Shades of Gray - Season THREE

[BolianAuthor]

THE OVAL OFFICE - THE WHITE HOUSE

Vice-President Richards faced the lone Orvani before him, leaning forward on the desk, and crossing his hands.

"So... what changed your mind? And what kinds of weapons are we talking about?" Richards asked.

The Orvani blinked, as it looked to Richards, stepping closer to him.

"You have proven that you are willing to fight for what you think is yours, and not be dictated to... even when faced with a force vastly superior to your own. You will not back down. We admire that." the Orvani stated. "As for what kinds of weaponry you will be provided with... let's just say, it'll make things very interesting for you." he added.

"And what of your military commanders? What will they say?" Richards asked.

"Nothing... yet. But we are not affiliated with the military. And by the time they realize what is happening... it'll be too late for them to do anything about it." the Orvani offered. "So... do we have a deal?"

Richards got up from his seat, and extended his hand to the Orvani, who took it, as the two people shook.

Finally, the Orvani withdrew, and looked to Richards.

"Yes... it'll be most interesting, indeed..." he began. "Delivery of our basic weapons platforms to your govenments will begin tomorrow morning." he added, as he began to walk off.

"Governments?" Richards called out, causing the Orvani to pause, and turn to face him, now smiling wryly.

"Of course. You did not thing we would arm one nation, without arming the rest of them, did you? How would that be fair?" the Orvani stated, smiling, as he turned to leave, leaving a very red-faced Vice-President behind, looking after him.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Holy shit. An opportunist Orvani for the opportunistic VP. NOT good for anybody, that's for sure.

 

[BolianAuthor]

ORVANI SAUCER GROUP - MUTUKULA, UGANDA

The four Orvani saucers hovered silent in the air, as on the surface below, natives of the area walked about the ramshackle buildings in the small town.

LEAD ORVANI SAUCER

In the control room, a group of seven Orvani were all gathered around a central Orvani... who looked to the command table, as he related the events of the past day to the others.

"As soon as I saw that the Americans were willing to use force, to get what they wanted from us, I knew the time was right... we had to act. The involvement of the Russian forces only helped our cause." the central gray stated.

"How so?" a tan asked. "The humans are stupid, but I refuse to believe that even THEY are so stupid, that they think they can fight us... or hope to do any harm to us." he added.

"You're not seeing the big picture." the central gray replied, looking to the tan. "For over three years, we've been stuck here, on this backwards rock. We cannot leave, without the support of the military. Yet, we want to leave. The only way we can do this, is to do one of two things... either shift fleetwide opinion in our favor, or force the military's hand... to give them no option, but to leave." he began. "We just gave the humans our most basic of weapons technologies... weapons that to us, are as crude as stones, yet to them, will seem like technology beyond imagination. And we gave each nation a different technology." he continued. Now, all we have to do, is sit back, and enjoy the show, as one by one, the nations of this mindless world fall upon each other, for what the other has, and fight one another."

"But how does that force the military's hand?" another gray asked.

"Because... the military does not want our technology to fall into human hands. Now that it has... they have three choices... attempt to take the technology away from the humans, which would result in the humans fighting them, do nothing, and watch this pitiful species destroy itself into oblivion, or risk going to war with us, over what we have done. Either way... all choices involve the potential for war, and bloodshed, which is what the military leadership wants to avoid here. What we have done here, is use the humans to make our case for us. When the options and risks are pointed out to the leadership, the choice will be clear... leave Earth, and set out for another world. If they agree, which is the preferred option, we will deconstruct the technology we gave the humans, and leave this planet, along with the rest of the fleet." he stated.

ORVAN

President Bensen and Anne Tyler walked through a brightly lit corridor, escorted by a lone Orvani, who rounded a croner, as they followed.

"You know... I noticed that your cities here are all brand-new... there doesn't seem to be a building here that looks old." Bensen began. "I would have expected something like our cities... old buildings, mixed with new." he added.

"For a long time, it was that way." the Orvani replied, still walking. "But when our matter conversion technology entered wide useage, we deconstructed all the old constructs, and reconstituted the raw materials into either new constructs, or replaced them into the natural landscape... it basically changed our entire way of approaching municipal construction, as we no longer had to depend on natural resources, for new raw materials... the old buildings themselves became the raw materials." he stated.

As the trio rounded yet another corner, Anne spoke up.

