Читать книгу Intersection With Nibiru - Danilo Clementoni - Страница 13

"Isn’t it exciting to think that the two of us are going to save the Earth, my love?" said Elisa, gazing at the Colonel with the eyes of a loved-up kitten, as she reached for his hand.

“‘My love’? Isn’t that moving a little fast?” Jack chided her frowning.

Elisa winced, then when the Colonel smiled affectionately and stroked her cheek, she realised he was teasing her. “Swine! Don’t play tricks like that on me again or I’ll show you” and she began pummelling his chest with both hands.

"Okay, okay" whispered Jack, hugging her lovingly. “It was just a silly game. I won’t do it again.”

The sudden embrace had a calming and relaxing effect on Elisa. She felt all the tension she had accumulated up to then, suddenly melt away like snow in the sun. After all that had happened in the last few hours, it was just what she needed. She melted into his arms and slowly closing her eyes, leant her head against his strong chest and let herself go completely.

Azakis, meanwhile, had slipped into the dreadfully cramped H^COM booth and was waiting for an answer to his communication request on the holographic screen in front of him.

A series of multicoloured waves, starting from the centre of the screen, began creating an effect similar to that of a stone thrown into the calm waters of a pond. All of a sudden, the waves gradually began to fade and the hollowed and time-marked face of his Elder superior, started to appear.

“Azakis," said the man smiling slightly, while he slowly lifted his bony hand in greeting. "What can this poor old man do for you?"

"We revealed the truth to the two terrestrials."

“A bold thing to do," commented the Elder, holding his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “And how did they take it?"

“Let’s say that after their initial legitimate amazement, I think they reacted very well." Azakis paused briefly then said, in a very serious tone, "We suggested using the superfluid toroid to them."

“The toroid?" exclaimed the other, rising to his feet so fast even a youngster would have been jealous. “But it hasn’t been fully tested yet. You do remember what happened last time, don’t you? We could create an uncontrolled gravity fluctuation with that thing and there’s even the risk of creating a mini black hole."

“I know, I know only too well" replied Azakis quietly. “But I don’t think there’s an alternative. This time, if we don't use drastic measures, Kodon’s passage could be fatal for the terrestrials."

“What’s your plan?"

“The orbits of the two planets are estimated to intersect in just under seven days. If you could get them to prepare the toroid and have it brought here to me at least a day in advance."

“That’s not much time, you know."

“You’ll have to leave me a small margin for the positioning, configuration and activation procedure."

“I’ve got a bad premonition," said the Elder running a hand through his silvery white hair.

“Petri’s with me. It’ll all be fine."

“You’re two clever guys, I don’t doubt that, but be very careful. That thing could become a lethal weapon."

“You just try and let us have it in time, leave the rest to us. Don’t worry."

“Okay. I’ll get back to you as soon as everything is ready. Good luck."

His superior’s face vanished from the monitor that went back to showing the same multicoloured waves as before.

Azakis slowly rose from the uncomfortable chair and stood with his hands resting on the top of the narrow desk for a while. A thousand thoughts were flooding his mind and, while a slight shudder ran down his back, he had the distinct feeling they were about to land themselves in a sea of woe.

“Zak," exclaimed his companion in adventure cheerfully, when he saw him emerge from the H^COM booth. “What did the old man say?"

Azakis stretched then answered calmly, "He gave us his approval. If everything goes according to plan we’ll have the toroid, or rather Newark, the day before the planets’ orbits intersect."

“Let’s hope we manage it. It’s not going to be easy to configure that thing in so little time."

“What are you worrying about my friend?" replied Azakis with a slight smile. "If the worst comes to the worst, we’ll just open up a space-time distortion. That’ll swallow up the Earth, Kodon, Nibiru and all the other satellites, all in one go."

The two terrestrials, who were standing a little way off but hadn’t missed a single word of this conversation, were petrified.

“What are you saying?” Elisa managed to splutter, while looking at him appalled. “A space-time distortion? Swallow up? Are you telling me that if this plan doesn’t work, we will be creating the destruction of our people and yours?"

"Well, there is a small risk," commented Azakis quietly.

“A ‘small risk’? And you tell us just like that, with that calm, serene look on your face? You must be crazy! And us, more than you."

“Calm down darling," intervened Jack, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her straight in eyes. “They are much smarter and better prepared than us. If they’ve decided to go down this route, we cannot do anything other than support them and give them all the help we can."

