The slim days

Raily Foster's POV

{13:30pm, 27/07/2024}

{Presidential villa}

'Four months, eleven days since the beginning of the end, huh? '

In my mind they seemed like just words, but in reality, it was how long some citizens in the country had to suffer since the appearance of the exotic gate. 

Monoceros, Eridanus and Rigel, three of our branch cities had almost been overrun by negrons. Civilians had to evacuate those cities and the ones left, were put in confinement zones temporarily while massive evacuations were undergone.

I strolled over towards my wide arched table, grazing the sides till my finger came around to the front of the desk.

I had an unusual habit of sizing up things each time I felt agitated or tensed.

'What a wild habit' I thought, reclining on the polished armchair as I turned it towards the window.

The near silence of the villa helped me calm my raging nerves as I watched bird flying from tree to tree, completely unworried about current events.

It was fascinating though, how even amongst many turmoils certain individuals and life forms still managed to keep their cool.

Global warming, the rampant spread of cancer, impending war and even wars. All events that was bound to put fears in the heart of anyone who was aware of them.

But yet, there they were, free fowls of the air chirping and playing fondly with one another.

'What a vile feeling to envy '

I had hoped that by the time I got elected, I would rule the country peacefully and even take a step further to boost the well being of the people, but I guess I shouldn't have let my thoughts run wild.

The country was barely holding up and we needed a breakthrough soonest. Hence the reason for attending the sudden meeting the doctor had sprung on me.

"Cally?" I called out, sorting out my next line of action in my head.

"Sir, how can I help you?" She replied calmly, making her way towards me from the edge of the room where she stood.

"Can you please clear my schedule for the next two hours" The thought of overburdening my secretary, weighing on my mind heavily.

"Yes sir, but just a reminder, you are to meet with the ambassador of the United Nations by 4pm sir" She suggested, sorting through documents that she held in her hands.

"That's fine, thank you. Have Mark ready the car" I appealed, standing up once more to stare at the incoming dawn, casting a pale yellow glow on every reflective objects.

A knock resounded from the door a few minutes later, a voice coming after it, urging me to step out in order to proceed for my meeting.

I thanked the voice and walked towards the white curtains, feeling the silky essence of its material soothe my hoarse hand.

I stepped out moments later, walking through the balcony and towards the parking lot, waving repeatedly at the salutes and greetings of countless officers.

As we drove towards the outskirts of Orion, I couldn't help but notice the disdain written all over the faces of civilians. Orion was by far the most guarded city in the country, and had not faced any major attacks but still, the nervousness that hung on their faces told a different story.

It was their right to be worried, and it was my duty to prevent it. I had been charged with a very important task and as time passed, I constantly felt like I had not done anything worthy of my post.

'John, please have something revolutionary for me!' I whispered in my mind, clasping both palms together briefly as I let out a sigh.

When we arrived at the black site where the omega seed was kept, I immediately got off the vehicle and rushed inside. I didn't want to waste another second before getting solutions.

I met the doctor by the entrance, his smile widening the moment he saw my tense face, like a gambling addict after winning a bet. 

"Mr president, you came?" He approached mildly, with a mix of sarcasm and joy laced in his words.

I wondered if that was a tone to take with the president but just waved at the thought of his remark.

"Yes John, what do you have for me today. Remember time is of the essence." I retorted, scanning the doorway for signs of a presence.

"This way please, while I brief you as we head inside " John offered, noticing my impatience.

"Carry on" I responded, trotting behind him thoughtfully.

"Last month, while my team were running diagnostics on the omega seed, we discovered that it produced a sort of Indestructible covering, when it was tampered with. Of course we were able to override it's security, when someone who had received the z fluid came in physical contact with it. But then, an idea came to my mind after the experience." He paused, continuing his pacing while matching it with his words.

"What if we could use the Omega seed to create an indestructible barrier that could protect the entire city of Orion as well as the adjacent cities in it's surrounding.

Of course to do this, we would have to move the black site to the center of the city and also rewrite the DNA signature to only match those within the barrier so as to prevent alien interference that comes in contact with it, but In theory it would be very effective." He concluded, stoping in front of a massive door and typing in a passcode to active the elevator.

