Contact Us by Al Macy Page B

yelled,
    “ Live from New York, It’s Saturday Niiiiiiii-ght! ”
    The screen cut to black, and the sphere shot off into space.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    June 4, 2018
    The trillions of nanobot spores that had streamed from the sphere floated in the upper regions of the troposphere, far above the unwitting occupants of Earth. Had the spores been able to see, they would have looked down on a world conducting business as usual. The sneeze and pain episode and the Cronkite broadcast were on everyone’s lips. No one had any idea that above, an invisible air force was migrating toward them.
    Winds carried some of the spores higher, some lower, but all would sink to the planet’s surface in time to carry out their mission. They were not in a rush.
    * * *
    Eight miles below the spore layer, deep in the Ruby Mountain bunker, the post-broadcast discussion began. Charli had her notes lined up, just the way she liked them. So I like things neat. There are worse vices to have.
    The bunker’s situation room was less plush than its White House counterpart. A lingering paint smell reminded her how recently the facility had been completed.
    President Hallstrom stood at the front of the room with his arms crossed. He wore a short-sleeved business shirt that revealed the results of his once-a-week strength-training sessions.
    He’d once said that only a mentally disturbed megalomaniac could run for president and that a non-politician like him could never be elected. He then proved himself wrong by entering the race and winning a handy victory.
    Charli watched Hallstrom. Three characteristics were important when it came to being president: phenomenal people skills, a flair for delegating, and a razor-sharp intelligence. Hallstrom had the first two. With his snow-white hair and ready smile, his charisma was irresistible; everyone loved him. He surrounded himself with the brightest advisers and delegated his authority to them. As for intelligence, there was nothing wrong with his intellect. He just wasn’t the quickest bunny in the forest.
    “Okay,” he said, “let’s go around the table. Quick first impressions, starting with Gordon.”
    Guccio twiddled a pen between his fingers. “It’s obviously a bad situation: A wacky alien with technology that’s far superior to our own. And if he’s telling the truth about the bad witch scenario, he’s not even our worst problem.”
    “Okay. Maddix?”
    “I agree. I wish I could see something hopeful here, but I don’t.” Maddix was the only one wearing a suit and tie. “If the alien, I’m guessing everyone will call him Cronkite, had been calm and trustworthy then we’d only have this ominous bad witch prediction to worry about. As it is we have to figure out whether Cronkite is insane, and whether he is telling the truth about the bad witch. Even if Cronkite is benevolent, he might do us more harm than good. But … the whole thing is just crazy. Cronkite’s right about one thing. This is something we’re going to have to ‘process.’”
    “What about you, Seth?”
    “I will happily leave the political aspects of this to you people. As for the science and technology side, let me say this: for centuries we’ve been asking whether we’re alone in the universe. Now we know the answer: we are not alone. That’s a pretty significant thing to learn. We should celebrate that.”
    Guccio twirled his index finger. “Yay.”
    McGraw frowned at him. “Well, we should. On a more practical note, I’ve gotten a text telling me that Cronkite has indeed uploaded something to WikiLeaks. So, we may soon be the recipients of some technology that’s far advanced beyond our own.”
    “Do you now think there is a creature in that sphere?” asked Charli.
    McGraw nodded. “Well, with the caveat that it may be a creature with some kind of machine intelligence, yes, I do think there is some sentient being inside. That is, I now think it less likely that we are just dealing