The Trojan Horse (14 page)

“But who told you to come?”  She asked, as the girl blew a bubble of gum.  “Why did you come here?”

“Because this is, like,
Washington
,” the girl said.  “The filthy thieves in Congress wouldn't notice a protest in Podunk, USA.  They don’t, like, pay any attention to anyone outside Washington who doesn't have a big bursting wallet.  We got together and made up our minds to take a trip here and we’re going to camp out until they give us what we want.”

Jayne watched the girl move back into the protest and vanish into the crowd, shaking her head.  It had always struck her that most protesters might have a valid case, but they didn't have the slightest idea of how to actually go about getting what they wanted.  The American Government was far from perfect, yet it actually
listened
to the results of election campaigns.  A protest movement that concentrated on selecting the right politicians would go further than one that merely consisted of shouting and screaming. 

Another protester was in front of her before she could move away, almost demanding to be interviewed.  “I must say that we find the government’s decision to sit on the alien terms abhorrent,” he said.  Jayne tried to keep the disgust from her face.  He smelled as if he hadn't washed for a week.  His outfit, a torn tunic that looked as if it had once belonged to a janitor, was marked and stained by dark liquids.  She didn't want to think about what they might be.  “Don’t we have a right to know?”

He grinned, revealing gaps in his teeth.  “But we’re going to make them pay for deceiving us,” he added.  “We won’t let up until those bastards are removed from Washington and we have a federal government that actually
cares
about the little people.  Do you hear me up there?”

Jayne managed to walk away while he was making rude signs to the helicopters high overhead.  The entire tone of the demonstration was growing darker by the second, threatening to turn into a riot.  She caught signs of hundreds of black-clad policemen in riot gear moving forward, only to be greeted with a hail of abuse and stones from protesters who had clearly come prepared for a riot.  The policemen raised their shields to protect themselves, while bringing up reinforcements.  Jayne, who had been arrested before during a protest that had turned violent, turned and headed back to safety as fast as possible.  It hadn't been a very enjoyable afternoon.

Behind her, the noise of the riot grew louder.  More and more police vans were racing towards the scene.  She spared a thought for the innocents in the crowd and then kept walking.  She'd see it all on CNN or FOX once she was back in the motel. 

***

Later, after a shower and a quick meal, she logged on and checked the records.  According to the mainstream media, the riots had begun when a group of anti-alien protesters had deliberately provoked their opponents into a battle.   The police had been caught in the middle while trying to separate the two groups, making thousands of arrests before they’d been forced to pull back and let the rioters burn themselves out first.  At least a hundred people were confirmed dead and thousands were injured. 

She shook her head, bitterly.  Someone was definitely manufacturing the news. 
She
hadn't seen any anti-alien protesters deliberately sparking off a riot.  Some of the bloggers were pointing that out, although she doubted that anyone would take them too seriously.  One problem with witness statements was that the witness could believe they were telling the truth, but it would be only as they saw it.  A hundred accounts of the same event could yield a hundred different versions from witnesses who only saw what had happened to or near then.

It hardly mattered, not now.  The entire country would see anti-alien protesters as rioters – and anything they said would be ignored.  The noose was tightening around the entire country...

Was there no one who could see it?

Chapter Fourteen

Washington DC

USA, Day 25

Toby followed the President into the conference room, watching as the Cabinet rose to greet their President.  It was their second full meeting since First Contact and they’d been joined by the Majority Leader, Minority Leader and a handful of influential Senators and Congressmen.  Personally, Toby would have been surprised if such a diverse group ever came to any conclusions, but most of them knew that their careers were at stake.  The pro-alien lobby was growing rapidly – one of his allies had mentioned that someone behind the scenes was funding the protesters – and the political leaders were under immense pressure to deliver the goods.  Normally, they could expect the fickle public to have forgotten about the issue by the time elections rolled around, but not this time.  One way or another, the public would never forget.

“Please be seated,” the President said.  He stood at the end of the table, his eyes travelling down the line of seated politicians.  The Vice President, who was making a long-overdue visit to Japan, was linked in via videoconferencing technology, but everyone else was present in person.  Toby knew that at least five of the politicians in the room had been tagged by alien surveillance bugs and that meant that the aliens would know everything that was said in the discussion.  They’d know how best to target their resources to get what they wanted – whatever they wanted.  “It is no exaggeration to state that whatever choices we make today will change the course of American history – of Earth’s history – for a thousand years.”

He pressed one hand against the table, a sign of nervousness.  Politicians trained themselves to reveal as little as possible of their inner feelings – one never knew when a camera was trained on one, recording one’s reactions for posterity – but the President was at the end of his career.  There were no higher positions to reach than President of the United States.  After his departure, he would write his memoirs and go on the lecture circuit.  He would never return to government life.

