President Smith looked out at the White House lawn and sighed heavily. I knew this was the hardest job in the world when I took it. But I didn't expect it to be like this.
He was beginning to wonder just how many of the power players he knew were still active. Between the waves of assassinations by aliens, the opportunistic waves of further assassinations being blad on the aliens, the pressure or bribes to retire, and the ones who simply dropped out of sight in hopes of saving their skins, there didn't seem to be many people left.
The "blackmail economy" that ran much of the Capitol had completely collapsed. Neither major political party had a firm hold on their mbers any more, and there were already noises of a couple of new parties starting up now that the Reform Andnts had been ratified. Everyone was scrambling to learn the new rules and what they ant, and how they could be bent. As always, the lawyers will be the ones to figure it out and end up on top.
One bright note was that Nick Tomsun had finally co through at the last minute, delivering the cores for the fusion reactors. They had already received the designs for the rest of the devices. The new "energy crisis" was the swarm of energy companies being put out of business. In saner tis, that would be the story of the year. These days, it was barely a blip.
The arrival of the Kortoi ambassador was another world-changing event that could almost get lost in the crowd, but Smith knew that it would be the one that had the most lasting impact on Earth. We have neighbors, and they will be visiting. And before long, they'll have their own ships. We're going to be their pet colony if humanity doesn't get off its collective ass and catch up on science and engineering, and fast.
I won the election by arguing that Milton wasn't doing enough to prepare for aliens, and Danvers would be more of the sa. The "October surprise" that sealed the deal was the Goldaskian warship invading Boston for two weeks and then leaving, making Danvers look impotent. Of course, nobody could have prepared us for this. Now, I have to announce a STEM initiative to make the moon shot look like an idle hobby. It's our only hope.
And the only reason humanity even has a chance is because one random kid decided to do a good deed, and was in the right place at the right ti. Without Tomsun, we might have twiddled our thumbs for a few decades until the Kortoi showed up with no warning to take over. "For our own good," of course.
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The Kortoi were eagerly negotiating to have new competitors for their gas, and the normal ways of diplomacy and politics were almost an afterthought. There would likely be teams of adventurous humans getting a ride to...what was the na of their planet again? Smith checked his notes. Torkov. That was it.
Earth's "diplomats" might end up being Olympic athletes, chess grandmasters, and champion poker players. I'm sure they'll have interesting tales to tell. Assuming they co back alive, that is.
Cure This World was going to be one of the major powers, if the rumors were true that they had limited access to longevity technology. Smith had considered asking for it for himself, but decided against it. He'd want it for his whole family, if he did it at all, and that was too big an ask. Parents should not outlive their children. Besides, he'd had a good run, and it wasn't over yet. By the ti the next three—or seven—years go by, I might be ready to throw in the towel, anyway.
For all the chaos, he knew that an economic boom was coming. People didn't realize how severely the cost of energy affected the prices of everything else. A handful of reactors providing the world's energy needs was going to cause explosive growth. It was his job to channel as much as possible of that growth towards preparing the country and the world for the future that was quickly arriving.
He returned to his desk and looked at the draft of his farewell speech again. His speechwriters had done an excellent job, as usual, but he always had his own improvents to make. The world was near panic; calm, practical optimism was what he needed to project. It was what people needed. The people would make things happen; his job was to lead and encourage.
That's what so many people got wrong, he mused, not for the first ti. Everyone was so focused on manipulating everyone with fear. But fear has an Achilles heel. People sotis rember that they can have courage. Now, priorities have shifted. If we're going to stay the land of the free, we'd damned well better be the ho of the brave. He made a couple of notes on the speech.
He had a series of briefings filling much of the day. He was no science expert, but he had plenty of them on call. There were a dozen directions in which he needed to gain so expertise, and quickly. Fortunately, he'd always been a quick study, and he didn't have to master anything, of course. He just needed enough insight to know what questions to ask.
We can be great again, he thought. I am genuinely hopeful for the future. It may be scary and confusing, but it is also exciting, and full of possibilities. I always dread of making a better world. A long career in politics ground down my expectations of what was possible, but these aliens have kicked over the tables and reset the rules. Who knows what we might accomplish, now?
Smith looked out the window and snorted. A New Hope, indeed.
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