13

'General, now that you have seen the detailed layout I have prepared so far for Planet X and its eventual invasion,' said Colonel Smith. 'What do you say?'

The general frowned as he scrutinised the large chart on the table, and then looked again at the slides from the presentation he had just been given by the colonel and the commander.

'Well...' said the colonel hopefully.

The general held up his hand. 'Up until now, I didn't think all this was possible; frankly, I thought you had gone half-mad in your ambition, Colonel. But now... now... I need a coffee.'

'Let's go, General.'

The two men walked outside the agency headquarters and towards a nearby coffee shop.

'Black, no sugar,' said the general.

'Same for me! Hurry!' said the colonel.

Five minutes later, they were both sipping steaming hot cups of bitter but soothing coffee and looking thoughtfully at the grey sky.

'Are you sure you have accessed all this correctly?' asked the general for the dozenth time.

'Positive, General!' repeated the colonel. 'You have seen the reports me and Lee presented; Planet X is very much a reality, and so are the aliens on it!'

'Ssh!' said the general with a glare. 'Even walls have ears! And this is a public place! Be careful!'

'Bother! I apologise, General,' said the colonel, looking back anxiously. 'Still, it's not like anyone would believe us even if we told them! Even you didn't!'

The general chuckled.

'My only concern, Sir,' continued the colonel, 'is that we must act fast before an enemy country finds out what we did; it can be detrimental to the edge we have gained by discovering it first! And then, those little rascals on X may be planning an attack of some sort themselves!'

'You are right! We must act fast! It's just that I'm afraid we may have underestimated those—' here he lowered his voice to a whisper, 'aliens. If we launch an attack too fast and it's not good enough, we lose the advantage of surprise, and they will most definitely respond. We can't have that, can we?'

'Oh, how much more will we prepare, General? It's been almost a month already!' said the colonel frustratedly, throwing his empty paper cup in a nearby bin. 'We must act! Why can't we just nuke them and be done with it?'

'Because it's important, Smith!' said the general sternly. '"Preperation is half the battle", haven't you ever heard that? We could nuke them, but they may have a defence ready! Haven't you considered that they may not be as primitive as you might think, but could in fact be far more advanced in technology! And then, we don't know the environment properly yet; a nuclear bomb could destroy things for us as well!'

The colonel sighed dejectedly. 'You are right, General. But surely we must do something! We must not forget that as we speak, they are planning to attack us as well, and if they are as dangerous as you say...'

'Two weeks,' said the general. 'Assemble a special unit of the very best military personnel; at this point, even if we have to take help from our enemy countries, we will. This is not a matter of secrecy, but of unity; because it is our planet which is being threatened. Send forth special satellites which bring back as much imagery as we can gather from Planet X. Send for the world's top linguists to help decode the radio signals. And... check if the nuclear defence is in order as a last resort.'

The colonel smiled slowly, before saluting. 'Yes, General!'

They walked back into the headquarters, not noticing the figure that sprang from behind the bin and ran at top speed towards the road, still holding a pad and pen.

The young man continued to run breathlessly until he reached his destination: a large office building with a huge signboard that read:

THE DAILY TRUTH

'Sir!!' he cried out, rushing straight to the editor and making the kindly old man start in surprise. 'I have a story which can make tommorow's front page!'

'Your enthusiasm always makes me smile,' said the editor. 'Go on!'

'Aliens!' declared the reporter, before collapsing in a nearby chair and handing him the scribbled notes he had made of the recent conversation.

The editor frowned as he read it. 'Are you sure you saw this? I know our newspaper is known for publishing bold truths no one else is willing to publish, but this is going too far!'

'I saw this with my own eyes, Sir!' insisted the reporter.

The editor frowned and gave the notes back. 'Is this a prank?'

'No, I swear, Sir, I—'

'I think you need a break...' said the editor with a disappointed sigh. 'Take a week off and enjoy yourself. You're young yet, and I understand the workload of the last few days may have been stressful for you. The thing is, I don't want to lose one of my best reporters to mental instability.'

'I don't need a break, I need to see this published!' exclaimed the reporter, but the editor had already left.

He exasperatedly walked out of the building and leaned against a wall. 'Daily truth, huh! No one here to believe me... everyone's the same...'

He wondered if he ought to smoke a cigarette, even though he had quit recently; the frustration he was feeling right now was too much. He reached into his pocket and took one out, then hastily struck a match and tried to light it; but before he could, someone took the cigarette from his mouth and threw it on the ground with an amused smile.

'I thought you'd quit...' said the obstructer, who was a young woman his age, dressed similarly to him except for a ridiculously colourful scarf around her neck and a pair of enormous shades that hid the glint in her eyes as she smirked at him.

'Sandy? What are you doing here? I haven't got any stories for you!'

She took off her sunglasses and looked at him. 'Oh come on, Ryan, you know I can smell a story from a distance; and I can see that whatever it is you brought this time has been rejected by your editor...'

'Yeah, well, this is serious news, not some sleazy gossip for that tabloid you work for!' said Ryan.

'Call the Star Report a tabloid if you like, but people read us, Ryan; we sell three times as many copies daily as The Daily Truth!'

'I am not selling this story to the Star Report, for Heaven's sake! It will become totally uncredible if I do that!'

'What is this story you're so worked up about, anyway?' said Sandy, raising her eyebrows. 'I'm asking as a friend, don't worry!'

'I don't trust you, Sandy,' said Ryan. 'I know you've got a tape recorder there somewhere!'

'Oh, fine, I'll turn it off! I'd forgotten about it, anyway! So, what's the scoop?'

'Aliens,' said Ryan, and he narrated how he had overheard the two military men while taking a coffee break and had immediately written down everything they had said.

Sandy stared at him. 'You seriously expect anyone sane to believe that? Do you really think any remotely reputable newspaper is going to give this any space at all?!'

'But I saw it with my own eyes, Sandy!' said Ryan earnestly. 'I tell you, it was strictly confidential, and it was a miracle I got to hear it all! After the nuke thing I freaked out and figured everyone needs to know what sinister things our governments are up to!'

Sandy smiled. 'I love your energy...'

'Yeah, I get that a lot...'

'No, I really do. If this is really true, Ryan, you're right; people need to know this. And even if isn't, it's gonna make a hell of a headline on the front page of the Star Report tommorow morning!'

'Sandy, no one's going to believe a freaking tabloid story!'

'It's better if it gets printed in a mass-read albeit not-so-reputable newspaper rather than never be printed anywhere at all! Can't you see? You don't have a choice; this is your last hope, Ryan.'

Ryan sighed. 'You're right.'

Sandy smiled. 'Good. Give me your notes. I'll ensure I write it in the most sensational, irresistible way I am so well known for!'

'Look, you—'

'Uh-uh, I'm going to do this my way, okay? Don't worry, I'll remember to put your name alongside mine; after all, I, too, have principles!'

'Oh, really?' said Ryan with a grin.

'That's right!' said Sandy with her infectious smile, before she put her sunglasses back on and walked off majestically, turning back only once to say, 'See you around, then! Don't miss tommorow's issue of The Star Report!'