10:30 p.m. Tuesday, 24th July 2029
Secure Briefing Room, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
The Secretary of State waited patiently in the secure briefing room at Kennedy for his operative to arrive. The man had proved extremely reliable, carrying out instructions to the letter with great initiative.
When the time came to leave the overpopulated and polluted Earth to the ravages of successive pandemics the man would be included on his list of essential personnel. Over his many years in politics, Phil Taylor had learned the value of loyalty.
The door opened and the operative entered. He closed the door softly and sat down. He offered no greeting.
"You did well," the secretary of state congratulated him. "The risk of one of them talking was too great and the alien woman could never have been allowed to set foot on Earth. It was the only solution."
"Won't they be missed? Won't questions be asked?"
"Unlikely. It seems that Lee and Jardine have no close relatives or friends. They were both loners. If any of their work colleagues ask we'll just list them as missing persons and say we're making inquiries. Stevens's family knew he was on the OCF so they've been informed of his tragic death."
"Does the president know?"
"She believes it was an unfortunate accident. She's been wearing a black armband all week and making speeches about how the deceased were her husband's colleagues and friends. All very moving."
"She's not suspicious that it was a little too convenient?"
"I don't think so. She hasn't mentioned anything of that sort to me."
"So what happens now?"
"The Mars Project goes on as if nothing has changed. We'll proceed with phase two and start building the transporters at the OCF as planned."
The man nodded.
"And phase three?"
"We won't start that until the president has had time to reassess the situation in light of our recent discoveries. Now tell me, how did you arrange the accident with the shuttle?"
"It was easy," the man shrugged. "There's a robotic arm on the OCF. I used it to puncture the heat shield on the Spaceplane."
"Very clever. No chance of any evidence surviving incineration. I appreciate colleagues with initiative. I hope I can depend on your continued support?"
"Of course. Is there something else you want me to do?"
"Yes, I want you to back me up when I complete my new proposal."
"Which is?"
"That it's senseless to build a safe haven on a hellhole like Mars when there's a ready-made defenceless paradise there for the taking. Vitu is the answer to all our problems. All we have to do now is convince your wife to endorse an invasion as soon as the transporters are ready."
Howard Summers smirked at the secretary of state.
"That shouldn't be too difficult. I've convinced her the Atikas will keep on trying to get hold of autistic kids until they get this supernal gene. As long as she doesn't find out they're all dead she'll agree to just about anything to exterminate the bastards."
It was Phil Taylor's turn to smirk.
"And no one is going to enlighten her ... are they?"