians were doing their own form of tribal cocooning.
Olga looked around the room, then smiled at me. “Interesting times.”
“And it’s a Chinese curse for a reason.” Quickly shared with the room that I’d already contacted Mona and that we were on schedule for me to hit Bahrain first. “I’m not sure how much time we’ll have to give to that region, but I think Russia and its neighbors need to be next on the hit parade.”
Olga nodded. “We will ensure that you’re meeting with the appropriate people and that they’re properly appeased for being chosen second.”
“Regionally second,” Gower said. “Logistically, we have no idea until we know what the Bahraini Diplomatic Mission can arrange for us. Plus, I’ve got the rest of the religious leaders of the world to wrangle. We’re in agreement that it’s the Middle East first, but beyond that, how long we’re in the region is up in the air.”
“Speaking of things up in the air,” Chuckie said, “we can’t take forever. We have ships arriving in less than a week.”
On cue the com went on. “Excuse me, Mister President,” Walter said, sounding stressed. “But we have a situation.”
“Is it the same situation that it’s been all day?” Jeff asked. “Or is this a brand-new situation?”
Walter cleared his throat. “Ah, both?”
“More clarity, Walt, less panicking.”
“Yes, ma’am, Chief First Lady. The first of the alien spacecraft is within our solar system.”