"And what about the other three cities?" I questioned, hoping to get the usual astute replies he gave.

"Heightened security to help curb the overflow of negrons. It could also include members of the task force, just to be on the safer side. Think of it this way, if we could put up the barrier at Orion central, we would need very minimal security to protect it's residents.

So therefore, we would push the manpower toward the dormant parts of the country which is just outside of Orion's range."

The brilliance of the doctor always seemed to leave me in awe each and everytime he spoke, but sadly I wasn't in full acceptance of his suggestions.

My problem, being the fact that the rest of the country outside of Orion's perimeter would be left vulnerable. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have any other choice seeing as how I was already running out of options.

"And you think it could be ready by the beginning of the next month?"

"Yes, Mr president."

" Give me a little while to think, by the time I am done with my meeting I will relay a message to you " I responded mildly, not wanting to give a reply to the matter immediately, without brooding over it with the rest of my officials.

"Alright, sir" His face beaming with a smile.

For some reason, I wasn't overjoyed by the idea even if it was what I had prayed for. I certainly did wish it was enough to protect all four states but I guess we couldn't afford that type of luxury. Before I could even get to the door, I could already hear the voice of the doctor calling from a distant.

"Oh, Mr president, please if I could just have another moment it's really importa-" His statement cut shirt before he could even complete it, as he rushed towards me.

"Stand back, doctor" Jerry ordered, tapping on the professors vest.

I looked towards my security trying to hold back the lively doctor from scaling through, and kept wondering where he got all his vigor from despite his age.

"Wait Jerry, let him through". I offered, waving him to stand down.

"Thank you, sir"

"Continue, I don't have that much time to spend with you"

"It's about the search and destroy team we sent to Omnicron, we lost audio and video feed."

*****

"How long has this been?" I enquired, confusion building up within me.

"About four hours ago" One of the staffs behind a monitor replied.

We had entered a room buzzing with people moving from one device to another, monitoring all the activities of the raid indirectly from this point.

They were dressed in uniforms; at least a few of them.

'Four hours ago?'

How come I wasn't alerted by the taskforce, something of this importance should have been relayed to me the instant it occurred.

"Get the director on the phone!" I yelled mildly, staring at one of the staffs.

"Yes sir!"

I looked at my watch, my mind spiraling at the thought of the possibility that our very first advance unit which comprised of one of the most highly trained members, had suddenly gone dark.

My meeting was in one hour, and taking into account the time it would take to drive to the conference hall, I would need to leave now.

"Mr president, it's almost time for your meeting" Cally muttered, leaning over till I could hear her clearly behind me.

"Mr president, the director is already on the line" The staff reminded, pulling off the headset he wore.

"Put him on. Cally give me five minutes"

" Ok sir?!"

The troubled look on her face didn't do much to support her answer. She had been working tirelessly these past few months and hardly even got time to see her kid. I felt bad for her, knowing how difficult it was to separate mother from child at a very tender age.

"Good afternoon mr president!" The director's voice rang from the speaker.

"Ferdinand, news reaching me now is that the alpha team that we sent beyond the rift, are stranded at an unknown location, audio and video feeds have both been lost too. Is that true?"

"I'm sorry Mr president, I'm having my secretary look into that right now. Please permit me to ask, how did you get a hold of that info before us sir?" Ferdinand inquired, trying to feign ignorance.

"That is not relevant at the moment, I have a meeting I'm supposed to be attending right now so I'll be leaving doctor John on comms to assist you. Get me live feed on my team before I'm back or else you won't be asking any more questions."

"Yes sir!" He barked, probably saluting from the other end of the speaker.

The tension in his reply made me rethink the threat I had just meted out, different interpretations must have been running through the director's head at the moment but that wasn't what was important right now.

The fate of our country was at stake if we couldn't get a hold of the alpha team. If our very first search and destroy meeting was to go out without completion it would mean that we were in very big trouble.

As I walked towards the vehicle, the only thought that went through my mind even till I got to the meeting remained the same.

'Burns, you have to complete this mission no matter what!'