"So, this area you're taking us to... you say there's a good chance my children are there?" she asked.

"Pretty certain." the Orvani began. "You see... nobody outside of a select few, know of this area." he explained.

"You telling me that this room we're going to, is like some kind of Orvani Area-51?" Bensen asked. "Why would YOUR people have any reason for such secrecy?"

Finally, the Orvani guide paused, and faced the two humans.

"Fear." he began. "What do you think the people of our world would think, if they gained knowledge of the fact that we were creating a hybrid race of Orvani, using DNA from an alien species... and one as less-developed as yours?" he asked. "Fear of the hybrids, and whay they are and respresent... the unknown. If we had to explain the hybrids, we would also have to explain WHY we're creating them... and the people of Orvan would then know, that they are all dying." he stated.

"Well, they know it now... and look what has happened... you could not stop the ripple effect." Bensen began. "But now that the knowledge is out... why keep up the secrecy? Why not just come out, and show the people what you're doing?" he asked.

"Well... I suppose we could." the Orvani said. "But then again... there are now Orvani on Earth, yet you still keep your "Area-51" facility under guarded lock and key... now that my people are abundant on your world, why not open Area-51 up, for all of your world to see?" he shot back, with a small playful smile.

"Hmmm." Bensen muttered, not really accepting, but understanding the analogy.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Mistral]

Very interesting developments-and the Russians screaming in to the rescue was chilling, to say the least...

 

[BolianAuthor]

JALALABAD, WAZIRISTAN - EARTH

The gunfire erupted suddenly, from a point on a ridge, up in the nearby hillside, and began to pepper the American Marine unit on the ground, as the various Marines scrambled out of their armored vehicle, and took defensive positions, quickly returning fire, while one of the Marines made use of the vehicle-mounted guns.

As the soldiers fought for their lives, the enemy kicked things up a notch, firing mortars at them, as the unit's leader made use of the radio.

"This is Bravo 3-2, to Central Command... we're pinned down in position Alpha... request immediate air support!" the man called out, as he returned to firing.

THE OVAL OFFICE - WASHINGTON, D.C.

The doors to the room flew open, and one of the Secret Service agents rushed to the desk, where Vice-President Richards was sitting, as the man looked up to the agent.

"Sir... one of our mobile infantry units in Jalalabad is under heavy fire... they've requested air support." the agent informed, as Richards got up, walking out of the office with the agent.

"Excellent... this is a prime opportunity to test the new Orvani weapons systems." Richards began. "Are they ready for me?" he asked the agent.

"Aye, Sir... the Joint Chiefs are waiting for you, in the war room." he stated.

The couple arrived at another door, and the agent opened it for Richards, who walked in, as the leaders of every branch of the military stood up, saluting him.

"What've we got?" Richards asked, as the rear wall suddenly transformed into a massive screen, which displayed live footage from an unmanned aerial drone, of the battlefield.

"A Marine unit in Jalalabad... Bravo 3-2... under heavy mortar and rifle fire. Pinned down, and requesting aerial cover fire. We have four F-18's in the area." one of the men stated.

"Are any of those birds carrying the new double-o's?" Richards asked.

"One is, Sir... the F-18 at position Tango is carrying Orvani ordinace." the man stated, as Richards pulled a small object from his breast pocket, and held it up, as the others looked on.

The object was a small chrome sphere, literally no bigger than a BB.

"Is that it?" the Navy Admiral asked.

"It is." Richards began. "Signal that bird... tell them they are cleared for deployment of a single double-o... I want to see how much of a punch one of these packs, before we go wasting more of them." Richards ordered.

JALALABAD, WAZIRISTAN

The F-18 lowered itself down below the cloud level, and began to fly low, screaming towards the target coordinates.

MARINE UNIT BRAVO 3-2

One of the soldiers yelled out to the others, as the relentless fire continued...

"We have incoming air support! One F-18!" he called out.

In the sky over the region, the F-18 came swooping over the landscape, and under the nosecone of the plane, a small turret could be seen, almost the size of a baseball, with a lone hole at the front... the launch tube for the round of Orvani ordinance. With a slight "ping" sound, and a flash of light, the lone BB-sized sphere was fired, flying right into the hillside, where the enemy insurgents were firing, as the F-18 screamed away.

