Intersection With Nibiru

Jack looked at her and realised he was head over heels in love with this woman.

Azakis was speechless. He certainly hadn’t expected a reaction like that. Elisa, on the other hand, continued undeterred “If you really want to help us, you should make all your technological, medical and scientific knowledge available to us, in the shortest possible time as you certainly won’t be staying on this devastated planet for very long."

“Okay, okay. Don't get too upset,” Azakis tried to answer. "I think we did put ourselves at your disposal, without hesitation, to give you a hand or not?"

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry... You could just have taken your plastic and headed off back to where you came from without even saying goodbye and instead here you are risking your lives together with us.”

Elisa really was sorry for her outburst. So, to defuse the situation a little, she exclaimed cheerfully "But the food was delicious!" Then, she approached the alien and looking up at him from below said softly "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."

"Don't worry, I do understand and to show you there’s no hard feelings, I'll give you this.”

Elisa held out her open hand and Azakis dropped a tiny dark object into it.

"Thank you, but what is it?" she asked intrigued.

"It’s the solution to your problems with plastic."

Nasiriyya - The dinner

After the Senator had abruptly closed the conversation, the three of them had stayed there a bit longer, looking at the monitor in front of them, which was showing abstract, multicoloured drawings intertwining one with the other, in endless motion.

"What now?" asked the tall, thin guy, interrupting the sort of collective hypnosis.

"I’ve got an idea" replied the big guy. "It’s quite a while since we had a bite to eat and I can see hamburgers everywhere."

"And where do you think we’re going to find a hamburger now?"

"I have no idea but I do know that if I don’t eat something soon, I’ll pass out."

"Oh, poor thing, he’s going to faint," said the thin guy in a childlike voice. Then his tone changed "With all those rolls of fat you carry around on your hips you could spend a month without eating."

"Okay, stop it both of you with all this nonsense," exclaimed the General irritated. "We need to devise an action plan."

“But I can’t reason on an empty stomach,” said the fat guy softly.

"Oh, all right then," exclaimed Campbell raising his hands in defeat. “Let's go and get something to eat. We’ll come up with a plan later, after all we’ve got quite a bit of time before the Senator gets here."

«Now you’re talking, General,” exclaimed the big guy happily. "I know a little place that’s not at all bad where they make a fantastic mutton stew with potatoes, carrots, peas, flavoured with curry sauce."

"Well, I have to say that after that detailed description, I’m a little hungry too," said the thin guy rubbing his hands together quickly.

"All right, you've convinced me," said the General rising from his chair. "Let’s go, but let's try not to get caught. Even if I doubt they’ve found out yet, to all intents and purposes I’m a fugitive."

"And the two of us aren’t?" replied the thin guy. "We escaped from the camp and they’ll doubtless be looking everywhere for us. However, for the moment, who cares."

A few minutes later, a dark car carrying three shady characters sped into the night along the semi-deserted streets of the town, raising a fine cloud of dust as it passed.

"Here it is, that’s it," said the big guy who was sitting on the back seat. "It’s a bit late but I know the owner. There won't be any problems.”

The skinny guy, who was driving, looked for an out-of-sight place to park the car. He drove around the block then slipped it under the derelict roofing of an abandoned hut. He quickly got out of the car and warily observed all the surrounding area with great attention. There was nobody around.

He went around the car, opened the passenger door and said, “All quiet, General. We can go.”

The big guy also got out of the car and set off with quick steps towards the main entrance of the premises. He tried turning the handle, but without success. The door was closed but the light inside was still lit. Then he tried to peep through the glass, but the thick coloured curtain didn’t allow him to see much. Without wasting any more time, he began to knock vigorously and didn’t stop until he saw a little man, with black curly hair, peep out from behind the curtain.

"But who the heck ...," the little man had started to exclaim in an irritated voice, but when he recognised his portly friend, he stopped mid-sentence and opened the door.