“You’ve all seen what the aliens are asking,” the President said.  “They want us to sign up to a global government with transnational authority.  They want us to discard – to disband – most of our military, including the nuclear warheads that have guaranteed peace and security for the past fifty years.  And they want us to make the shift to a fusion-based economy as soon as possible.  If we refuse to accept these terms, we will be frozen out of Earth’s upgrading process and find ourselves at a major disadvantage when it comes to competing with the rest of the world, let alone the Federation.  The promised loans and technological upgrades will never materialise.

“The best-case scenario is that we will be able to join the transnational government later on,” he continued.  “We already know that certain governments – North Korea, for example – will not be joining the world government, even though they will be guaranteed full internal autonomy.  But the Federation is apparently convinced that they will eventually fall and when that happens, they will be allowed to join the world government.  If that happens to us, however, we will lose all input into the negotiations surrounding the formation of the world government.  We will have to accept whatever terms are dictated by the transnational authority.

“The worst-case scenario is that we will never be allowed to join the transnational government, which means that America will not be part of the Federation.  It is quite possible that the effects of such isolation will be utterly devastating.  The remainder of the world will soar ahead into space, their industrial bases upgraded by the Federation, while we remain mired in the gravity well.  You all know what would happen to our economy if we lost the ability to trade with the rest of the world.  At best, we’d be a modern version of pre-Perry Japan; isolated, backward and unheeded.  At worst...”

“They’d take over,” Senator Hamlin growled.  He was renowned for being excessively right-wing, but he was under a great deal of pressure from his home state.  Elections were coming up and the deciding issue would be the Galactic Federation.  Making the wrong choice could destroy his career.  “We’d be ground away until we’d just collapse like the Ottomans...”

Toby wondered, as the President cleared his throat with a hint of irritation, if the Senator had just signed his own death warrant.  He had no way of knowing that the aliens were watching the meeting, or that he ought to guard his words.  On the other hand, a Senator was far better protected than an ordinary blogger and any assassination attempt, even an unsuccessful one, would run the risk of exposure.  He started to lay plans in the back of his mind, wondering if the aliens could be pushed into exposing themselves, as the President continued to speak.

“At worst, we’d be looking at total social collapse,”  the President said.  Toby remembered the day, just before his inauguration, when the President had been shown some of the highly-classified contingency plans drawn up by government agencies.  Some of them had been harrowing, warning of the dangers of racial and ethnic conflict in America, or of the sudden loss of all oil supplies from the Middle East.  In theory, the United States could survive such an embargo, but in practice the results would devastate the economy.  “I don't think that our public would thank us for condemning them to outright chaos while the French and the Russians get to go to the stars.”

There was a long uncomfortable pause.  “Let’s be clear on this,” the President said.  “We are talking about giving up almost all of our ability to influence the world.  We are talking about giving up most of our ability to defend ourselves – even though the Federation has promised that any state that joins the world government will be protected by the Federation.  And, most importantly of all, we are talking about giving up ultimate authority over ourselves.  We have refused to work with the International Criminal Court and other such transnational entities because they would compromise our independence and our right to stand in judgement over our own people.  If we join now, we
will
have some say in how the global government is organised, but we won’t have a decisive vote.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is what is at stake here; America herself.

“Do we accept their terms and become part of a world government, or do we refuse and attempt to negotiate better terms for ourselves?”  He asked  “But we have very little to bargain with, don't we?  They do not need our technology, or our food, or our industrial base.  The space components we have seen them order from our industrial corporations can be just as easily be produced in China, or Russia, or even Africa.  We are in a very weak bargaining position; on one hand, technology in exchange for surrendering part of our independence; on the other hand, isolation and inevitable decline.”

And the termination of a number of political careers
, Toby thought, coldly.  The mainstream media had been painting Federation membership in glowing terms.  There was no constitutional basis for a national referendum or any other form of direct democracy, but if a referendum happened to be held, Toby was not sanguine about the prospects.  The latest polls showed a massive upswing in pro-alien views.  If any of the politicians took too strong a stance against the Federation, their careers would likely be terminated.

“The choice is ours,” the President concluded.  “Where do we stand?”

Unsurprisingly, Jeannette McGreevy was the first to speak.  The Secretary of State, according to the FBI’s counter-intelligence division, had had at least a dozen meetings with the aliens, during which they’d discussed...what?  She’d been reluctant to allow the CIA or anyone else to debrief her afterwards, citing confidentiality concerns.  As the Secretary of State, she’d been involved in any number of sensitive negotiations – including some with countries the American public regarded as one step below Satan himself – that would have caused a political catfight if any details were released into the public domain, but surely negotiations with an alien power were different.  Toby would have given his right arm to know what the aliens had said to her – and what she’d said to them.