The doctor let out a long sigh then said, "I need to sit down. Too many emotions today. If this goes on it’ll kill me."

Jack took her by the arm and led her to the closest armchair. Elisa fell into it like a dead weight, with a low groan.

“Perhaps we’ve reduced the percentage of oxygen in the air a little too much," Azakis whispered to his companion.

“I tried to make it as compatible as possible for us all and avoid having to use those awful respirators."

“I know my friend, but I’m afraid they’re being affected excessively by it."

“Okay, I’ll change the mixture. We can adapt much more easily."

The Colonel, however, didn’t seem to be affected at all and was more high-spirited than ever. Action and risk were his bread and butter and he felt perfectly at ease in situations like this. “Well," he exclaimed, as he positioned himself just below the three-dimensional image of Newark, which still rose majestically in the middle of the room. “This thing could save us all or lead us into absolute destruction."

“A succinct but effective analysis," commented Azakis.

“At this point," said the Colonel in a serious tone and with a deep voice, "I believe the time has come to warn the rest of the planet of the impending catastrophe."

“And just how are you thinking of doing that?" asked Elisa from her chair. “Are we just going to pick up the phone, call the President of the United States and say: ‘Hello Mr President. Do you know, we are in the company of two aliens who have told us that, in a few days’ time, a planet will get here that is going to sweep us all away?’"

“At the very least he’ll have the call traced, get someone to come and fetch us and take us straight to the madhouse," answered Jack smiling.

“But don’t you have a global communication system like our GCS?” Petri asked the Colonel, intrigued.

“GCS? What do you mean?"

“It’s a general communication system, capable of memorising and disseminating Information on a planetary scale. We can all access it, at varying levels, by means of an N^COM, a neural system implanted directly into our brains, at birth."

“Cool!" exclaimed Elisa, surprised. Then she continued, saying, "Actually, we do have a system of this sort. It’s called the internet but we are nowhere near your level."

“And would it not be possible to use your ‘internet’ to send a message to the entire planet?" asked Petri intrigued.

“Well, it’s not quite that simple," replied Elisa. “We could enter information into the system, send messages to groups of people, perhaps even a short video and try to disseminate it as much as possible, but nobody would believe us and it certainly wouldn’t reach everybody." She thought for a few seconds, then added, "I think the only way would be with good old television".

“Television?" questioned Azakis. Then, turning to Petri, he said, "That wouldn’t by any chance be that system we used to receive images and films when we were on our way here?"

“Yes, I think so, Zak," and so saying, he began to tinker with a series of commands on the centre console. After a few seconds, he brought up some of the sequences on the giant screen that they had recorded earlier. “Is this what you’re talking about?"

A multitude of films of all types began to appear in rapid succession: advertisements, news broadcasts, football matches and even an old black and white Humphrey Bogart film.

“But that’s Casablanca," exclaimed Elisa in amazement. “Where did you get all this stuff?"

“Your broadcasts also radiate into space," answered Petri calmly. “We had to work on our receiving system a little, but we were able to receive them in the end."

“It’s thanks to them," Azakis added, "that we managed to learn your language."

“And some other much more complicated ones," commented Petri sadly. “I almost went crazy with all those little drawings."

“However," intervened the Colonel abruptly, "this is exactly what we were talking about, but I don’t think even this is the best solution."

“Forgive me Jack," intervened Elisa. “Don’t you think it might be best, first of all, to warn your superiors at ELSAD? After all, unless I misunderstood you, none other than the president of the United States himself is at the top of that organisation, or am I mistaken?"

“And how come you know all these things?" objected the Colonel, astonished.

“Well, even I have my sources" said Elisa, mischievously pushing aside a lock of hair that had fallen onto her right cheek.

“Do your women act like this too?" asked Jack, addressing the two aliens who were observing the scene with an amazed air.

“My dear chap, women are the same throughout the universe," replied Azakis smiling.

“However," continued the Colonel after the rather risky joke, "I think you’re absolutely right. We need a trustworthy and credible institution to broadcast such serious and distressing news. I’m just a little worried about these external infiltrations which involved General Campbell and the two guys who attacked us. The General was actually my direct superior, but apparently, it would seem he’s corrupt and a traitor."

“So, in the end we really will have to make that phone call we joked about before?" replied Doctor Elisa.

“Although it seems absurd, perhaps that is the only solution."