“Oh, it’s you. What are you doing here at this time of night? And who are these men?”

“Hey, you thieving old fellow, how are you? These are my friends and all three of us are very hungry."

"But the restaurant is closed, I’ve already cleaned up in the kitchen and I was just about to leave."

"I think this other friend of mine will convince you better than me,” and he waved a hundred-dollar bill in front of his nose.

"Well, actually ... I have to admit that very well might" replied the little man, whipping the banknote out of the fat guy’s hands and making it disappear into his shirt pocket. "Please, come on in," he said throwing open the door and bowing slightly at the same time. After a brief look back, to check no one was watching them, one after the other, the three sidled into the small restaurant.

There were two rooms which didn’t really appear to be particularly well cared for. The floor was made of rough dark slabs. In the larger room three low round tables, each standing on a worn carpet with badly faded colours, were surrounded by cushions which were also a little tatty. However, in the other room the décor was more western in style, and it seemed much more "intimate". Large curtains in warm hues covered the walls. The lighting was soft and the setting was definitely much more welcoming. Two small tables had already been laid, ready for the next day's customers. Each with a dark green tablecloth with multi-coloured embroidery, matching napkins in the same colour, light silver edged china underplates, forks to the left, knives and spoons to the right and, in the centre, a long dark yellow candle in a small black stone candle holder.

“Can we go in there?” asked the big guy pointing towards the smaller room with his enormous right hand.

Without answering, the little curly haired man dived into the smaller room, pushed the two tables together and arranged the chairs then, with a deep bow and theatrical sweeping gesture of his arms, said “Please, take a seat gentlemen, you’ll be more comfortable in here.”

The three seated themselves at the table and the big guy said, “Make us your special dish and meanwhile bring us three beers.” Then without giving him a chance to answer, he added “And don’t get too crafty. I know you’ve got several crates of it hidden away somewhere.”

The General waited for the owner to disappear into the kitchen, then he began to comment on the conversation they’d had shortly before. “The Senator is ruthless. We must tread very carefully with him. If anything were to go wrong, he wouldn’t hesitate one moment before hiring somebody to get rid of us.”

“Brilliant” replied the fat guy. “It seems like everyone is madly in love with us, no?”

“Let’s just try and do our work as well as possible and nothing will happen to us” commented the thin guy, who until then had been silent. “I know these sorts, if we don’t create problems and do everything we are ordered to do, it will all be just fine and we’ll each get our well-deserved reward.”

"Yes, a bullet in the middle of the forehead," answered the big guy softly.

“Come on, don’t bring bad luck. Everything’s worked out fine, up to now, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, up to now.”

In the meantime, hidden away in the kitchen, the owner of the restaurant was talking quietly in Arabic, on the phone, “It’s him, I’m telling you, it’s him.”

“It’s incredible that he’s come there without a proper escort.”

“He’s with two other people. I know one of them very well and I’m sure he’s part of some strange organisation that could be linked to him in some way.”

“Can you take a picture of him and send it to me? I don’t want to get all ready to pounce and then realise it’s simply a case of mistaken identity.”

“All right, I’ll see what I can do. Give me a few minutes.”

The man closed the call, turned on the camera on his mobile phone, then placed it in his shirt pocket so the lens was not completely covered and, picking up an aluminium tray, placed three large glasses on it. He opened three bottles of beer and placed them next to each of the glasses. Then he lifted the tray up with his right hand, took a deep breath, and set off towards the table occupied by the three dining companions.

"I hope the brand is to your liking," he said while handing out the drinks. "Unfortunately we don't have many different types. The laws here are very strict about alcohol.”

"Yes, yes, don't worry," said the big guy as he grabbed a bottle and started pouring it for himself, filling the glass with foam.

The man, paying special attention to position himself right in front of the general, picked up his glass, tilted it slightly and carefully poured almost half the bottle into it. Then doing the same with the thin guy’s, he exclaimed "There you go! It doesn’t need a poor Iraqi to teach three Americans how to pour beer, right?"

