THE SWORD AND SICKLE

CHAPTER FIVE: DEBRIEFING

THE SWORD AND SICKLE

PART ONE

CHAPTER FIVE

PRESS DEBRIEFING

"Thank you, Mr. President," said Levi. Laida smiled and said nothing.

"Levi and Laida, I will get right to the point, as time is essential, we need your help and I would like you, Levi, to serve on the National Security Council while we deal with this very important matter."

"Of course, Jovian. That is what your people said when you came to get us, but you already knew we were waiting. Don't you, Mr. President?" The President could easily feel and see Laida's hostility.

Hammett loosened his tie and leaned back in his chair. "Laida, I am not your enemy. In fact, I know that both of you are supporters of the Democratic Party and my administration, so we can work together, and you will be a very important part of our administration."

"You will have to forgive Laida; she can be terse at times. But let me assure you, we know everything that is happening at this very moment in space and here in D.C. In fact, we have been on the ship orbiting Jupiter, and we are well acquainted with everything on it. We will be of little help to you, or to the National Security Council, I am afraid."

Hammett sat up in his chair and rested his arm on the table. You could see the surprise in his face, tempered with anger and a tinge of fear. "Levi, you've been on this ship? You're more connected than I thought. Do you have connections with aliens?"

Laida interrupted the President abruptly and said, "You have no idea just how connected we are."

"Nonetheless, I make a plea to your citizenship and to your patriotism to give us the information we need. Tell us what you know and tell me who your connections are to get on the ship." This time you could feel the power shift from the President to Levi and Laida. Tension filled the room when Laida had interrupted Hammett, and the President knew he appeared to these two to be a desperate man begging for a hand out.

"Mr. President, excuse my wife," Levi sent his wife a glare. "She will not be abrasive again. I promise you. I will tell you this, because you will figure it out eventually. My connection is my guide. She transported us to the ship for a debriefing, such as this, but I briefed them instead. The ship is not alien, and it is not from this Earth, and if you know how to read, you will figure it out. I promise you, it will not be of danger to you or this world, until you are out of office. The ship is under my control and my control only, and if you attack it, you cannot hurt it. So do not waste the taxpayers' money; instead, feed the poor. If you try to hurt us, you will fail. If you try to detain us, we will vanish amid your grasp. If you try to find us, we will walk among you and you will not recognize us. Tell the people to prepare themselves, for I am coming. Do not be like the pearl fisherman, who, after finding a beautiful pearl of great value, puts it in his pocket and returns home only to find he has a hole in his pocket. Instead, clothe yourself in apparel of the strongest materials and then search for the pearl."

The President appeared frozen in time as though he were having a seizure. He heard the words that Levi spoke, but his lips never moved. Jovian felt the opposite of an out-of-body experience; instead, his soul felt imprisoned in his body, a déjà̀-mais, the feeling that you are lost, yet you have been there many times. He blinked his eyes and looked up, and Levi and Laida were gone. He stood up and looked around the room, then he went to the door and asked the security guard if he had seen the two leave the room. The Secret Service agent grabbed his gun and went in to search for them. The President spoke, "I've already looked in there, you fool. Gather your men and go find them. Don't come back without them." The guard scurried off to gather men. Hammett went to his office and stopped to talk to his personal secretary, "Sue, get Former President Wright, the head of Homeland Security, and Secretary of State McDowell immediately. I want them in my office in ten minutes, and cancel the press meeting."