[Atrocities]

Part XXXII

Futures Price

Senate meeting chamber R-11 was a small dark wood paneled room with old-fashioned lighting and age stained walls that had been horribly neglected for years. It was considered to be an old “storeroom” by most but in fact was one of the most secure rooms in the Senate Complex. Its high tech privacy equipment insured that the room remained bug free and its appearance kept the occasional curious soul away. The chamber was one of the older rooms in the Senate Complex and was deliberately long over do for remodeling. To say that the chamber was a dismally depressing room, made all the more so by the fact that it was overly heated by the mid day sun and lacked the cooling ventilation shared by the rest of the complex, was an accurate statement. The designers of this room wanted the people in it to be as uncomfortable as possible as the Senate oversight committee was questioning them. However in their zeal to make the room uncomfortable for the witnesses, they also inadvertently made it uncomfortable for the senators who were conducting the interviews. So over time the room fell out of favor and became little more than a storeroom for old furniture and such. However occasionally those who wished their conversations to go unnoticed would hold meetings in the little uncomfortable room out of sight and mind of those who might take notice.

As Kordesh sat in his chair, he loosened his tie and fanned his hand in front of his face to ward off the vile smelling smoke that was rapidly filling the room. As he stared at Chief Senator Leroy Tabion who was toting heavily on one his exotic White Tipped Cigars, he thought about killing the man, however he quickly replaced that thought as he pondered his meeting with General Green two weeks ago and what had been discussed. As the room slowly filling with the choking sweet yet pungent smoke coming off of the Chief Senator’s cigar, Kordesh considered his options. Should he kill Green or try to turn the situation to his advantage. He spent the Last two weeks trying to find the source that had leaked the information to Green but with no success. He knew that Green could not have turned his man and acquired those records without significant help and that alone caused him the most concern. As he thought quietly to himself the door on the far end of the chamber opened and two men and two women stepped in. He recognized them all immediately, one was Raymond Elliot, the Chancellors Vice Roy, and the other was General Thomas Christopher. The first women was Lisa Oranotie, the Vice Chancellor of the UGA, and the other women, who took a seat next to the Chief Senator, was Kendra Kelly the Senator from southern province of Norwin.
“Senators.” Said Elliot as they all took their seats across from them. “Today I am here to you to ask for money and you will give be giving it to me.”
“Is that right?” Asked Tabion as he took a deep drag off of his cigar and exhaled in the general direction of Elliot.
Not missing a beat, nor showing any sign of offense Elliot continued confidently.
“What I am about to tell you is considered top secret and therefore classified under article two-six-two of the planetary security act.”
This grabbed the Chief Senators attention as well as that of Senator Kelly.
“Please continue.” Commented Tabion as he corrected his posture and sat up more attentively.
“Succinctly put, we are not alone in our universe.”
For the first time in his life Tabion jaw slacked allowing his expensive cigar to drop onto the table before him. The shock on his face was clear.
“Surely not?” Responded Senator Kelly in an exasperated tone of voice.
“I assure you that it is quite true Senator.” Replied the Lisa Oranotie humbly. “In fact General Christopher here nearly lost his life to them two weeks ago.”
Somewhat regaining his posture and having recovered his cigar, Tabion cleared his throat and spoke.
“It has been widely discussed and heatedly debated that we, the people of Pandora, are alone in the universe. Our religion clearly states that we are the chosen of God himself and we alone were given special disposition to live on Pandora under his sovereign protection.” He took a drag from his cigar and continued. “Now you come in here and tell us that our entire belief system, indeed the entire religion of the planet is wrong?”
“Enough with the religious Dayton fodder get to the point.” Barked Kordesh impatiently.
“As I was saying Senator.” Continued Elliot, “Our long held belief that we were alone in the galaxy was in correct. We are not alone.”
“And now I am willing to wager that your going to say you need money to begin building a star fleet to combat these aliens?” Joked Tabion sarcastically.
“That is correct Senator.” Replied Lisa without hesitation and in a very serious tone.
Half laughing Tabion put his cigar down and leaned back in his chair. “You have lost your minds, all of you if you think for one moment that I am going to believe for an instant that there is Alien life out there. I don’t know where you get off making these wildly blasphemous accusations, but rest assured I am not buying into them. You especially Elliot, are all those parties and signal women finally having an effect on you?”
Kordesh sat their without saying a word, he knew full well what Elliot and the Vice Chancellor were talking about and did all he could to repress the beads of cold sweat that were beginning to form on his forehead.
“I assure you Senator, I am quite serious. So serious in fact that I am here today on direct order of the Chancellor himself.” Replied Lisa as she began to loose patience with the Chief Senator.
“Raymond what is it that you are saying?” Asked Senator Kelly politely.
“Senators we are not alone. We were never alone and now we know this and must act before it is to late.”
With that Tabion picked up his cigar once again and took another drag from it. He sat there quietly for several seconds without saying a word.
“Do you have any proof of this?” He finally asked in a serious tone. “If you don’t you might as well get up and walk the hell out of here right now and stop wasting our time!”
“We do.” Responded Elliot “You all know General Thomas Christopher, currently Director of the Space Exploration Division. Two weeks ago General Christopher and his team encountered and fought these aliens on the Victorian Glacier.”
“The nuclear bLast?” Asked Senator Kelly.