Loud laughter erupted spontaneously from the three diners who, raising their glasses, clinked them together in an auspicious toast.

The owner, having bowed slightly, withdrew once again into the kitchen. As soon as he crossed the threshold, having checked that nobody was watching, he looked at his mobile phone to check the recording he’d just made. The pictures were a little shaky but the chubby face of general Campbell was clearly visible. He immediately sent the movie to the number he had called earlier on and then waited patiently. Less than a minute went by and the phone vibrated slightly warning him of an incoming call

"It's him," said the voice on the other end. “We’ll be there within an hour at the most. Don't let them leave before we get there for any reason.”

“They’ve only just arrived and they still have to start eating. You’ve got plenty of time,” and he hung up.

Theos spacecraft – The Admiral

Elisa was still observing the strange little object that Azakis had dropped into her hand when the door of internal communication module number six opened. Petri emerged, a broad smile on his face, holding the Colonel’s mobile.

"Done it," he exclaimed "or at least I hope I have." He quickly joined the three of them at the centre of the command bridge and continued “It’s a decidedly antiquated system but I think I've identified its operating principle. I’ve hooked up to one of those satellites that slowly circle around the planet in a much lower orbit than ours and now I think it’ll be possible to make a ‘call’.”

“Well done my friend,” exclaimed Azakis. “I didn’t doubt you’d manage it.”

“Before singing victory, let's see if it actually works,” said Jack, taking the phone out of the alien’s hands. The Colonel looked carefully at the screen then said in a surprised tone "That’s incredible, I’ve got three notches of signal."

“Go on, try it,” suggested Elisa, all excited.

Jack rapidly ran through his list of contacts and found Admiral Wilson’s number. But before calling, a doubt suddenly struck him, "what time is it now in Washington?"

"Well, it should be about two thirty in the afternoon," replied Elisa, after glancing at her wrist watch.

"Okay, I’ll try then." Jack took a deep breath then pressed the "ENTER” key. The phone rang. Incredible...

He waited patiently and only after the seventh ring a husky deep voice answered, "Admiral Benjamin Wilson, who's there?"

“Admiral. It’s Colonel Jack Hudson. Can you hear me?”

“Yes son, loud and clear. It’s a pleasure to hear from you after so long. Is everything alright?"

“Admiral... Yes, yes, thank you...." Jack was very embarrassed and didn't really know where to start. “I’m disturbing you about a matter of the greatest urgency, but it’s somewhat rather incredible.”

“For goodness sake son, don’t keep me on tenterhooks. What the devil is going on?”

“Well, it’s not easy to explain. You trust me, right?”

"Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"What I'm about to say may sound absurd to you but I can assure you it’s the plain simple truth."

"Jack, if you don't tell me straight away, my poor old heart may well stop beating.”

“Okay.” The Colonel paused slightly, then in a single breath blurted out, "At the moment, I’m orbiting around the Earth. I'm in an alien spacecraft and I have some terrible news to report directly to the President of the United States. You’re the only person I trust who can put me in touch with him. I swear on the memory of my father that this is not a joke."

Several very long seconds went by with no sound coming out of the phone’s speaker. For a moment Jack feared he had scared the Admiral to death. Then the husky voice on the other end said, "But are you really calling me from up there? How the devil can you do that?”

Wilson really is amazing. Instead of worrying about aliens, he’s wondering how I can use my mobile from up here ... Fantastic...

"Well, with their technology they managed to make some kind of connection with a telecommunications satellite. I can't tell you much more than that.”

“Aliens. Where are they from? And what exactly is this imminent catastrophe? And why did they choose you exactly?”

“Admiral, it’s a long story that I really hope I’ll have the time to tell you, but for now the most important thing is for you to put me in contact with the President as soon as possible.”

“My dear boy, I trust you blindly, but to get our beloved President to believe a story like that, I'll need something more than a simple phone call from you."

