Nelson arched an eyebrow, surprised. Now she was genuinely interested, and so was the audience. "Dangerous to us here on Earth?"
Fear's the ticket. It always is. Stetson caught his stride. The line of attack was now clear. This issue could be played up for millions. "Yes, absolutely. The astronauts have been exposed to organisms against which no terrestrial plant or animal has any defense whatsoever. Alien organisms." Yes, that was the word to use. "If those reckless astronauts are allowed to return here, not only humanity but the entire terrestrial biosphere could very well be devastated by unstoppable epidemics. We have no way of guaranteeing the safety of the human race. None."
He spoke more forcefully now. "Under no circumstances must we allow that to happen. Unfortunately, our political leaders are so bound up with the macho American ‘can-do' baloney that they're willing to bring five daredevils home and commit genocide, risking billions of lives, rather than allow their precious mission to fail by ordering the astronauts not to return."
Now it was Nelson's turn to be taken aback. The interviewer stared at Stetson for several seconds before responding. "So you feel that in the best interests of humanity, the astronauts should be... quarantined away from Earth? Forever?"
Stetson summoned his storehouse of inner rage, adding synthetic conviction to his argument. "Look, all five of those people on Mars willfully, knowingly, and maliciously violated the fundamental laws of cosmic bioethics." Nelson seemed puzzled. No matter, he could make it clear. "Ask yourself, who gave them the authority to contaminate Mars? How dare they trespass on another world after we've reduced our own Garden of Eden to an ecological cesspool?"
Nelson nodded in apparent or at least simulated understanding. "I'm starting to see your point, Gary."
Stetson continued with vigor. "And that awful Dr. Sherman actually suggests cross-linking Earth and Mars genetic material to create artificially engineered Frankenstein plants that will grow on the surface of Mars, or invade the few remaining pristine deserts on Earth. Read her report—she says it herself. Abomination! We need to keep Mars red, as much as we need to keep Earth green. We must not mix Earth life and Mars life, or the results will annihilate life on both worlds, mark my words."
The audience applauded, more for his performance than his rationale. He observed Nelson taking this in, gauging the audience's mood. Was she playing with the idea of a barbed counterpoint? They're with me already, Leslie. Don't even think about posing opposition.
"But what can the average American do about it?" Apparently she'd gotten the message.
Stetson faced the camera boldly, emphasizing his reply with a raised fist. "This is not the time to wait and let the bureaucrats muddle through. If ever there was a need for immediate grassroots action, it's now! Don't wait, or the human race will be sorry. People need to take to the streets and demand that the reckless astronauts not be allowed to contaminate our planet. They wanted Mars, let them stay there."
He leaned even closer to the camera. "We need to march on Washington, and on NASA Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Take whatever action is necessary. We need to tell our so-called leaders what we think. Keep Earth green! Keep Mars red! We must make our voices heard. The life of every living being on this planet could depend on it."
The audience cheered. Then someone began to chant, "Keep Earth green! Keep Mars red!" Quickly several others, then more, then all, joined in. "Keep Earth green! Keep Mars red! Keep Earth green! Keep Mars red!"
Stetson beamed. A new Movement had been launched.
WASHINGTON DC
JAN. 6, 2012 13:10 CST
On the sidewalk in front of the White House a mob of hostile demonstrators chanted: "Keep Earth green! Keep Mars red!" The crowd was mostly leftist-looking, including many young people wearing antiglobalist slit jeans, anarchist black, or ecogoth brown, but interspersed among them and marching alongside were older, more soberly dressed types carrying signs that read REPENT! SAVE OUR HOME! and PRIDE GOETH BEFORE THE FALL.
Standing on a makeshift platform at the eye of the storm, the charismatic Reverend Bobby Joe Stone and Gary Stetson harangued the demonstrators, increasing their zeal. A church choir stood behind these two men while TV camera crews filmed it all from the front.
Across the street in Lafayette Park a small pro-astronaut counterdemonstration proceeded more or less unnoticed. The group of space society types waved American flags and carried signs saying SAVE AMERICA'S HEROES and SAVE OUR CREW. TV evangelist Stone scoffed at their attempt at rebuttal.
"Brothers and sisters, those who mask their pride behind the imperatives of false science have led our people to the brink of destruction. Pride caused them to send a group of astronauts uninvited to Mars to find this deadly plague. They now say it would be immoral to abandon the astronauts to their fate on Mars. Immoral! Yet did not the Lord God himself sacrifice his only son Jesus Christ for all of us? Is it then too much for us to demand that five sinners pay the price for their own transgression to save all the creatures that God has placed upon this Earth? The astronauts cannot be saved. They have already been contaminated by the disease. Yet their souls can still be saved! Let us pray for their souls."
Stone stepped back from the microphone and the choir began to sing: "Shall we gather by the river..."
From the window in the John Quincy Adams meeting room, the President watched the stir outside and then turned to face his circle of advisors. Gathered in the oak-paneled room were the First Lady, chief White House political strategist Bill Wilson, Media Chief Sam Wexler, NASA Administrator Tom Ryan, White House Science and Security Advisor Dr. George Kowalski, Surgeon General Dr. Amber Wong, and General Bernard Winters, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Wilson cleared his throat. "As you can see, Mr. President, we have a real problem on our hands. Virtually overnight, this Stetson character has created a nationwide radical organization—Redpeace—and they've joined forces with a big piece of the religious right. They're pulling together legions of fanatics who are going to campaign to help Fairchild beat you this fall. Every TV network in the country has been rerunning that old movie The Andromeda Strain. Demonstrations like this one are going on all over the country... ."
The President listened carefully to his political strategist. Bill Wilson was always politically tuned in. If he was worried, the situation had to be serious, not just a temporary squall of public opinion.
NASA chief Tom Ryan interrupted. "What do you want the President to do, Bill? Abandon the crew because a bunch of crackpots are causing a panic?"
That did not satisfy the President. Crackpots and the people they panic can still vote.
Now it was Science and Security Advisor Kowalski's turn. "That's oversimplifying the situation a bit, isn't it, Tom? Sure Stetson is a faker, and I for one have no use for TV evangelists, but there are plenty of well-credentialed scientists who believe that there is real danger here."
Real danger? The President remained silent, listening and considering. He hadn't paid much attention to the full seriousness of the situation.
Press Secretary Wexler cut in. "We've got some static now with crazy demonstrators on the streets and Bible thumpers screaming at us from their pulpits. But if anyone thinks this is bad, wait till you see what the press does to this Administration if we chicken out and stab the crew in the back."
That's true! They'll have my head!