Terry Neale - Jo-el

I nodded, “yes, I suppose I do.”

A hush filled the room. The fear in the eyes of the four men around the table was genuine. I scared them, but then, what did I expect? Would it change in time? I didn’t know. Could I see it from their point of view? Maybe not. I wasn’t in their shoes; I wasn’t sitting across the table from this megalomaniac. But I wanted to help the world. How else was I supposed to do that? Was this the right approach? Maybe I should go on TV and tell the world what I know. But as I ran that through my mind it just didn’t pencil. The panic would be enormous. I wouldn’t be believed. I just couldn’t see that working, not yet anyway, not until people were one hundred percent convinced I was on their side.

“I need your help.” I said, eventually.

They all looked at me but stayed silent. Why did I need their help? I was like a God to them, what on earth could they do? Maybe I should tell them my initial goal? I just wasn’t sure; it didn’t feel the time was right. And these weren’t the right people. I realized at that moment I needed to talk to the President, I had to tell him, but would he even allow me near him? I guess I just had to try. But first I had to deal with the current problem. I stood up and reviewed the monitor. The hostages hadn’t moved. It was still early into my window but I’d had enough of this meeting.

“ Sally, did Pippa find a place to take the other hostages?”

“Let’s see. No, she fucked up. She didn’t know how to explain how the patients were going to arrive and why they needed an empty room. I guess you should dump her!”

I sighed, Sally wasn’t making this any easier.

“ Okay, well let’s go get these guys and take them directly to the hospital. Let’s pick up the American first.”

“Ready when you are boss, I won’t fuck up.”

Bloody computer is more like a woman every damn day.

One at a time I picked up the six remaining hostages and bounced them to the hospital. Sally found a spot out of sight, not too far from the main door. The nursing staff were wonderful and didn’t ask any questions. Pippa was efficient and busy. None of the hostages had guards inside their cells. I changed into an Army uniform and before entering the cells I had Sally cause each hostage to black out. They would never know the truth of how they were rescued. When the sixth man was wheeled away, Pippa and I walked to one side of the hospital lobby, out of earshot. She said she needed the names and home addresses of the seven captives. I said I’d have Sally email them to her. There was a mass of paperwork to do at the hospital and she was okay making her own way back to Langley. She said that Alberton needed her back there to help with the report they had to prepare for the Director.

“I believe you, Jo-el, truly I do. Give them time.”

With that I went back to the hangar and picked up the disc monitor. The four men were still there, waiting to see if there was anything else I wanted to add. I said, ‘nothing for now’, I tried to be upbeat but I don’t think they could sense it. Each eyed me in a suspicious manner, afraid of confrontation. I bounced back to San Francisco and the comfort of my family-room. I was exhausted even with my new-found youth.

For almost half an hour I just sat on my sofa running through the meeting in my mind. I had set the wheels in motion and now I had to control the outcome. Steer the process in the direction I wanted it to go. I believed the only way the world was going to buy into the notion of Armageddon and a real solution was if they truly believed everything I told them. Therefore, I had to prove out my statements, which was what I was doing. They were scared but that was to be expected. I was scared when Ka-el, then Sally told me who they were and why they had contacted me. I thought about the reaction from the General and it made so much sense. He didn’t know about the galactic storm; all he saw was someone with technology vastly superior to their own and that was a threat and the way you deal with threats is you eliminate them. I just hoped he would come around and recognize that I was on their side.

I worried that I’d told them too much. Anti-gravity, travelling at the speed of light, my ability to terminate anyone, anywhere. I tried to imagine what I would feel like in their shoes. But it was hard, I knew the reasons, I’d had more time to digest the craziness. I think I would be terrified; I think I wouldn’t believe I was being told the truth, that there had to be some other reason and whatever that was, it wouldn’t be good.

These things circled around in my mind as I sat quietly on my sofa. Eventually I concluded that over worrying about everyone’s concerns wouldn’t help. There would be those who believed and those who didn’t and I simply had to do everything in my power to convince as many people as possible.

The pangs of hunger rumbled my stomach. It was almost two o’clock so I went out to the Pear Blossom café and devoured a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. I hadn’t spoken with Sally since returning but it was time. Back in my family room I called her to join me.

She appeared as usual and sat in the armchair. Relaxed and vibrant, no signs of concern on her lovely face, no stress, no doubts of making the wrong decisions. I felt envious.

“Any messages?”

“None.”

“What else is happening?”

“Your girlfriend is still at the hospital calling relatives.”

“How they doing?”

“The men are all fine, or will be in a few days. They don’t understand how they happen to be in Virginia, but they’re happy to be there. Pippa isn’t telling them anything. The Dutch girl is in a comma, probably happened before you got her out. She’ll be okay in time. Mental scares might last but physically she’ll recover. Her parents are already booked on a flight tomorrow morning their time. Relatives of the men will be in Virginia tomorrow. The press in Holland are just getting wind of the rescue but they don’t know who to contact. It’s late over there.”

“What did Pippa tell the phycologist?”

“She lied, said it was an American Delta Force rescue. The hostages were flown to the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.”

“Close enough,” I said.

“Not close at all, Joey,” she laughed.

“Send a text to Pippa, I’ll take her back to Langley.”

“Now why would you do that? Let me think. Nah! Couldn’t be, could it?” Sally was grinning. “You hoping to bump uglies with the Indian Princess?”

“I just want to talk to her.”

“Yea right!”

I wasn’t going to get lead in to that discussion. “What else is happening?” I asked, trying to be serious.

Sally was still grinning, could a female image created by a computer be jealous? Who knows?

“Alberton and Grayson are working on a report for the CIA Director.”

“Grayson?”

“The black guy.”

“Oh, right.”

“Georgina Lambert is about to go into a meeting with the FBI Director. She has summoned a bunch of agents for a big powwow first thing tomorrow. I don’t think you’ll hear from her today. The Homeland Security team have begun investigating the Azziz group and have instructed their Phoenix and LA staff to obtain warrants to search the other two terrorist groups. That will probably not happen for a while.”

“What about the General?”

“Ah, he’s pissed. He still wants you dead. He’s meeting with another General as we speak and has requested a meeting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. But he has a bit of a gung-ho reputation so no luck on setting up that meeting as yet.”

“Better keep an eye on him,” I said. “What’s the Colonel and Major up to?”