“Yes I thought so and it only seems right” continued Jack. “And if I were to tell you that at the moment you are sitting in a dark brown armchair and you have a copy of the New York Times on your lap, would my story be more convincing?” Petri had been able to identify the Admiral’s coordinates through his phone signal, he had positioned the Theos right at the zenith of the city and activated the short-range sensors pointing them directly at the source of the emissions.

“Well I’ll be damned," exclaimed the Admiral jumping up and dropping his paper on the floor. “How on earth do you know that? There aren’t any hidden cameras here. My office is checked and cleared every day.”

“Well, what I’m seeing you with isn’t really a ‘camera’. Let’s say it’s an absolutely incredible viewing system. We’re 50,000 kilometres from Earth and I could easily read your newspaper from here. I could even tell you how fast your heart is beating at the moment.”

"You're joking, right?"

Jack glanced at Petri who immediately changed the display mode.

Now the Admiral appeared as a reddish figure with various yellowish and dark grey nuances. Some numbers appeared to the right at the top of the screen. Jack read them and said, “Your heart beat is ninety-eight beats per minute and your blood pressure is 135/90 mmHg.”

“Yes, I know, it’s a bit high. I take medication to keep it under control but it doesn’t always work. It’s my age, you know...” Then he pondered a moment and exclaimed “But this is absolutely incredible, it’s amazing! Do you think you’ll be able to do the same with the President too?"

“I think so,” replied Jack, looking for a sign of agreement from Petri, who merely gave a slight nod.

“Could you give me a clue at least of what is about to happen to us all? Considering they’ve bothered to come from who knows where to let us know, it must be a pretty damn serious event.”

“Okay, I think it’s right you should know about it.”

Elisa was encouraging him to carry on with sweeping hand gestures and pulling strange faces with her mouth.

“Their planet is approaching ours at breakneck speed. One of its satellites, Kodon to be precise, will come near to hitting us in a little less than seven days and could produce a series of indescribable upheavals. Our orbit and the moon’s, could even be affected. Tidal waves on earth could sweep away submerged land and the waters could carry away millions and millions of people. A catastrophe, in a nutshell."

The Admiral was speechless. He slumped heavily into his brown armchair and, in a very small voice, just managed to whisper, “Well I’ll be damned.”

"Actually, our friends here, would be happy to make a system available to us that would be capable of containing most of the disastrous effects, but it’s a very dangerous procedure, that has never been completely tested before. Moreover, even if everything were to go in the best possible way, we won't be able to get through the event unharmed. A part of the planetary influence, although small, unfortunately cannot be contained. Therefore, we should be preparing ourselves to reduce the damage and losses to a minimum."

"My dear boy" replied the Admiral feebly. "I really think the President should know everything you’ve just told me immediately. I just hope, for both of us, that this isn’t some kind of joke, because neither of us would get away with it although, in my heart, I’m really hoping it is. Perhaps I’ve simply fallen asleep in my chair and I’ll wake up soon realising that this is nothing more than a bad nightmare."

"I wish that too, Admiral. But unfortunately, this is not a bad dream but the stark reality. I’m trusting in you to get this news to the President."

"Okay. Just give me a bit of time to find the right way to get to him. How can I get in touch with you?”

"I think you can simply call me back on this number," said Jack looking at Petri who, with a rather hesitant expression, shrugged his shoulders. "It should work" continued Jack. "However, if I don't hear back from you within the hour, I’ll call you again, okay?"

“Agreed. Until later then.”

"Thank you very much," said the Colonel and closed the conversation. He remained perfectly still for a few seconds, staring into space then, turning to the three who were literally hanging on his every word, very quietly said "He’ll help us."

"Let's hope so," said Elisa a little hesitantly. "I don’t think it’s going to be easy to convince the President this isn’t a hoax."

