The Nexus Colony (39 page)

But of all his charges, it was probably Willard Darbury who put it best into perspective:
We know they’re here, and they know we know they’re here. And occasionally they find it necessary to demonstrate their mastery over us. They choose to do so where they have found us to be the most vulnerable. They hurt us in our minds, for they know we are unable to reason their agenda. That they are loathing of our human existence seems testament to the deep, dark malevolence of their nature. We shall neither be permitted to interrupt their world, nor shall we be permitted to understand why they interrupt ours. We can only pray that some day they will go away and leave us to our own end.

Ted Payne interrupted his thoughts. “You got thirty minutes,” he said.

Korbett hadn’t heard the door opening. Thirty minutes. What was probably the most significant event in human history had just taken place—extended contact between humans and extraterrestrials—and the President of the United States was giving him thirty minutes to brief him and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Korbett sighed deeply, stood up putting on his best military posture, and marched confidently into the chamber.

But somehow, some way, he managed to present a masterful briefing that left everyone in the room in a hushed silence after he had finished. Korbett closed his notebook at the conclusion and looked around the room. He thought at first it might just have been the magnitude of what he had reported, that they were all just letting it sink in. There was absolute silence throughout the room. It took a few moments before it sank into his
own
brain. These generals and this admiral—an assemblage of the most powerful military men in this country—they had heard this kind of briefing before from men like Bill Korbett. His wasn’t the first. There have been other encounters. Many others. They offered no comment. They asked no more questions. They simply sat in their high-backed leather chairs, powerful in their human arrogance, but powerless within their human means to do anything at all.

The President unfolded his hands, which he had been resting in front of him on the huge, oak table. His eyes peered around the room, focusing in on each emotionless face. Then lastly, he turned to face Bill Korbett.

The President only responded, “Thank you, General Korbett.” Then he turned toward the Joint Chiefs of Staff and said, softly, “That will be all for now, gentlemen.” The meeting ended as quickly as it began. The President arose and abruptly left the room. There would be no record of it. Not now. Not ever.

Bill Korbett left the White House grounds without even bothering to say good-by to Ted Payne. The chauffeur drove out through the iron gate and entered the traffic congestion of Washington. It was deathly quiet in the back of the car, and Korbett was glad that the driver had courteously closed the privacy panel. Overwhelmed, Korbett couldn’t help but to ponder the situation from the whole big picture. One damn big picture. How to get a mental grasp on it and put it into some sort of perspective…

The alien visitors were most likely present at the dawning of mankind. Maybe they were even instrumental in bringing about the dawn. We may never know things like that. We may not be allowed to know. That we should even render thoughts about the possibilities of our origins on this planet Earth being engineered by an alien culture was frightening in itself. We have been here on this Earth a long time. They were here along with us back then, and even before that.

But the most frightening thought of all was knowing that they were still out there and they still haven’t left.