“Yes.” Replied Tom. “We had no alternative. Doctor Brook Mentor and his research team discovered a crashed space ship some seven months ago while conduction tests on the glacier. The military was brought in by order of General Green four weeks ago and assumed control of the site once word of the discovery leaked. Two weeks ago I flew up there to meet with Doctor Mentor to discuss his work and assess the situation when for some unknown reason the ship began to emit a strong power reading that went far beyond our ability to measure. Shortly thereafter we gained entry into the ship and were attacked. It became clear that the alien creatures that inhabited the ship had survived its crash in some sort of status and somehow our activity revived them. They were extremely hostile and possessed a keen sense of military tactics and fought with a viciousness that I have never before encountered in my life.”
“Aliens?” Asked Tabion slowly. “Aliens as in little blue men?”
“No Senator, Aliens as in humanoid creatures that attempted to kill my staff and I and if not for the intervention of a nuke, would have successfully freed their ship and would be at this very moment be involved in destroying our world.”
“Oh my God!” Said Senator Kelly as the color in her face drained.
“Don’t tell me that you are buying into this fodder Kendra?” Asked Tabion sarcastically.
She flashed him a dirty look but said nothing.
“What do you propose?” Asked Kordesh half hoping this was all some sort of bad dream. If not for the growing headache he was now beginning to experience, he would have concluded that this month was all some dreadful nightmare designed to test his resolve.
“Simply put we need to fund the rapid development of space capable ships, planetary defenses, and the formation of both a space born navy and military.”
“My God, do you realize what it is you are asking for?” Senator Kelly said as she took on the look of a startled animal in some ground car’s lights.
“Yes Senator, I do. We need to develop a means to defend our planet from alien invasion.” Elliot Said.
“A project of this size won’t be kept a secret for ever. Once word leaks that we are building up our space program people will begin to panic. They will assume that we know something that they do not and we all know where that will lead.” Commented Tabion as he put out his cigar and reached for another.
“That is true Senator, and that is why the Chancellor will address the planet later this week announcing that the S.E.D. will be turned over to civilian control for the purpose of commercial development of space. General Christopher will be re-assigned to the new military agency, the Pandoran Defense Force while Carl Wilhelm, the current Director of the Division of Space Exploration and Planetary Colonization will assume the role of Director of the S.E.D. once it has been turned over to Civilian control.” Replied Lisa.
“In the mean time we will be establishing the infrastructure, develop the technology, and begin the formation process for our new space born military. It is the Chancellors intentions to tell the people of Pandora that we are going full force into the future with the development of our planets space program however the formation of the Pandoran Defense Force will be kept classified until the time is right.” Elliot said as he pulled some papers from his brief case and handed them to the Chief Senator. “Satellite images of the alien ship and statements from those who saw it. Proof Senator that we are not alone.”
“How long was this ship under the ice?” He asked in response.
“As near as we have been able to determine, it crashed Pre-Sylvanian.”
“Oh my.” Senator Kelly said softly. “That’s impossible!”
“The data has been confirmed. One thing is for certain, their technology is incredibly advanced compared to our own, and it has been since before our civilization even began.” Elliot said seriously. “All the information that we have is in these briefs.”
“General Christopher what do you deem the threat level from these aliens to be?” Asked Senator Kelly. “I mean if you destroyed their ship and it was incredibly old what are the chances that more of them will come?”
“Senator I would rate them as the single most severe threat to this planet since judgment day. Shortly before the ship was destroyed, our communications monitoring station at Andover Base detected a signal coming from the ship. It was directed into space and we believe it to have been either a distress call or a homing bacon.” Replied Tom honestly.
“Assuming we grant authorization for this project, what are your intentions Elliot?” Tabion asked as he thumbed through the paper work he had been handed. It was clear now that he was taking this far more seriously than he had earlier.
“All ongoing programs at the Space Exploration Division would continue under civilian control however with a higher focus on technological development. As we discussed the Pandoran Defense Force would be formed who’s first priority would be to establish a recruitment and training operation for the men and women who will eventually command our ships and their crews in space. Secondly, and equally as important, they would begin the development of space weapons and build our first military exploration craft that will be construct at the S.E.D Space Complex near the Capitol City. The S.E.D. will focus on developing colonization technology and the development of other technologies as needed.”
“As I see it, we have little choice in the matter now. If we are not alone in the galaxy, then the beliefs that our society have held so dear for so long are false. We will need time to educate the people and counter the Salideen religion.” Commented Tabion sadly. “I am afraid that many of our citizens will resent this and claim that we are forsaking the very religion that saved our planet from annihilation. That we are inviting Gods wrath down upon us and they will do everything in their power to prevent, stall, inhibit, and disway our attempts to educate the population as to the truth that we are not alone.”
“It is going to be a long hard journey Senator, one that we must all commit to now and forever.” Replied Lisa solemnly. “We must put to rest this belief that we are unique in the galaxy for it is an out dated and naive view of our universe.”
“I assume that both the Space Exploration Division as well as the Pandoran Defense Force will have a Senate oversight committee?” Asked Tabion.
“Yes.” Replied Elliot simply.
“Well then we will need to find a chair for this new committee.” Said Tabion as he looked to other senators.
“I will do it.” Replied Kordesh.
“So be it. Senator Kordesh shall chair the oversight committee for the civilian S.E.D. and P.D.F.”
With that they all slowly stood, shook hands and left. As Raymond Elliot and Tom Christopher walked into the hall of the Senate complex, they stopped and said their good byes to the Vice Chancellor. As she walked away Raymond turned to Tom and said. “If they ever find out what it is we are going to really use the money for, they will execute us.”
“Then they must never know.” Commented Tom stoically. “No one must ever know for it’s the price of our future.”