For a full second, nothing happened, until finally, a ring of bright blue energy washed out from the point of impact, almost like a ripple in a pond, that expanded outwards to cover the entire countryside. Absolutely no sound was produced.

And then, it was over. Nothing else happened.

Until five seconds later...

Before anyoen knew what was going on, there was a massive rumble, and with a massive burst of dust, the ENTIRE landscape was laid utterly flat, as if nothing had ever been there at all.

WAR ROOM, THE WHITE HOUSE

As the Joint Chiefs looked on, the footage from the aeriel drone now dissolved into nothing but static, as everyone gasped, and began to call for new images.

"Put us through to our orbital satellite!" the Marine General called out, as a second later, an orbital recon satellite image flickered onto the screen. What the people saw, shocked them, as their mouthes fell open, in disbelief...

Visible from space, was a massive crater, that stood exactly where Pakistan, Waziristan, and part of Afghanistan had been, just seconds before. Already, the images from space showed plumes of dust rising from the ground, where the crater now was.

The military brass were all deathly silent, as Richards looked at the tiny BB-sized sphere in his palm. He could not believe that just ONE of those things had just created such devastation. Finally, after a very long silent pause, one of the military leaders spoke...

"Mister Vice-President... we should be prepared to address the United Nations on this... I mean... the world is gonna know, now, that we--" he began, as Richards cut him off.

"That's right... they know!" he stated, looking to the man. "They know now, that we have the power... the supreme power, to determine the course of events in this world... and they know that we now have power that can potentially bring even the Orvani themselves down." he added.

"Sir..." the Admiral began. "We just blew two goddamned nations off the fucking map! There is NO way, that you will be able to use this to your advantage! What are you gonna tell them... that we "accidentally" blew up the Middle East, sorry 'bout that? Global superiority is one thing... but this... this will instill FEAR in the nations of the world. They'll see us not as global governors, but as warmongers... dictators!" the man pressed.

"If that be the case..." Richards began. "Which would you rather have... a human dictator, or an alien one... that is not even from this world, who is nothing like us, and cannot share our hopes, dreams, and ambitions?" he asked.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Maxillius]

This might be a situation where calling a press conference to simply say, "Whoops. that is all." is in order.

 

[BolianAuthor]

THE UNITED NATIONS - EARTH

The great building that housed the U.N. Security Council stood proud, as the massive mob of media vans and reporters assembled outside.

One female reporter began to deliver her lines, against the backdrop of the U.N. building, as a pair of Orvani saucers silently hovered in the sky beside the building, the second saucer partially obscured, by the edge of the building.

"If you're just joining us live, we are here at the U.N., where we are awaiting a live press conference, from the leaders of the Earth's nations, about the incident yesterday, that occurred in Waziristan, which resulted in the complete elimination of that nation, along with Pakistan, from the face of the Earth." she began. "Sources close to the Russian leadership tell us that they have reports that the weapon used was of Orvani design. The Orvani have yet not commented, and it is not known if they will be making a statement or not. However, at the time of the incident yesterday, there were no Orvani ships seen anywhere near the event zone." she stated.

THE WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE

Vice-President Richards got up from his seat, preparing to leave the room, as a wash of brilliant blue light signalled the arrival of a lone Orvani. Richards recognized the being as one of the military Commanders.

"Commander." Richards greeted, as the Orvani walked over to him.

"Where did you get those weapons?" the Commander demanded, outright. "You had no right, to aqquire our technology, without our blessing! Your species not able to handle such power, and the events of yesterday prove it! Now tell me whom among my people leaked it to you!" he ordered, sternly.

"I'll do no such damned thing!" Richards retorted. "This is OUR world, and we have a right to defend our interests in it. I won't be dictated to by you, who are our guests here. If you mistrust humans so much, then you can leave." he added.

"You WILL tell me who among us gave you our technology, because if you do not, I will order the complete destruction of your nation's military infrastructure." the Commander stated.

Richards looked at the Commander, seeing if he could call the Orvani's bluff. A second later, the phone on the desk buzzed, and Richards walked around, and tapped the speaker button.

"Mister Vice-President," a man's voice began. "We just lost our orbital defense network."

Richard's face wore a look of puzzlement.

"What do you mean, lost? We lost contact? What?" he asked.

"Sir... our entire network of satellites... they just... vanished. They are literally not there anymore, Sir. We're tryi--" the man's voice fizzled out.

