Danilo Clementoni - Intersection With Nibiru

"But where the devil did you get that?"

"I printed it out earlier while you were in the shower. Did you think you were the only computer wizard?"

"I'm astounded. It's even better than the original."

"We'll get into the military base and let them hand over the General. If they should object, we could always tell them to call Colonel Hudson directly. I don't think mobiles work in space," and at that they both roared with laughter.

About an hour later, when the sun had dropped behind a high sand dune, a military Jeep, carrying a Colonel and a General in full dress uniform, stopped at the entrance barrier of the Imam Ali air base or Camp Adder as the Americans had renamed it during the Iraq war. Two servicemen, armed to the teeth, came out of the armoured sentry box, and moved quickly towards the vehicle. Two others, at a distance, kept their sights on the passengers.

"Good evening Colonel," said the nearest soldier, giving a smart military salute. "May I see yours and the General’s documents, please?"

The tall, thin Colonel who was sitting in the driver’s seat, said nothing. He took a yellow envelope from the inner pocket of his jacket and handed it to him. The serviceman spent quite some time reading and shone his torch in both their faces a couple of times. The General distinctly felt the drop of sweat which, starting from just under the bump on his forehead, began to slowly trickle down his nose, to then drop onto the third button of his jacket, which was being unbelievably strained by the mighty thrust of the enormous stomach underneath.

"Colonel Morris and General White," said the serviceman, again pointing the torch in the Colonel’s face.

"Wright, General Wright!” answered the skinny Colonel in a decidedly annoyed tone of voice. "What's the matter Sergeant, can’t you read?"

The Sergeant, who had pronounced the General’s surname incorrectly on purpose, smiled slightly and said, "I’ll get someone to accompany you. Follow those men," and with a nod ordered the two servicemen to lead them to the prison.

The Colonel slowly started the Jeep. He hadn’t gone barely a dozen metres when he heard a shout behind him, "Stop, Sir!"

The blood froze in the veins of the vehicle’s two occupants. They remained motionless for a few very long moments, until the voice continued saying “You’ve forgotten your documents."

The corpulent General drew such a large sigh of relief that all the buttons on his uniform risked popping.

“Thank you, Sergeant," said the thin man holding out his hand towards the soldier. “I'm getting old faster than I thought."

They set off again in the jeep and followed the two soldiers who, proceeding apace, quickly led them to the entrance of a low and decidedly shabby building. The youngest soldier knocked on the large door and went in without waiting for an answer. Shortly afterwards, a large, completely bald, coloured man, with the stripes of a sergeant and the face of a tough guy, appeared on the threshold and stood to attention. He saluted and said, "General, Colonel. Please come in.”

The two officers saluted in response and, trying to ignore the various pains that were starting to reappear, entered the large room.

“Sergeant" said the thin guy with determination. “We have a written order here from Colonel Hudson authorising us to pick up General Campbell," and he handed him the yellow envelope.

The large sergeant opened it and took his time reading the contents. Then, fixing his dark, penetrating eyes on the Colonel’s, he sentenced, "I’ll have to check."

“Go ahead,” replied the officer calmly.

The large coloured man drew another sheet of paper out of a drawer in the desk and carefully compared it with the one in his hand. He looked at the Colonel again and, without showing any emotion, added, "The signature is the same. Do you mind if I call him?"

“It’s your duty. But let’s try and be quick, please. We’ve already wasted too much time," replied the skinny Colonel, pretending to be about to lose his patience.

By no means frightened, the sergeant slowly put a hand into the pocket of his uniform and drew out his mobile phone. He dialled a number and waited.

The two officers held their breath until the serviceman, after pressing a key on his phone, laconically commented "he can’t be reached."

"So, sergeant, shall we get a move on?" exclaimed the officer with a decidedly more authoritarian tone than before. "We can’t stay here all night."

"Go and fetch the General”, the large Sergeant ordered one of the soldiers who had accompanied the two officers.

After a couple of minutes, a totally bald man, with a large moustache and grey eyebrows, and two small bright black eyes, appeared on the threshold of the door behind the sergeant. He wore the uniform of a General, but one of the four ordinance stars was missing on his right shoulder. He was handcuffed and, behind him, the soldier from before held him at gunpoint.

The General jumped for a moment at the sight of the two officers, then, guessing the plan, remained silent and looked as sad as he could.

“Thank you, Soldier," said the skinny Colonel, removing his Beretta M9 from its holster. “We’ll take this scumbag now."

"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."