AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Garrison has it. He’s going to turn it over to CAID.”
“I’ll need to get that from him for my briefing with the Joint Chiefs.” She looked at me. “Do you have any other supporting evidence?”
She said, “supporting evidence,” like my word counted for something. The way it should have been with Garrison. If anyone should have been a tough sell, it should have been the president. Not my boss.
“Just my clothes,” I replied.
She eyed my navy slacks and high-necked navy-and-white tunic. It struck me I’d inadvertently dressed kind of like the president herself. The only thing missing is a broach.
“Not these.” I plucked at the hem of the tunic. “The ones I had on when I landed. They came from planet Nomoru. An analysis will show we don’t have that fabric. The clothes won’t prove I was kidnapped, but they do help prove the existence of aliens—but, of course, that’s not in contention.”
“I’ll want the clothes, too. Every bit helps.”
“I’ll bring them in tomorrow. They’re at my apartment.”
“Speaking of evidence…” She strode to her console and connected with her assistant again. “Kari, please send someone to Mr. Keller’s office right away and retrieve a communication device. He’ll know what it is. And please arrange a meeting with the Joint Chiefs as soon as possible.”
I winced. Garrison would know where I was and what I’d done. I’d broken a cardinal rule: obey the chain of command. You did not go over your boss’s head, least of all to the head boss herself. He’d fire me for sure. I’d hoped to keep my job for a few more days anyway because once I got canned, I’d lose access to important resources. If I hadn’t had clearance, I wouldn’t have been able to dig into the census. Citizens could get the population count and demographic info, but they didn’t have access to names.
Upon returning to the sofa, the president scanned my face. “What’s wrong?”
I twisted my mouth. “Garrison won’t be happy I came to you.”
“Ah. The chain of command. I respect him and the chain of command, but in this case, you did the right thing. I’m glad you came to me and trusted me with this information. The safety and security of our planet is of paramount importance. Don’t worry about Garrison. I’ll smooth any ruffled feathers.” She paused. “Is there anything else?”
I shook my head. “I think I’ve told you everything.”
She stood up again, and I took it as my cue to leave. I stood up, too. “Thank you, Madame President.”
“No, thank you, Jessie. I’ll handle it from here. Be assured a full investigation will be conducted, and I will do everything in my power to ensure our people are safe. We must avoid unnecessary panic. I need to ask you to keep this under wraps until we have a plan of attack. Don’t share your information with anyone. Can I count on your discretion?”
“Of course!” I could envision people freaking out and doing crazy things, inadvertently hurting each other. A bad situation would be made worse.
“When we go public, we must offer reassurance and tell people what steps they can take to protect themselves. I don’t have those answers yet. But I promise you, I will get those answers shortly.” She walked me to the door.
I felt so much better knowing she was in charge and believed me. Garrison’s skepticism had rattled me. I had one last favor to ask. “Could you keep me in the loop? Let me know what you discover?”
“Absolutely. I’ll see that you get the classified report. Most likely, you’ll be called upon to brief the Joint Chiefs and possibly others.” She offered a wry smile. “I’m afraid you may need to tell your story several times more.”
“I’d be happy to,” I said, and exited her office.
Her chief of staff sat in the waiting area. “Hey! How was the space cruise?” Ron Klinkman asked.
“Memorable,” I answered.
“I’ll bet.”
Kari motioned he could enter the president’s office.
My steps felt so much lighter as I left. The problem hadn’t been solved, but a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Since I was technically still on vacation, and I dreaded facing my pissed-off boss, I decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. I could get reacquainted with the familiar comforts of home and spend some quality time with James Bond. Besides, I needed to be there to protect my home if the intruder came back.
Dammit! I forgot to tell President Stadler about the burglary. Normally a break-in would not rate as something to bother the president with, except this was no run-of-the mill crime. The yellow-eyed intruder had demanded the handheld.
Unfortunately, the president was tied up with her chief of staff. Would she bring him into her confidence? Klinkman had struck me as trustworthy, but as the circle of in-the-know individuals grew, so did the possibility of leaks. It was inevitable.
When I drop off my clothes tomorrow, I’ll tell her about the burglary. She’ll get the handheld back from Garrison. That’s the most important thing.