"And there goes your communications network." the Orvani stated. "Shall I go on?" he asked, slightly smiling, as Richards looked to him. "You know what, Mister Vice-President... you are absolutely right... you don't have to tell me anything. I'll be on my way, then. Good day, Sir." the Commander added, as he turned, and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Richards called out. "What about the defense and communications networks? Bring them back!" he added.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mister Vice-President... I think they'll stay down, for a while. My guess is, that by later today, the nations of this world will realize that it was the American military, that somehow managed to use an Orvani weapon. I am also guessing, that whoever was stupid enough to supply you with our weapons, also supplied your rivals." the Commander said.

Richards merely nodded, in silent agreement.

"Hmmm." the Commander began. "One would imagine that those rival nations would be quite upset... quite upset... you DO seem to be in quite the vulnerable position now." he shot, looking to Richards with a look that told the Vice-President this was his very last chance, to come clean.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

OUCH. I don't think that's QUIIIIIITE the way of getting UBL that most people envisioned...

I'd say the President, when he gets home might well be coming home to another nation that doesn't exist...

 

[BolianAuthor]

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

ONE DAY AFTER AMERICAN DEPLOYMENT OF ORVANI WEAPONRY

Vice-President Mallory Richards stood at the central podium, on the stage, speechless, as as far as the eye could see in front of him, the various delegates and Ambassadors of the nations of Earth were in a fury, standing from their seats, and shouting with vitriol and venom at him, as they waved and shook treaties and documents of policy.

"An ACCIDENT? You call blowing a crater two nations wide on the globe an ACCIDENT?" one Arab delegate shouted out, pointing at Richards.

"This time, we have had enough!" another man from China shouted, slamming a handful of papers down hard on his table, as he looked to Richards. "From the moment the Orvani arrived on our world, it has been America, which seems to have made use of their presence, and now the reasons are clear... to attain total global supremacy!" he added, furious.

Finally, Richards felt he should speak up, and say something.

"People... people, please..." he began, extending his arms outward, trying to calm the masses. "What took place yesterday was an unfortunate accident, and we deeply regret it, and wish not to create any ill-will. Rest assured, we are not going to use any of the new Orvani weapons on any of our global neighbors. However, we do have the right, as a nation, to defend ourselves, and secure our interests." he stated.

"NO!" a large man from Russia shouted, standing up again. "Enough! For as long as we can recall, the nations of the Earth have stood by, and accepted America's constant meddling and bullying, but no longer! Not now, when you have the power to literally erase this world from the universe! We will NOT tolerate anymore action or demands from you, and we will NOT hear anything more you have to say!" he yelled, as his remarks brought a standing ovation from everyone in the building.

Richards looked out among the crowd, taking in the sight of the entire world literally turning against him, as he suddenly felt as if he was being closely watched, and got the instinct to look down to his right side, where he saw a single gray Orvani, looking at him.

The two looked at each other for a long moment, surrounded by the sounds of the people shouting expletives and hateful remarks at Richards. Finally, the Orvani spoke up.

"Well, you finally did it, Mister Vice-President... you are now directly responsible for the fate of your nation... and your world, it would seem, at this point. Pity your old boss isn't here to witness this... I wonder what he would say?" the Orvani shot, wearing a slight and wry smile.

Richards grew an angry expression on his face, as he looked at the Orvani beside him.

"I don't suppose that I could persuade you to restore our orbital defense system, and communications network?" Richards asked, trying to keep his cool.

The Orvani merely blinked, as it looked to him for a long moment.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mister Richards... this is your mess... you can clean it up. After all... you're the one who doesn't want us imposing ourselves on you." the Orvani stated, before calmly turning, and walking away, leaving Richards alone at the podium, with nothing but the hatred of all the world, to keep him company.



ORVAN

The Orvani escort led President Bensen through the corridor, until they both arrived at a door, which the Orvani opened, by entering a code, on a panel beside the door. As the door opened, the Orvani indicated for Bensen to enter.

The President entered the room, while the Orvani escort remained outside, and the door closed behind the President.

The President looked around the room. It was a laboratory... many clean steel tables, with various bits of scientific equipment that Bensen did not recognize, probably because they were thousands of years more advanced than anything his own people could dream of now. He could see various Orvani walking around in what looked like white lab coats, as they carried out tasks. One of the Orvani, a tan, walked over to Bensen, and offered its hand to him.

