After a short car ride occupied by an uneasy silence and occasional side glances between one another, they arrive at the research building. Coleman walks in quick steps into the building, clearly in a hurry, as Kain, Steven and Martha follow close behind. At the door stands a nervous night worker who opens the door for the group, respectfully saying, "Welcome, doctor Coleman. The meeting room is prepared and the lab coats for the Rusts have been prepared as you asked."
Coleman nods towards the night shift worker as he moves through the door as fast as his old bones can take him. Soon, they all arrive to a large meeting room with a large meeting table at the center ringed by chairs. In the corner of the room is a rack with the three lab coats for the family of three, which Coleman motions for them to put on while he walks to the head of the meeting table and pulls a computer out from under it, typing in a series of commands. After they all put on their lab coats Coleman finally speaks up as he stashes the computer back where he got it from. " We are about to meet with the world leaders. They will explain why, but for now all you need to do is stand behind me and answer any questions they have."
Coleman shuffles over to a specific chair and Steven Martha and Kain stand silently behind him. Coleman presses a button below the ridge of the table, and instantly the other chairs are occupied by the images of people with various ethnicities and genders. All of them wear fancy suits and it is quite obvious they are of some importance. These are the world leaders, each a leader of different departments in the unified government of Earth. They seem to be in the middle of their own conversations as if they were waiting for something. Kain catches a few hushed voices sounding worried. " We don't know what they are capable of though, it's been too long since..."
Coleman clears his throat, alerting the meeting to his presence. The room is immediately filled with silence as they all turn to him. The one at the head seat, which had been silent the whole time, finally speaks. "Ah, Dr. Walker, you made it. Wonderful, now we can get to business. I assume those standing behind you are the inventors?"
His figure is instantly recognizable. Kain would know that radiant and charismatic smile anywhere, this was the Government President, Ray Harmon. He was almost unopposed in the vote, and is the undisputed leader of the Government. He represented the general public's favor, and is a powerful figure. He wore a simple black suit and had a clean shaven face.
Coleman nods his head humbly and says, "Yes, mister president, these are the ones that headed project Cortex: Steven, Martha, and Kain Rust respectively." He points at each member of the family as he says their name.
Kain shuffles his feet slightly, as the attention from these looming figures seems to set the back of his neck on fire. He copies his parents as they stand proudly with their chests out and chins high, seemingly immune to the pressure of the situation. They, of course, are nothing of the sort, as they both secretly rack their brains to find why Cortex has garnered so much attention.
Unfortunately, they do not have much time to figure it out, as president Harmon quickly responds, "Good, then we can start the important talk. As most of you may know, we recently received news that one of our mining planets have been utterly decimated, reduced to astral debris." Harmon takes a pause, as most attendees seem mostly unperturbed, as they had indeed already known. Kain and his family, however are left in silent shock. The mining planets may not be extremely fortified, but they have never been attacked. the central areas of the universe were widely unwanted, and they hadn't even had contact with the wider world for millennia. The destruction of a mining planet was a clear act of aggression, a completely unprecedented event.
"Along with this news, we received a certain transmission," Harmon continues, "which I will play now."
The meeting room goes dark as a video is projected onto the wall. The video centers a large and finely muscled man covered in many scars with a plain grey military uniform on, adorned with many medals from military accomplishments. Behind him is an expansive army that reaches far beyond the view provided by the video. His scarred face shows zero emotion as he makes his demands.
"Hello, my name is General Balder of the Star Coalition Army, and we have recieved information that you recently invented a ship capable of faster than light travel. You will be giving us that ship, or the same thing that we have done to this mining planet of yours, we will do to your home. You have 24 hours to make a decision before we arrive."
For a while after the video ends, silence reigns in the meeting room. slowly, the lights come to life to reveal a room full of scrunched and thinking faces, as the various leaders think the events of the video over. Kain feels a pang of guilt within his gut, realizing that his family's actions brought danger upon their home. He examines his parents' faces, hoping to glean how they might feel, but their serious gazes reveal almost nothing to him. He turns to look at the various world leaders, his eyes landing on a certain grumpy looking middle aged man, the head of the Department of Defense. Their eyes meet with a nod, and Kain gets the feeling that, while he is grumpy, this department head holds no resentment towards Kain or his family. The grumpy looking man addresses everyone suddenly,
" As the Head of Defense, I guess I should be the first to speak. As most of us are aware, we have not had contact with anyone outside of our galaxy in millennia. This means that we have no idea what the strength of this 'Star Coalition' is, only that they probably wish to explore the depths of the universe to gain power, considering they want faster than light travel. Naturally, from the stance of the safety of Earth, it is better to not provoke an unknown power that clearly has the power to destroy planets. I motion to let them have the ship, does anyone have any objections?"
His words are followed by a silent agreement. Most of those at the meeting sat with their heads lowered in shame. So many years of peace had made them soft, afraid at the first sign of conflict. The destruction of a mining planet had thoroughly scared the world leaders, which hadn't seen war in millennia.
Kain notices his mother's hand in front of him clenching as the silence grows. Just as president Harmon shifts in his chair, getting ready to speak, Martha can no longer stand it. Her inborn pride will not allow cowering in the face of brute force, and she bursts forth. "Excuse me, if I may," her words attract everyone's attention, as all heads turn to her. " I cannot accept this proposal, and neither should any of you. Have you any pride, as the leaders of the world that rejected silly pursuits of power? We cannot be intimidated by these brutes, who value not but destruction and violence. They have no eye for the wonders of science, and you expect us to bow down to them? If we were to accept this humiliation, would we not be nothing more than mice, living due to the mercy of the cat? I refuse such a fate, I would rather die proving that I am no mere rodent. Since they have left us no other option, I say we show them the power of a scientific mind."
Martha's words seem to awaken the world's leaders as they stare at her in stunned silence. Harmon clears his throat to attract the attention of the crowd, "Dr. Rust is right. they want what we have, so they think they can just take it? we have to show them that it isn't that simple, or we lose our pride as a nation." Harmon stands from his seat ceremoniously, "Now, I believe that it has been decided. Everyone, we have 24 hours to prepare to defend Earth. Miss Rust, because this information has been leaked, there is clearly a spy amidst us. Before investigations are completed, very few can be trusted. Because most of our defense systems rely on your technology, you will be in charge of the central command center along with our head of Defense. That is all, you should all go home to your families. Enjoy your last 24 hours of peace for a while."
Harmon presses a button on his end, ending the meeting, and the figures occupying all of the various chairs disappear, leaving Steven, Martha, Kain, and Coleman alone in a deafening silence. They all knew that their lives were about to change forever. This war with a force of unknown power will have many future consequences, but they were determined.