Christopher Nuttall - The Trojan Horse

Toby nodded. “It has been just under three weeks since the starships arrived in Earth orbit,” he said. “They have already turned the world upside down, but until now we didn’t know the terms for Earth’s provisional membership in the Galactic Federation. We do know now — and they are disquieting. The aliens say they come in peace, and that they mean us well, but the evidence doesn’t back up their claims. Among other things, they have been telling different things to different people.”

He scowled. It had taken a covert international effort — sharing information from Britain, France, Russia and even China — to put together a picture of what the aliens were telling the different nations. The aliens had visited almost every nation in the world, even the ones that were abominations on the face of the planet. They condemned human nations that were built around a religious ideal — one that served as an excuse for oppressing their own people — and yet they hadn’t hesitated to visit Saudi Arabia and Iran. Their presence in the Middle East had worried the CIA, even the analysts who hadn’t known about some of the more suspicious alien actions. The arrival of fusion power threatened the Middle East oil states and a number of Islamic terrorist groups had issued threats against the aliens. No one knew what the Snakes would do if one of their people was shot, or kidnapped, but no one wanted to find out.

“Their terms are alarmingly simple. First, they want a global government that the Galactic Federation can actually treat as speaking for the majority of the planet. The UN just won’t cut it. They want us all to sign up to a global supranational government, one that will have a great deal of authority and the clout to ensure that its mandates are followed by the individual nation-states. Any state that refuses to join and contribute to the global government will be frozen out of any trade and technological deals with the Galactic Federation.”

“Hell,” Coleman said. “Why don’t they just call it the Global Community and have done with it?”

Toby smiled, recognising the reference. “Second, they want us to largely disarm. States are to cut their military forces back by at least ninety percent — and all nuclear weapons are to be dismantled. The global government — whatever form it takes — will handle Earth’s security and the Galactic Federation will provide whatever support is required to ensure that the states that don’t join the global government are unable to threaten the new status quo.

“Third… they want us to work on fixing our own mess. The global government will have a very powerful oversight role over businesses and industrial production sites. They will have the clout to close polluting businesses without facing centuries of legal battles in the courts. Among other things, most of the weapons industry across the world will be dismantled and the world will switch to a wholly fusion-powered lifestyle. Further, they will control the banks and work on fixing the debt mess that caused the economic crisis in the last decade…”

“It sounds,” Coleman observed, “as if they wish to take control of the entire world.”

Toby nodded. “From what we’ve been told,” he said, “the Galactic Federation is actually a three-tier structure. First, you have races like us; races that have to be helped into space. Second, you have races like the Snakes; races that made it into space on their own. And finally, you have races that have actually helped another race into space. The Snakes have confided in a handful of their more persistent questioners that they desperately want the status that comes with helping another race into the Federation and that’s why they’re so determined to help us, even if we don’t want to be helped.”

“How very human of them,” the Colonel observed. “Do you believe them?”

Toby hesitated, and then shook his head. “No,” he said, flatly. “There are too many holes and inconsistencies in their story. And then there’s the other evidence.”

He ran through a brief outline of the nanotech bugs the NSA had discovered, and then went on to a different — even more alarming — matter. “There have been a number of deaths recently,” he added. “Nine people who have publicly questioned the Galactic Federation’s motive in visiting our world have wound up dead over the last four days. Six of them were killed in what looks to be muggings or robberies gone bad; one of the women was apparently knifed to death by a would-be rapist and one is dead of a heart attack.”

“I’m not sure that proves anything,” Coleman pointed out, mildly. “A shit of a lot more than nine people drop dead every day from unnatural causes.”

“True,” Toby agreed, “and so far the police appear to agree with you. But I spoke to a friend at the FBI and he pulled up the case notes — and there are a lot of odd things they have in common. Apart from the fact that all of the dead were alien sceptics, the forensic teams found no traces of DNA evidence that might lead to the murderers — even the attempted rape scene was clean.”

“That’s absurd,” one of the strangers said. “A rape — even a failed rape — always leaves evidence.”

“I know,” Toby said. “My view of the situation is that all nine of them — with the possible exception of the heart attack victim — were killed by professional assassins. I have been reluctant to draw this matter to the attention of the FBI; I think we must assume that all government databases have been compromised by the aliens. And I don’t think that the deaths prove that the aliens have good motives. They’re the only ones who benefit from the deaths.”

The Colonel held up a hand. “This is all very interesting,” he said, “but let’s go back to the matter at hand. I can’t see the President accepting the terms the aliens are offering…”

Toby scowled. “The President may not have much choice,” he said. “The Galactic Federation has told us that if we refuse to join the global government on their terms, we will be frozen out of all agreements — and tech transfers — with the Federation. You have to understand what that would mean for American businesses. Every overpaid lobbyist in Washington is currently banging down doors and making it clear to their tame Congressmen that if the government refuses to accept the alien terms, they can forget about having any more contributions to their campaign funds.”

He shook his head. “And that doesn’t include a hundred other lobbies,” he added. “The environmental lobby is demanding that we close down all of the remaining nuclear plants and switch to fusion — which the aliens provide — at once. They have millions of supporters who will back the candidates who agree to the Federation’s terms. And then there are the millions of people who have seen their lives ruined by the depression while the government flounders and Wall Street’s big bankers walk away with huge payments and untroubled lives. Those people had lost their hope; the aliens returned it. The foreign aid lobby looks towards the resources that could be put to use eliminating poverty across the world, the peace lobby thinks how wonderful a world we would have without a military… everyone who just knows that the world would be a better place if we all agreed to just get along has signed up to support the Galactic Federation.

“Some… friends of mine in Washington have been tracking the visitors to alien bases. We know of political leaders who have agreed to support the aliens; protesters and political lobbies… the aliens are building up a power base on Earth. And they’re doing it everywhere; there are now alien bases in almost every major country and they’ve even been buying human buildings and refurbishing them for their use in the capitals. I think they’ve even been quietly manipulating the stock market and placing orders for components with human firms, just to ensure that they have an incredibly strong bargaining position.”