"Mister President... our government told me you would be coming. Welcome." the tan greeted. "I'm sure you're anxious to see them." it added.

"That I am." Bensen replied. "I could not believe it, when one of your Commanders told me that they were still alive... after all these years... they'd be ancient." he stated.

"Well, as I'm sure it was explained to you, two of them did not survive the trip to Orvan, I'm sorry to say... one of them became violently ill during the voyage here, and the other I believe went mad. But those that are left, and are here, are in excellent physical and emotional health, considering that they've been living on a world not their own for over six decades." the Orvani explained. "You must prepare yourself... you may be shocked at just how well they look." it added.

"I still don't know how you can do it..." Bensen said, shaking his head.

"Our medical technology is to put it politely, QUITE ahead of your own, Sir. We were able to dramatically curtail the aging process, as well as purify their internal organs and systems. As you know, Orvan's atmosphere has no artificial pollutants in it, so they've been breathing clean air, during their stay here. Our food has also helped things a lot. They are old, but may not look it. Though, as Orvani, we find that in itself to be a miracle... that's why we wanted to study them... to try and undo the damage done to us by neuronic technology. If we can get our lifespans to reach even fifty years at this point... that would be a stunning accomplishment." the Orvani stated, now indicating for Bensen to follow him, as he led him to another door, which quietly hissed open, revealing a large room, with a large central sunken seating area, where ten humans were seated, all facing some sort of lighted table game.

"my God..." Bensen said, his face wearing a look of total awe. "The Majestic Twelve." he added.


--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Mistral]

The who?

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I think these were 12 people that were abducted by the Orvani for study.

 

[BolianAuthor]

^

Yeah... after the Orvani saucer crashed at Roswell, and the surviving Orvani contacted Orvan, a deal was struck, that allowed the survivors to remain on Earth, if in exchange, we sent a team of humans to Orvan, so the Brights could study them, and see if we could help reverse the effects of the neuronic technology.

 

[BolianAuthor]

THE WHITE HOUSE LAWN

THREE DAYS AFTER AMERICAN DEPLOYMENT OF ORVANI WEAPONRY

The media masses were all gathered around the lawn, the hundreds of cameras and microphones all aimed towards the podium, as behind barricade gates, the thousands of citizens crowded together, to look on, as Vice-President Richards emerged, and walked up to the podium, and began to adjust himself, in preparation to make his speech.

Gradually, the sounds of the masses began to die down, as all eyes looked to Richards, who cleared his throat, and began to open his mouth, to speak...

But before he could utter a word, a man's voice in the crowd shouted out with all it's might...

"YOU'VE LED US TO THE APOCALYPSE!" the man's voice cried out, as it was instantly followed by the sounds of five gunshots, as the masses suddenly began to scream, and run in a panic.

For a long series of seconds, the police tried to gain control of the crowds, as people began to look to the podium, shocked to see the Vice-President, lying on the ground, surrounded by his Secret Service agents, as blood began to expand in a pool, around him.



All was quiet, from the bird's-eye view of the American Capitol City, as the surreal sight played out, on the narrow streets below... a single ambulance, it's wailing sirens blaring, escorted on all sides by the massive fleet that was the Presidential motorcade.



WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER

The doors to the trauma center flew open, as the gurney carrying the Vice-President was wheeled in, as various doctors, nurses, and other patients in waiting looked on in shock, at the sight of the Vice-President of the United States being wheeled into the trauma surgery unit, as an army of government agents and police flanked his gurney.

Inside the O.R., the waiting surgeons and attendants turned and looked with shock at the person they were now charged with operating on, as he was moved to the operating table, and the residents began to remove his bloody clothing, and prep him, as the agents and police looked on, behind the glass, in the hall, worried.

For many agonizing minutes, the people looked on, as the surgeons struggled to bring Richards back to life, and repair the damage to his vital organs, from the trauma of five direct bullet wounds.

The surgeons repeatedly looked up to the biomonitor, which showed the stability of the heartbeat. It was not good news. The Vice-President was in trouble. As the head surgeon worked his way through the innards of the Vice-President, he reacted with alarm at what he saw... the bullets had ripped right through the heart, lungs, and liver. The damage was deep, and extensive.

"God..." the surgeon whispered. "This is bad..." he added, as he now turned to face the onlookers, behind the glass, in the hall. In his reflection in the glass, the people could see that the entire front of his medical overalls were soaked with deep red blood.

