Close observers of my blog will realize I have not posted Part 2 of My Europa. Part 2 is a bit more R-rated than the other parts, and mature readers will need to buy the full story when it is ready. I will tell you that Part 2 introduces one of the central characters, Congressperson Geraldo Barista, who finds his "activities" interrupted when he is called to a committee meeting of the Congressional Science and Space Committee. He serves as Vice Chair.
3
"Hear ye! Hear ye!
This all hearing is now in order!" said Congressperson Dabney
Reynolds, pounding his gavel with the force and spirit of Thor. "Well, look at the stragglers! Congresspersons Jefferson and Pinkyard, nice
of y'all to show up! Outside conferring
with th' flowers, I suppose?"
Congressperson
Gerald Jefferson of Pennsylvania, a Progressive and a member of the Black
Caucus, took his seat at the left end of the dais, while Congressperson Louise
Pinkyard, the freshman from Alabama, replacing her deceased husband in the most
recent election took her seat on the right, one of only three committee representatives
from the New Conservative Party. Even
though about as far apart politically as you could get, the two had struck up a
close friendship, bonding over the congressional basketball league. Both had played in college, Louise being part
of a national championship team from Auburn .
Reynolds turned to
the committee legal Counsel, Thaddeus Wright, and complained, "We need to
get this underway! Where the hell is
that little Vice Chairman of mine? Am I
gonna have to start this without him?"
As Thaddeus shrugged, Congressperson Barista flew in and plopped into
his seat next to the chairman.
"I'm not too
late, am I? I beat the buzzer, didn't
I?" he said to Reynolds with a sly
smirk. "Let's get the party
started, Chairman Reynolds! I can't wait
to find out what's going on!"
Barista noticed that there was a huge TV screen that had been brought in
against the right wall, but he didn't have time to ask anyone what that meant.
"What's going
on is we are in order," and Reynolds gaveled again to emphasize his
point. "We're still three short,
but we're not waiting for anyone else.
Gentle people, let me introduce you to our esteemed guests, sitting in
the front row. They are going to tell us
about some important events in connection with the Nautilus IV. If the representatives from NASA and the
Pentagon could please stand up, and briefly state who you are, that would be
most helpful."
About a dozen
people stood up and introduced themselves.
They included General Davidson from the Joint Chief of Staffs, Roy
Teller the lanky head of NASA, Dr. Arjun Chopra., and Dr. Foster Nobles, one of
the foremost biologists in the world.
"I cannot
stress enough the confidentiality of what you are about to hear. We are a big, messy committee, with
representatives from six different political parties, but we all share a common
commitment to the best interests of our great nation. That is why, other than our legal counsel,
there will be no aides present. Until we
understand what we're dealing with, and have established a general course of
action, these hearings will be secret.
That means you can't talk about this to anyone outside this committee
room. Not your aides, not your fellow congresspeople or party officials, not
even your family or spouse. That goes
double for you, George!" The dais
tittered with laughter. Republican Congressperson
George Bush of Florida was married to Fox Newscaster Ellen Reeves Bush.
Then the speakers
began, and the story they laid out for the committee was fantastic. Apparently, the Nautilus IV had cracked the
ice, and had descended into the ocean underneath. The first wave of excitement started when it
was quickly confirmed that the ocean was teeming with micro biotic life.
But it didn't stop
there. Dr. Arjun Chopra stood up and
turned to the video footage that had come in from the Nautilus IV.
"As you can
see, the Nautilus is easily traveling in the dark blue waters of the Europaian Ocean
The import of this
stuck everyone immediately. The existence
of life outside of Planet Earth was a reality now. It would be even difficult for the theocratic
New Conservative Party to deny, although Barista thought they still might
try. Heck, some of them were still
denying global warming. Even the great Miami flood of '29 meant
nothing to them. Much had been done
since the early 20s to check the effects of climate change, but some of the
damage was too late to reverse.
Different
committee members broke decorum to discuss amongst themselves. Congressperson Barbara Winstead, a
Progressive from Oregon who sat to the right of Barista, muttered to him, “Well,
that’s gonna throw a monkey wrench into the New Conservative’s exclusivity
theory, isn’t it?” Barbara was short,
thin and fragile looking, but that belied the powerhouse she could be when she
got her dander up, and that happened quite often.
Barista
shrugged. “Who knows? You’d be surprised what those theocrats can
pull out of their ass to explain things away.”
As if to answer
him, from the other end of the dais came the booming voice of Congressperson
Buddy J. Dixon of Georgia, a New Conservative member who looked as if he were a
redneck sheriff ordered from central casting.
“This is re-donk-u-less! Those
little squigglies could be anything!
Probably jes’ dust brought in by the Nautilus itself!”
The room was
brought to attention by the only voice with more authoritative boom than Congresspersons
Reynolds and Dixon combined – General Davidson.
“Gentlemen, please! What you have
seen is only the beginning! If you would
just refocus and see what’s next, you will realize the true magnitude of what
we’re facing. Dr. Chopra, if you could
please resume the video?”
The entire room
snapped to attention and turned to Dr. Chopra and the video screen. “I’m going to resume the footage now and let
it speak for itself. After it is shown,
I and Dr. Nobles will do our best to explain what it may be we’re seeing, and
try to answer your questions.”
At first, all they
saw were the dancing spores, although they were increasing in number. Suddenly, the cloud of spores split apart, as
if making way for something else. The Nautilus
cameras picked up in the distance a green, glowing shape. As it got closer it became more defined. It was long, at least as long as the three-foot-tall
window of the Nautilus. It was thin, not
quite as thin as a snake, and it had appendages, two near the top of its
body. The appendages reached out to the
window, and a strange three fingered hand attached itself to the window, little
suctions at the ends of its fingers. It came closer to the window and the room
gasped as it clearly had a face! An alien face, yes, but a face
nonetheless. Strange compound eyes, with
a slightly red cast, two slits for a nose, something that could have been a
mouth, even a small protruding of what could have been a chin. Below that, there were multiple slitted
openings that could have been gills. It
looked more curious than angry, but that may have been just trying to humanize
it, and imply emotions to something completely alien. Barista thought it looked like somebody anthropomorphized
a green salamander.
The creature
turned its head away, as if it heard something coming. Suddenly, it was knocked away by something
big and black and huge. Then whatever it
was knocked heavily into the Nautilus.
The footage was shaky, as if the craft was experiencing an earthquake. It was engulfed in darkness, as if whatever
it was had completely enveloped it, or maybe even swallowed it. The video hissed, turned white, and then
stopped. The screen went black.
“Oh, my god!’
whispered Barbara, terror in her voice. “What
the hell was that?”
Congressperson
Geraldo Barista just nodded, his eyes wide open, the color drained from his
face.
What the hell was
that, indeed?
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