“Well Mr. Smith, let me ask a few questions first” the President said.
“Go ahead Mr. President, I will answer all questions that I can, or ask you to please wait for the full briefing” came the reply.
“How long have you been the chief here, and has there ever been a security breach at this facility?” Scott asked.
“Mr. President, I have been security chief here for almost a decade, and in that time, there has not been breach of any kind.”
“Okay Mr. Smith I will take your word for that and if you could have someone go back to direct the people in the plane to stay put or risk being locked away. Then you can escort me to where I am suppose to go. I assume the crew will be taken care of in the mean time as long as they are on the plane?”
“Yes Mr. President they will be, as well as any mechanical service that needs to be done.”
With a hand signal, another man in uniform made his way to the plane and relayed the information about staying on board. The President followed Mr. Smith to a small hatch which reminded the President of the armored hatch on the old infantry vehicles, or blast doors from the movies. As they moved further and further into the complex. President Press started to wonder where the hell they were going, and why was his Vice President not being brought into this same briefing. Even the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs seemed to look very inquisitive, yet remain silent on the matter.
Just as Scott was going to ask where they were going to end up, Mr. Smith paused by a normal door with no markings on it. “Mr. President, through this door is your briefing. I am not allowed in there as President’s eyes only clearance is needed. Myself, or one of my deputies will be here when the briefing and tour is over with.”
“I am granting my security chief and the Chairman instant clearance,” the President said.
“That is your prerogative Mr. President, could you gentlemen please go inside?” the strange man asked.
Mr. Smith turned and walked away, leaving President Scott standing there. With a sigh, he opened the door and walked in to see older gentleman with steel grey hair, glasses, and wearing a white coat over what looked like hospital scrubs. Silently, he made a gesture towards the only other chairs in the well fitted room.
“I am Dr. Jonathan Gross. I am the head of Research and Development of this, and two other facilities. Over the next several hours I will brief you gentlemen on what these facilities are about, what we have in them, and where we are going to go. I will dare say Mr. President, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Pacheko, that much of this will sound farfetched or even outright crazy. But I assure you Sirs, it is all absolutely true. Now, I will begin with faster than light travel, and plasma weapons.”