Bright Horizons

Chapter 6

05 June 2042

Kyle watched Ambassador Thomas as he flipped through a small stack of papers at the podium. The Pentagon hadn’t given any time to prepare for this meeting. In fact, Kyle’s stomach was still slightly stirred from the effects of gravity again. The Fletcher had touched down in the California desert just two hours ago, and they were expected to give a full report on the meeting, ambush and flight back with the Hedali.

The doors at the back opened and a stream of people started into the room. Sharp dressed NASA officials interspersed with Pentagon based Senior Officers came in without the usual flurry of civilian secretaries and aides. The Secretary of State entered last and immediately took a seat near the front as everyone else chatted and exchanged pleasantries.

“Madam Secretary, Director Wilcox, Operations Chief Samuels, Joint Chiefs, and all the others who I have rudely failed to mention by name. As you all know I am James Thomas, Former Ambassador to the U.N., United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and China. I am currently the Ambassador to the Hedali, a race of aliens that we have established contact with. Of course, there are less than eighty people total that are aware of that fact.

“Twenty one of those people were at the point of first contact. Almost all the others are in this room and will be brought up to speed on what happened in orbit around Jupiter and what happened during the voyage back to earth.

“Andrew Carter was our documentarian for the trip and has close to eighty hours of footage from our encounters. I will now show a clip of what transpired from the time we saw the alien ship to the incident that I’m sure you are all aware of.”

Ambassador Thomas turned down the lights in the room. The video monitor lit up and Kyle felt a slight uneasiness as his face came into focus. He found himself watching those who were not on the Fletcher through the first several minutes. Most of the NASA officials were taking notes, Dr. Adam Crichton, Director of the NationalScienceCenter, leaned as far forward as he could when Lon first came into focus, and Secretary of State Milshoe simply played with a pencil while watching. Those who dwelt in the Pentagon sat expressionless with their arms crossed.

The first time Kyle heard a sound was when Admiral Boxer and General Liston both chuckled as Lon palmed the door remote. Carter had managed to capture that on video. As Carter and his camera went down the hallway, Kyle started to pay close attention. The rooms that the team were shown seemed Spartan and devoid of decoration. Whether that was part of the Hedali culture or by conscious design Kyle could only speculate. Around twenty or maybe twenty five Hedali could be seen on the video, several who appeared to be guards. They had a small metal tube attached to a small glass panel affixed to a harness on their chest.

The Hedali all seemed very friendly and attentive to their guests, but since they had met other alien races, this first contact must not have been an odd occurrence. The humans were all very careful in what they said and how they behaved, and Kitch and Ramirez are seen being very careful in where they looked and in not touching their weapons.

Finally the humans were brought into a room with a small table and two chairs. Kyle was a little surprised that he recognized Firtulm and Giric immediately. Firtulm rose and motioned for Ambassador Thomas to sit at the table. After both Ambassadors settled in, there was a brief exchange in Hedali and the tablet that contained the treaty passed back and forth several times as each Ambassador read every clause carefully.

The sound of Kyle’s voice breaking over the communicators shattered the peaceful scene.

“Marines! Boarding action in process, get the Ambassador out of there.”

The room erupted into chaos when part of the far bulkhead melted away as Ambassador Thomas grabbed his com unit.

Kyle had seen this video twice before and was trying to focus on new things each time.  He was watching the Hedali guards carefully this time; watching to see how they reacted to the Otina attack.