Starcross

Chapter One - Part I

White House Briefing Room

Washington D.C.

Late February, 2020

      Panic filled the air, along with the smell of tobacco and coffee. Despite the early hour, the warm room, paneled in dark wood with a gold trim, was already getting full of important members of the U.S. government. Secretary of Defense John Wheeler slowly paced around the large wooden conference table puffing on his signature cigars, the gold stars on the shoulder pads of his Army uniform kept glinting in the incandescent light. Secretary of State Claudia Ortiz in her deep purple pants suit, who was in the corner with her aides going over the known information, kept casting glances at one of the flat screen T.Vs that were hung on the wall; a news anchor kept repeating the same ‘breaking’ news, even though it was already a few hours old and the government had yet to release an official statement. Clair Laughlin, the Secretary of Interior and Burbank’s boss, was surprisingly stoic, sitting in her assigned seat and sipping on coffee as she watched the same T.V that Ortiz continued to glance at; normally, Laughlin was the most excitable person that Burbank had met, especially when it came to the Druidth.

      As for himself, Richard Burbank leaned back in his chair and poured another creamer into what must have been his fourth cup of coffee since his driver, Sally, had picked him up earlier, which was technically last night. He still couldn’t believe what had happened, that someone could do something so…evil was beyond him; although similar events had occurred many times throughout human history. The last time something like this had happened…well he couldn’t remember since it happens so often, but the last time something this major happened his grandfather boarded a ship and went to Europe to stop it.

      “How much longer is he gonna’ keep us waiting?” Wheeler asked one of the Secret Service members who were standing around the room. Wheeler stubbed out his cigar in one of the crystal ashtrays on the table. “The sooner we meet, the faster we can get a grip on this mess.”

      Marcus Pahno, the Secretary of Homeland Security, leaned over to Burbank. “What’s your take on this?”

      He shook his head and opened his mouth like he was going to say something but only a heavy sigh came out. Waiting wasn’t so bad for him, he really didn’t mind it nearly as much as Wheeler who had a reputation of calling front line troops from his office phone to get a firsthand view, not a sanitized view that he said he usually got from the officers. Burbank tapped the papers in front of him on the table to straighten them, but mostly to clear his mind.

      Finally, after another ten minutes of waiting, the heavy door that lead directly to the Oval Office opened and the White House Chief of Staff Victor Larsson stepped in. “Everyone take your seats, the President will be with you shortly.”

      Everyone did as he said, but instead of sitting everyone stood in respect when the Commander in Chief walked in a few steps behind Larsson. President of the United States Thomas Garrett, a senator from Oregon, walked to the head of the table and nodded at his cabinet and took his seat; Vice President Bethany Chamberlain walked quickly behind him and sat in the seat to this  left. His face was one of worry and a reserved amount of panic showed through, but only a slight amount giving suspicion of how good a politician he was by hiding his emotions.

      “I take it everyone knows what’s going on, but just to be sure we’re all on the same page I’ve asked the director of the Embassy of Extra-Terrestrial Affairs Richard Burbank to join us and fill us in.” Garrett started without preamble. “Since he is the foremost expert on the Druidth in my cabinet, I’ve asked him to give the briefing. Richard?”