"Good Evening Sir. My Name is Nathan Shaw, and I am Special agent from National Security Agency." He shook Dr. Madison's hand and introduced himself while flashing his card with his left hand. Dr. Madison was puzzled.
"NSA?" He murmured. "What do they want with me."
"You need to come with me, sir." Agent ignored his murmuring.
"Can I ask the reason why?" Dr. Madison tried to be bold.
"No sir." Agent Shaw responded in same cold tone and directed Dr. Madison with his hand to walk in other direction. Dr. Madison complied. They walked a little, crossed the parking lot and paced towards a large black car. Dr. Madison was worried, but he did not say anything else.
As they reached the car, Agent Shaw placed his hand on the left rear window of the car. A blue light flashed and with a sound of click, the door opened. Agent again signaled him to sit in the car, with his hand. Dr. Madison sat in. Agent closed the door and with the sound of a click, the door was locked again. Agent walked around, opened the driver side rear door, and sat in.
It was a luxurious car. There was a W shaped control yoke in front of driver's seat. However, driver's seat was empty.
"Simon!" Agent called and the engine of the car turned on. Now the lights of the Car controls also turned on.
"Welcome Special Agent Shaw. Please validate yourself." A mechanical voice responded.
"Special Agent Nathan Shaw. Company code: NS28NSA7839." Agent replied.
"Please validate the guest now." Simon instructed.
"He is Dr. Madison George Orwell." Agent said. Dr. Madison, who was trying to look unrelated to all this situation, looked at him in surprise; very few people knew his middle name.
"Well. He IS NSA agent." Dr. Madison thought.
"Your destination has been preset by higher authorities." Simon informed and paused a little.
"Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are levitating". Simon announced and car started levitating. It was not the first time for Dr. Madison to ride Hover Car but as always, he was fascinated. For a little while he forgot his situation.
They reached Pentagon in almost an hour. All his electronic belongings were confiscated at the entrance.
It has been more than an hour since he was sitting in the waiting room.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14th February 2050
10:00 PM
A woman entered the room. She was wearing a sleek black suit. She approached Dr. Madison.
"Hello sir. I am Betty Blaine, personal secretary of Director National Security Agency, General Williams D. Harrington. We are really sorry for causing any trouble or inconveniences for you." The woman addressed him with a welcoming smile on her face. Dr. Madison got up and shook up her hand.
"It's alright. However, it would have been better if I were told the reason why I have been summoned or in fact, I would have really appreciated an advance notice for this meeting." Dr. Madison complained.
"I apologize again, Dr. Madison. We need to move. Director is waiting for us." Secretary walked towards the door.
Doctor Madison buttoned up and followed her. Agent Shaw also accompanied them.
"Sir, we brought you here like this because this meeting is top secret. You cannot say anything about it even to your friends and family." She explained while walking and looked at him like she was verifying if he understood or not.
"Top secret. What is happening here." Dr. Madison thought and nodded his head to affirm his understanding.
"We have already informed your family that a friend of yours died in California and you are going there for his funeral. We have also applied for your leave for tomorrow, citing the same reason. Please stick to this narrative, while explaining yourself to your friends and family." Secretary continued. Dr. Madison nodded again.
"Doctor! Please speak only when you are asked to; be precise; please understand all the participants in the meeting are not scientists, so avoid scientific jargon; and do not ask unnecessary questions." Secretary advised him as they entered a corridor.
Secretary Betty stopped in front of a door. She stood in front of the door, put her hand on a touch screen for the scan and peeped into a tiny equipment for retina scan.
"Secretary Betty has been validated." A Mechanical voice echoed in the corridor. Secretary Betty pressed a button right besides hand scanner.
"Yes" A heavy authoritative voice answered.
"This must be the Director." Dr. Madison thought. He looked impressed with all the security measures.
"Sir, It's Betty. Dr. Madison accompanies me." Secretary informed. Suddenly, Dr. Madison felt more nervous. His heartbeat was getting faster.
"Come in." The same voice commanded and with a click door unlocked.
Secretary Betty pushed the door and made way for Dr. Madison to enter. Dr. Madison blew air out of his lungs a little audibly and entered the room.
It was your normal meeting room. A large table was at the center of the room and around 50 people were sitting in chairs around it. There was a screen projected on the wall on other side of the room. Two men stopped him and scanned him for any weapons. They found nothing.
"Dr. Orwell." A man called his name.
"Familiar voice." Dr. Madison thought and looked in the direction of sound. A white male with all his hair white was waving at him. He was skinny and looked like in his late 50 or early 60.
"Dr. George F. Wellston. Sir." Dr. Madison shouted with a big smile on his face and briskly walked towards Dr. Wellston. He for a moment, forgot all other attendees of the meeting.
Dr. Wellston himself was a Seismologist. He was one of the leading scientists in the field of geology worldwide. He supervised Dr. Madison when he was working on his thesis for his PhD. Dr. Wellston was Director of the United States General Survey (USGS) and Chairman of the Seismological Society of America (SSA). He was someone Dr. Madison really respected.
"It's been a long-time sir. You look great. I read your recent paper on Super volcanoes. It is really intuitive and eye-opener." Dr. Madison shook Dr. Wellston's hand while greeting him.
"Yes. Long time." Dr. Wellston greeted with an awkward smile. Dr. Madison looked around and everyone was staring at him; some with amusement and others with judgement in their eyes. Dr. Madison sat in the chair next to Dr. Wellston with his gaze at his feet. He was embarrassed.
"Dr. Wellston, can you please debrief the situation, so we could proceed." Someone instructed Dr. Wellston. Dr. Madison raised his head and looked at the man who addressed Dr. Wellston. He was Defense Secretary of USA.