"We're losing him!" one of the residents shouted out, as alarms began to sound on the instruments in the room.

The surgeon began to turn back to face his colleagues, and was stopped short, by the form of a single Orvani, standing right in front of him.

"What the-- how the hell did you get in here? This is a sterile environment!" he began, anxious.

"Do you wish to save this man?" the Orvani asked him.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" the surgeon said, growing impatient. "I don't have time for games... this man is dying." he added, moving back to the surgical table.

"Sir." the Orvani said, grabbing hold of the surgeon's left arm, as the others looked on. "You cannot save him. But I can. Please... allow me to assume this task." he added, as the others looked to the surgeon nodding, as they slowly stepped away from the table.

The surgeon looked at the Orvani, finally buckling.

"Fine... do what you have to to save him... but I'm not leaving... I'm gonna watch everything you do." he stated, as the Orvani nodded, turning to face the surgical table.

--- TO BE CONTINUED ---

 

[Mistral]

Dragging out his punishment? Is that why the Orvani are saving him?

 

[BolianAuthor]

IDK if I'd call it that so much, but the Orvani do have certain motives for it. Remember, the Orvani believe that EVERY form of life, and every being has value to it. The concept that someone or something is genuinely "bad" or flawed is an alien concept to the Orvani.

The question is, how will the Vice-President react, when he wakes up, and realizes that it was the Orvani medics, who saved his life, after all he did against them?

 

[BolianAuthor]

OPERATING ROOM - WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER

The team of top surgeons and surgical residents stood back, against the interior walls of the operating room, while the crowd of government agents, police officers, and medical staff watched from the windows, as another two Orvani suddenly appeared in the room, beside the first, in a flash of brilliant blue light.

The Orvani immediately got to work, as the first Orvani began to instruct the other two.

"I need to see a full scan... increase hemoglobin density by twenty percent, and monitor." the first Orvani said, as suddenly, a brilliant and full-color holographic "copy" of the Vice-President's body appeared, seemingly rising up from his body, and floating two feet above him, on the bed. The hologram was translucent, and each and every part of the inside of Richards' body could be seen, as instantly, five glowing areas of red light became visible... the locations of the bullets.

"Bullets isolated, Sir. Object scan is complete, and we may extract." one of the new Orvani reported.

"No... too much of the source tissue was lost, when he was hit... we're going to use the bullets to compensate. Begin scan for conversion, while I repair the remaining damage to the organs." the first replied.

The head surgeon looked on with amazement, as the Orvani worked on the Vice-President, watching, as the damaged tissue on his affected organs began to appear to regenerate.

"What are you doing?" he asked the Orvani. "How did you stop his bleeding so fast?"

"The bleeding was stopped by increasing the density of his blood, by twenty percent... thickening it just enough that it won't impede heart function, but will flow slowly enough so that any bleeding can be fully controlled. As for the repair to his organs... we're converting the molecular structure of the bullets and fragments, to match his organic material, since so much source tissue was lost, at the scene. Once the conversion is complete, the patch will have fully repaired his organs, and he'll be right as rain, as you say." the Orvani replied.

"I had no idea you could do that... that's amazing." the surgeon offered, as one of the two Orvani aides looked to him for a second.

"Yeah well, you know... maybe if you people would stop and open your primitive eyes for a second, you'd see that you can use our technology for something other than warfare and killing." the Orvani spat, returning to work, as it looked to the first Orvani. "Scan complete, Sir... integration underway." he stated, as everyone in the room looked to the vitals monitor.

Gradually, the Vice-President's heartbeat began to grow stronger, until it became steady, and his other vitals began to stabilize.

With a small smile, the head Orvani looked to the Vice-President, on the table, as it gave his next orders.

"Excellent... job well-done, folks... thank you. Let's restore hemoglobin density to normal, and clean him up... re-introduce the lost blood, and effect dermal restoration." he instructed, turning to the head surgeon, just as the hologram gently vanished, and a very soft and gentle blue light swept over the stretcher, wiping every last drop of blood away, rendering the sheets a pure snow white.

"He's fine now... he can get up, and walk out of here, as soon as he wakes. Good day, Doctor." the head Orvani said, as the surgeon looked to the Orvani, amazed.

