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’.”

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

      â€œBefore 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."

      â€œGo 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?"

      â€œAdmiral. It’s Colonel Jack Hudson. Can you hear me?”

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

      â€œAdmiral... 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.”

      â€œFor goodness sake son, don’t keep me on tenterhooks. What the devil is going on?”

      â€œWell, 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.”

      â€œOkay.” 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.”

      â€œAliens. Where are they from? And what exactly is this imminent catastrophe? And why did they choose you exactly?”

      â€œAdmiral, 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.”

      â€œMy 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."

      â€œYes 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.

      â€œWell 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.”

      â€œWell, 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.”

      â€œYes, 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?"

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

      â€œCould 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.”

      â€œOkay, 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.

      â€œTheir 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