"Only he can do something like this. Let’s just give him a bit of time." Then, turning towards Petri, he said, " try and put on a good show with your ‘sensors’ or whatever other wizardry you want to use. We must surprise them with something really exceptional, that will leave them all open mouthed."

"Leave it to me," said Petri with a sardonic little smile. "We’ve got plenty of special effects."

"If you want, I can show you the exact location of the White House, the official residence of the President of the United States of America and of the Pentagon, which of course is the general headquarters of the Department of Defence."

"Well," said Elisa approaching Azakis, “while you two are having fun scaring those poor souls on Earth, I'd now like you to explain to me what this strange thing is that you gave me earlier on."

"Like I said, I think it may be the solution to all your waste problems.”

"You’re not going to tell me that I can just turn it on to make all the plastic that’s laying around disappear, are you?"

"Unfortunately we haven't invented something like that yet but this might help you replace it.”

"I'm all ears," and she handed it to him.

"This little object is nothing more than a mini forcefield generator. Thanks to some very simple programming it can take any shape you want.”

"What do you mean?"

“I'll show you now. Open your hand." Azakis gently clasped the small dark rectangle between his thumb and forefinger and placed it on her open palm. Not even a second went by and, as if by magic, a beautiful vase in a thousand variegated colours materialised in her hand.

“What the heck...” Frightened, Elisa instinctively drew back her hand and let go of the vase which fell on the floor bouncing untidily here and there, but without breaking and, above all, without making any noise.

"Sorry," was all Elisa managed to whisper regretfully. "I really didn’t expect that," and she bent to pick it up again.

She held it, lifted it above her head and began to observe it from all sides. Despite the completely smooth surface, the light did not seem to be reflected on it in any way. To the touch the object was a little colder than she expected and it did not seem to be made of any material known to her.

"This thing is absolutely amazing. How did you do it?”

"It’s all thanks to that," replied Azakis, indicating the small black object that seemed to be set into the bottom of the vase. "That’s what’s generating a forcefield in the shape you can see."

"And could you also do this in the shape of a bottle?"

"Certainly,” said Azakis with a smile. "Look." So saying, he rested the fingertip of his index finger on the small rectangle and the vase disappeared. He gripped it again resting his thumb on it and an elegant cobalt blue bottle, with a long, thin neck, appeared out of nowhere.

Elisa was left open-mouthed and it took her a while to recover. Then, without taking her eyes away from the newly created object, she said, in a voice broken with emotion, “Jack come here, you’ve simply got to see this.”

The Colonel, who by now had given Petri all the indications to find the two targets, turned towards her and, with leisurely pace, approached her. He looked absent-mindedly at the object that Azakis was holding in his hand and, in a bored voice, said “a bottle? And what's so interesting to see?"

"Yes, a bottle," answered Elisa crossly. “Only, until a few seconds ago it was a beautiful coloured vase."

"Yeah, come on, stop kidding me!"

“Zak, show him.”

The alien performed the same simple operation as before and this time a huge sphere, black as pitch, appeared in his hands.

"Yikes," exclaimed the Colonel jumping backwards.

"You should recognise this, shouldn’t you?" said Azakis, hugging the ball which was almost a metre in diameter.

"Yes, yes," exclaimed the doctor all excited. "It’s identical to the one we found buried at the camp, inside the mysterious stone container.

"And there were three more," added the Colonel, "which then acted as a base for the shuttle’s landing."

"Precisely,” confirmed Azakis. "We left them behind last time and we used them as a reference for the recovery of the cargo with the plastic."

"Wow," exclaimed Elisa. "Now everything is slowly becoming clearer.”

“Forgive me if this is a silly question,” said Jack turning to the alien. "But if we wanted to use these things as containers, say for water for example, we’d also have to invent a practical system of opening and closing them. How could we do that?"

“Easy. Simply use another and shape it like a stopper.”

"What a fool I am. I hadn't thought of that,” said Jack giving himself a little slap on his forehead.