As the other two Orvani aides finished their work, and were getting ready to leave, a human hand reached up, and held one of the Orvani by the arm. The Orvani looked to the bed, as Richards slowly opened his eyes...

As his eyes opened, Richards was greeted by a fuzzy image of a human surgeon, and two Orvani, looking right at him, as his vision began to focus and clear.

"Wha... where... where am I? What's going on?" he asked.

"You're at Washington Hospital Center, Mister Vice-President... are you okay? How do you feel?" the surgeon asked.

"I feel fine... why... what happened? Why are there Orvani here? What's going on?" he asked.

"You were shot, Mister Vice-President... during your press conference... five shots. There was massive internal damage to your organs... we could not save you. These Orvani here... they saved your life." the surgeon stated, smiling, as he looked to the Orvani.

Richards looked to his alien saviors, a look of slight confusion on his face.

"But... why? How could you save me... see fit to save me, after all I said and did to you? You could have let me die." he asked.

The original Orvani now walked up, to the foot of the stretcher, and looked to Richards, smiling.

"You just don't get it, do you, Sir? ALL life is sacred to us... matters not if we agree with it or not. All life deserves to live. If we have the ability to save yours, why shouldn't we?" the Orvani said.

"But how... how did you do it?" Richards asked.

"With the very same technology we shared with you, to reorganize matter. For everything we've tried to show and teach you... your people can only see its military applications... its use as a weapon of war. You cannot see the true scope of what we have given you... technology that can be the very salvation of your entire species." the Orvani began, as it looked to the surgeon, then back to Richards. "But we can talk about all this later... even though you could get up and leave now, I'm sure your surgeon here will want you to stay, for observation. Rest. We can meet later. Good day, Mister Vice-President." he added, as the trio of Orvani began to walk away.

"Wait!" Richards called out, as the three Orvani turned to face him. "Thank you." he added, as the head Orvani simply nodded, before leading his group out of the room, as Richards looked after them.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[BolianAuthor]

RECOVERY ROOM - WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER

Vice-President Richards laid in his bed, the remote for the TV on the wall in his had. He looked to the TV, in morbid fascination, as the news footage of his own shooting played out on the screen... a series of five loud, popping, gunshots, that rang out in the air, as the crowd began to scream and scatter, as he saw his own body fall to the ground, behind the podium.

He looked down for a moment, to change the channel, and when he looked up, he gasped, at what he saw before him...

A single Orvani was standing at the foot of his bed, looking at him.

"Excuse the interruption, Mister Vice-President... but I thought we could talk. Someone said you wanted to talk." the Orvani said.

"Aye... that I do." Richards said, as he placed the remote on the table beside his bed, facing the Orvani. "You really should not have saved me... I fear by doing so, you may have done more harm than good." he added.

"How so?" the Orvani asked, blinking.

"Look... I've learned my lesson, okay... I am fully willing to end our pursuit of your military technology. However... by saving me, you've opened up a whole new can of worms. Our planet is full of disease, and people dying. There are those on this world who will demand that now you share your medical technology with us... demand that you save all of us." Richards offered.

"It is not our role to save you... that is something you must do for yourselves. We simply recognized that if you were to die, any hope of a peace between our peoples would likely die with you." the gray alien replied.

"But see... there are people on Earth that will begin to ask you... why me? Why would you save me, and no others? They will think that your people have an interest in America, and that will not sit well with the other world leaders. You kind of prolonged and complicated this whole argument." Richards stated.

The Orvani appeared to be in thought, as it walked closer to Richards, looking back up at him.

"So, you're now asking us for our medical technology, then?" it asked.

The Vice-President sighed, as he looked to the Orvani.

"Not really... but I AM asking that whatever your people are going to do, to solve this situation, that you make your intentions absolutely clear, and stick by it... tell the world what is going to happen, and why, and end it. Look... it took five bullets in my body, to get me to see the light. Now, help me get the rest of the world to see it, as well." Richards said.

"If I am to get my people to speak out on this... you're going to have to help me convince your people... you're going to have to take the first step." the Orvani replied.

"And that step would be...?" asked Richards.

"You must allow us to reclaim all the technology you have received from our military people, and you must unconditionally allow us to dismantle the two triangles you have in operation. Your world must not be allowed to have our weapons of war." the little Orvani stated, looking to Richards.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Mistral]

Hmm, a tough compromise. Wonder what he'll do?