Quiet Invasion(22)
“Your money’s good,” Rosa said at last. “The family trusts are percolating along nicely, and I think we’re going to be able to put Kitty through college without a problem.”
“Same as yesterday.”
“Same as yesterday,” agreed Rosa. “Want to see the latest on the Discovery?”
Vee shrugged, trying to be casual about it. “Might as well see what I’m getting into.” Inside, her stomach began to flutter and she wondered where breakfast was. Food might help settle her down, except all of a sudden she wasn’t hungry.
Rosa lit the back of the screen so Vee could follow along and called up her favorite news service.
The lead stories all came under the heading of The Discovery on Venus, as they had for the past month. Today was a pretty light news day. Only three new stories had been added since Vee checked it last night. Rosa touched the title Venus Colonists Say No Help Needed and the Silent option. The main menu vanished, and the text and video story unfolded in front of them.
Sources at Venera Base, home to the incredible discovery of what may be signs of alien life on Venus [long-range, color-enhanced picture of the spherical settlement with its airfoil tail floating through billowing clouds], are saying that the governing board strongly resents the formation of the new United Nations subcommittee on Venus. The governing board insists that the Venerans already in residence have sufficient expertise to deal with this most unexpected find.
While Dr. Helen Failia, founder of the base and head of Venera’s Board of Directors [video clip of a short, gray-haired woman with a severe face giving a lecture to a group of what looked like college students], still refuses comment, sources close to the board say that petitions have been filed to render the Discovery [dissolve to the now familiar glowing hatchway] proprietary to the funding universities and therefore outside the realm of government probes or restrictions.
Dr. Bennet Godwin [jump cut to a split picture with a still shot of an iron-gray-haired man with permanent windburn in one half, and a hardsuited figure standing on a yellowish-red cliff in the other half], also on Venera’s board, had this comment [the man’s picture flickered to life].
“We welcome all serious research into any aspect of the world of Venus. That’s what Venera Base is here for. What we cannot welcome, or tolerate, is interference by nonscientists in what is a scientific inquiry [the face froze].”
Dr. Godwin later issued the following clarification of his statement [the face flickered to life again, but now much more rigid and controlled]. “When I said nonscientists, obviously I meant unauthorized or inexpert personnel. This discovery is of massive importance to all humanity, and its investigation must be conducted in the open with all available assistance and resources.”
“Who got you to add that disclaimer?” murmured Rosa, picking up her newly arrived cup of coffee and sipping it appreciatively. Vee swallowed some of the peach-flavored tea and poked at a strawberry in her fruit cup. The scent of fresh fruit and baked goods was failing to bring back her appetite in a rather spectacular fashion.
She read on.
When asked what he thought about Dr. Godwin’s comment, Edmund Waicek [dissolve to the same man who had sent Vee her interview invitation], spokesman for the newly formed U.N. Work Group on Venus, said only, “We are glad that Dr. Godwin and the rest of the members of Venera Base realize how important openness and cooperation are at this historic time. This discovery affects the whole of humanity. Humanity’s elected representatives need to assist in its uncovering and understanding.”
“Mmmph.” Rosa buttered a croissant and bit into it Vee drank a little more tea, trying to get her stomach to open up enough that she’d actually be able to get some food down. The only thing that little piece made clear was that there was animosity between Venera Base and the U.N. That did not bode well, and Venera was probably going to live to regret it. It also meant she was walking into a hornets’ nest, which made it even less likely that a controversial candidate would get the job.
“Eat, Vee,” ordered Rosa. “You’re not doing either of us any favors if you go in there on edge.”
Vee obediently munched on strawberries, kiwis, mango, and pineapple. But she couldn’t make herself face the rolls. Instead, she watched Rosa’s screen. The other two stories were public-reaction sensation videos. One showed a public meeting in good old free-speech Chicago. The other was an interview with a pair of bald, neutered, Universal Age synthesists explaining how this was the first step toward the human worlds being accepted into the Greater Galactic Consciousness. There were, of course, links to the thousands of papers, discussions, and wonder-sites that had mushroomed since the Discovery was announced.