The president shook his head again. “It can’t be,” he said, “it just can’t be.”
“Then how do you explain the Oort?” Thorpe asked quietly, “and other possible near extinction-level events in Earth’s history?”
President Butler placed his elbows on his desk and head in his hands. He pushed away external inputs and concentrated on what else might fit all the data. He looked up a bit later when his Link announced an urgent incoming message.
“By your leave, Mr. President,” Thorpe said as his holoimage, and that of eMax vanished.
“You have a lot to ponder, Mr. President,” Fredricks said as he stood to leave. “Please contact me when you are ready to move forward with any of this.
WASHINGTON D.C.—OVAL OFFICE
Kimberly arrived in the Oval Office a week after President Butler’s meeting with Fred