“I feel that our choice is obvious,” she said.  “I think that we should accept the alien terms, without hesitation.  We are a very strong and capable nation, even outside the military field.  We will be very well placed to take advantage of the infusion of alien technology and the loans they’ve promised us to get our technology up to speed.  Given ten years, we can make the switch to a fusion economy and start repairing the damage we've done to the Earth – and, just incidentally, see the Arabs try to drink their oil.”

There were a handful of nervous chuckles.  “We should not think of this in terms of giving up our independence,” she added.  “We have been told that we will have full internal autonomy and our local government systems will remain as we choose to keep them.  There will still be a Senate, there will still be a Congress, there will even still be a President.  And, given the time needed to develop our own industries, we have the ability, the drive, the determination, to take what the Federation can offer us and use it to take America to the stars.  Is there any other nation on Earth as capable as we are of developing and deploying technology?”

She shook her head.  “We are always scared of change, as a race,” she said.  “There are people who prefer to remain in squalor rather than make a jump to an unknown destination, fearful of what might happen to them if they move.  We see battered wives remaining with their husbands because they’re scared to leave.  I tell you now that there is no reason to fear the future.  We have the ability to take the alien technology and use it to our own best advantage.  And the Federation will allow us to do just that!

“Yes, we are puny by their standards, but that will change.  A bright shining future awaits America – awaits the entire human race – if only we dare to reach out and grasp it for ourselves.  Don’t think of what we will be giving up, Mr. President; think of what we will be gaining by joining the Galactic Federation.  We are no longer alone!  We are children in a universe of adults.  It’s time to put aside childish things and grow up into the adults we have always known we could be.  It’s time to join the interstellar community.”

Her speech sounded good, Toby had to admit.  Anti-alien bloggers had concentrated on the negatives, wondering aloud why the Federation would even
care
about human military forces when they could obliterate them from orbit with ease.  By focusing on the positive, she made the negative seem absurd, a small price to pay for humanity’s leg up into adulthood.  And if Toby hadn't known about the alien bugs, he would have wanted to believe her.  The entire world would want to believe her, if only because the promise was so...promising.  A bright shining future seemed to beckon, waiting for the entire human race.

The President cleared his throat.  “Jeannette has spoken in favour of accepting the alien terms,” he said.  “Would anyone like to speak against them?”

Toby watched, keeping his face expressionless.  Several Senators who had been vocal opponents of transnational institutions in the past kept their mouths shut, seemingly unwilling to challenge the Federation openly.  But then, modern Washington leaked like a sieve; a single leak, picked up and amplified by the media, could destroy a career.  The blandness of modern politics contrasted sharply with the world it had created.  No one dared to venture onto the record when it could shatter their hopes and dreams for the future.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat.  Toby looked down and saw General Elliot Thomas preparing to speak.  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had been invited to what was, officially, a political meeting because he had his thumb on the pulse of military opinion.  Whatever the Federation might have in mind, disbanding ninety percent of the American military machine would put hundreds of thousands of people out of work and onto the streets.  That hadn't worked out too well in Iraq and it wouldn't be much better in America.  Toby had heard that Congress was even debating a bill to ensure that all military personnel continued to receive their salaries for at least six months.  It was a nice idea, but he doubted it would pass.  Congress hated the thought of paying someone for nothing, at least someone outside the political circle. 

“Mr. President,” he said, gruffly.  “I would not say that the Federation’s promises are not extremely attractive.  I would not argue that we are being offered something we should refuse, without consideration, even if we were the only nation on Earth.  And, put bluntly, decisions regarding discussions with foreign powers are a political concern.  It is my duty, however, to make you aware of the military implications of the Federation’s demands.”

“There are none,” McGreevy said, sharply.  “The Federation is not planning to invade us, General.  And even if they were, how much chance would we stand against someone who can cross the gulf of space?”

Thomas ignored her, but then; they were old enemies.  Toby knew that Thomas had never forgiven McGreevy for her political interference during a brief crisis with Iran, nine months ago.  He’d said that she’d intruded upon military affairs and almost cost America nine young lives.  She said that she’d managed to negotiate a mutual stand-down that had avoided the need for violence.  Toby knew that it had involved treating Iran, a nation that much of the American public regarded as the Great Satan, as an American equal.  The Iranians had made much out of their political success at the UN – and it had made the United States look very weak.