“Not yet. You said you would bring Janus.”
“Oh, yes. Janus insisted on coming to see you.”
Robert turned toward the helicopter. Admiral Whittaker was standing in the doorway.
“You asked to see me, Robert?”
Robert stared at him, unbelievingly, and there was a red film before his eyes. It was as though his world had collapsed. “No! Why—? Why in God’s name?”
The admiral was moving toward him. “You don’t understand, do you? You never did. You’re worried about a few meaningless lives. We’re worried about saving our world. This earth belongs to us to do with as we please.”
He turned to stare at the woman in white. “If you creatures want war, you’re going to get war. And we’ll beat you!” He turned back to Robert. “You betrayed me. You were my son. I let you take Edward’s place. I gave you a chance to serve your country. And how did you repay me? You came whining to me to let you stay home so you could be with your wife.” His voice was filled with contempt. “No son of mine would ever do that. I should have seen then how distorted your values were.”
Robert stood there paralyzed, too shocked to speak.
“I broke up your marriage because I still had faith in you, but—”
“You broke up my—?”
“Remember when the CIA sent you after the Fox? I arranged that. I hoped it would bring you to your senses. You failed because there was no Fox. I thought I had straightened you out, that you were one of us. And then you told me you were going to quit the agency. That’s when I knew you were no patriot, that you had to be eliminated, destroyed. But first you had to help us with our mission.”
“Your mission? To kill all those innocent people? You’re insane!”
“They had to be killed to stop them from spreading panic. We’re ready now for the aliens. All we needed was a little more time, and you’ve given it to us.”
The woman in white had stood there listening, saying nothing, but now her thoughts floated into the minds of those standing in the field. “We have come here to prevent you from destroying your planet. We are all part of one universe. Look up.”
Their heads turned toward the sky. There was an enormous white cloud overhead, and as they stared up at it, it changed before their eyes. They were looking at a vision of a polar ice cap, and as they watched, it began to melt, and the water came pouring through the rivers and oceans of the world, flooding London and Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, and coastal cities around the world in a dizzying montage. The vision changed to an enormous vista of desolate farmlands, with crops burnt to cinders under a broiling, merciless sun, and the corpses of dead animals strewn across the landscape. The scene before their eyes changed again, and they saw riots in China, and famines in India, and a devastating nuclear war, and finally, people living in caves. The vision slowly disappeared.
There was a moment of awed silence. “That is your future if you go on as you are.”
Admiral Whittaker was the first to recover. “Mass hypnosis,” he snapped. “I’m sure you can show us other interesting tricks.” He moved toward the alien. “I’m taking you back to Washington with me. We have a lot of information to get from you.” The admiral looked at Robert. “You’re finished.” He turned to Frank Johnson. “Take care of him.”
Colonel Johnson removed his pistol from his holster.
Susan broke away from Monte and ran to Robert’s side. “No!” she screamed.
“Kill him!” Admiral Whittaker said.
Colonel Johnson was pointing a gun at the admiral. “Admiral, you’re under arrest.”
Admiral Whittaker was staring at him. “What—What are you saying? I told you to kill him. You’re one of us.”
“You’re wrong. I never have been. I infiltrated your organization a long time ago. I was looking for Commander Bellamy not to kill him, but to save him.” He turned to Robert. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”
Admiral Whittaker’s face had turned ashen. “Then you’ll be destroyed too. Nobody can stand in our way. Our organization—”