Contact across the Solar System

Ready to Go

A few months after Sheila McKenna's resignation from the Message Committee, she, Mark Schmidt, Joe Patel, and some members of the Message Committee made travel reservations to Zurich, Switzerland, more properly spelled "Z(u-umlaut)rich" or "Zuerich". Some reporters from various news services did so also, for some SSC-related event that was to be held near Zurich. Another SSC visit?

Senator Ferguson wasn't happy about Sheila McKenna planning to leave the US for Switzerland, but he and other US Congresspeople were preoccupied with another big international issue. Some hackers revealed e-mails exchanged between various countries that showed that the US, Israel, and Iran had been cooperating in their support of the Republic of Hejaz. This set off an ugly and vicious controversy, with politicians sometimes shouting at each other.

Opponents of this coalition's actions were outraged that the US helped destroy a valuable ally. They argued that Saudi Arabia was a great force for political stability and oil-supply stability and moderation in Islam, and that its fall meant international chaos and Islamist terrorists on the loose.

Supporters responded that Israel has a right to defend itself, that Saudi Arabia was falling apart anyway, and that Israel needed all the friends that it could get. Some supporters even pointed to how Israel was now much more conciliatory to the Palestinians, with Jordanian and Hejazi troops helping to watch over the Palestinian territories. Israeli officials testified that they did not want another repeat of what happened when their nation took over the Suez Canal in 1956. They had the help of Britain and France, but US leaders thought that this was dangerously provocative and they forced Israel to withdraw.

They also fought over the issue of which of the Saudi splinter states to recognize. Hejaz? Jawf? Qatif? Supporters of Saudi Arabia tended to think of them as illegitimate, while supporters of Israel tended to like Hejaz and Jawf, even if not Qatif. Both sides tended to agree that Qatif was an Iranian power grab, however, and some supporters of Hejaz argued that it would be good to have a pro-Western nation hosting Islam's two holy cities, despite it getting help from Iran.

Senator Ferguson was deeply involved in this issue on the pro-Israel side, trying to protect military aid to Israel, something that opponents were threatening to cut. Some other anti-espionagers in Congress were on his side, while others were on Saudi Arabia's side. So he barely noticed Sheila McKenna departing for Switzerland.

She and the other dignitaries gradually arrived in Zurich, with some Swiss politicians and high officials joining them. When they arrived, the SSC updated them on the Aurora's progress toward the Earth. It was now rather easy for the dignitaries to receive updates, since the SSC now had several relay satellites orbiting the Earth. Joe Patel got an idea about what the SSC might be capable of, and he asked if the satellites were able to pin down a transmitter's location. "Yes, and here is the location in your coordinates," an Aurora crewmember responded. Joe went to a mapping site and plugged in the location, and sure enough, it was the hotel where he was staying.