Adopted Son by Dominic Peloso

their body is going to react to a disease. Sometimes what just starts out as a sniffle can lead to something serious in a hurry. Whatever the genetic defect that causes HS is, it looks like it affects the immune system, HS babies may not be as resistant to simple diseases as regular babies. Have you gotten him immunized yet?”
    “Yes sir, we’re up to date,” said Lorraine. She waved the baby’s medical papers to emphasize the point.
    “Well then, you three best be on your way. It’s a great day outside, you don’t want to miss the weather.”
    The new parents thanked the doctor and continued down the hallway on their way out of the hospital. They chatted between themselves at how nice the hospital staff had treated them. On their way out, they passed by the maternity ward. Lorraine, who just loved babies in general, demanded that they stop and look in the window at all the other children.
    They glanced around a bit and then went on their way. Lorraine seemed pleased by the experience, while Tom found it a bit troubling. Something the doctor said was sticking in his head. “HS is a very rare disease,” the doc had said. If that was so, why were there three newborns in the maternity ward that were clearly HS positive?
     
    Three weeks after Tom Miller noticed something strange. The White House, Washington, DC
     
    Ray Johnston waited impatiently outside the White House Situation Room. Everything was smaller than he expected it to be in here. There was barely room in the hallway for a pair of chairs for people to sit in. He wasn’t feeling all that comfortable in his suit. He was also sweating quite a bit. Was it too hot in there? The presentation had gone pretty well. Ray had been giving a lot of presentations recently. He was sure of his facts. But this one was to some pretty high-ranking people. It was so important a topic. He wasn’t sure that he had been taken too seriously though. He wouldn’t have taken himself that seriously if he hadn’t gathered the evidence personally. But he was sure that in the end, they would do the right thing. That’s why they had been elected after all, wasn’t it?
    The door to the conference room opened and General Dumphries came out. “Ray, they’ve finished their debating, come on back in here.” Ray got up and grabbed his briefcase. He had forgotten to lock the clasps though and it tumbled open when he lifted it, spilling slides marked Top Secret/Majestik-12 all over the floor. He quickly stuffed them all back in his case and ran inside. You don’t keep the President of the United States waiting.
    Ray entered the Sit Room. It had been a spare bedroom back when the West Wing was built, and there was barely enough room for the large central table. You actually had to ask an NSC member to move their chair if you wanted to get to the podium. Ray squeezed his way front and center and awaited their reaction to his presentation.
    “Mr. Johnston,” began the President, “I want to thank you for taking the time to put together this fascinating briefing.” He tapped the cover of the 400-page document that Ray had assembled over the past year. “It’s quite an impressive piece of work.” Ray wanted to say thank you, but he didn’t want to interrupt the President. “I can’t say that I understand all the technical details, but it is clear that you’ve found some very interesting things. Unfortunately, the NSC has chosen to take no action on this issue at this time.”
    Ray was shocked by the decision. Didn’t they understand the implications? Didn’t they understand the threat? How could they choose to take no action at this time? “Well Sir, when will be the time to take action on this issue?” he asked incredulously. “How can you choose to ignore this?”
    “It’s not that easy son,” said the Vice-President. “You can’t just go to the people with something like this. They won’t believe it. They won’t accept it. I mean come on, if the President released