The Trojan Horse Read Online Free

the Oval Office.
     
    “My Fellow Americans,” the President said.  His voice was firm, at least, the voice of a friendly headmaster or family attorney.  He could convince people that he was there to help, even if he couldn't be inspirational; he could help them to lead without seeming to lead himself.  But Jayne wasn't too impressed.  The measure of a President lay in how he responded to crisis...and Hollinger had found himself confronted by the single most shocking event in human history.  “This is a momentous day for our world.”
     
    He looked directly into the cameras, a skill practiced by every modern politician.  The reporters might write favourable reviews of his speech or they might pour scorn on his words, but their opinions weren't the important ones.  Research had long shown that a President’s position in the opinion polls often depended more upon how he approached the average voter, rather than the reporters.  Quite a number of promising political careers had been terminated by playing to the reporters, rather than the watching population.  And the politician who accidentally allowed his contempt for the voters to show would find his career coming to a messy end.
     
    “We have asked ourselves for years if we are the sole form of intelligent life in the universe,” he continued.  “We have looked up at the stars, realised that they are suns just like the one that gives light and heat to our world, and wondered if they harbour their own worlds with their own intelligent races.  The question we have wondered about for centuries has been answered.  We are not alone in the universe.”
     
    A low mummer ran through the reporters.  Many of them, Jayne knew, had wondered if it was a hoax, or the first step in a cunning plan to reshape the world.  The internet had a vast number of people who – already, in the first few hours after First Contact – had produced a vast range of conspiracy theories, ranging from the US having built and launched the starships in secret, to a mad plan from the scientific community to convince the world to declare a truce, destroy all of mankind’s weapons, unite the world and accept peace forever more.  Hearing the President, a man globally respected if not always loved, telling the world that the aliens were real put an end to any real doubts among the audience.  The world had changed forever.
     
    “Seventeen alien starships have come to Earth,” the President said.  “I have been assured by my military chiefs that they have posed no threat to our world.  They have made no signs of hostile intent.  Indeed, they have broadcast messages of greeting to the human race and invited us to join the Galactic Federation.  A new world has been born today and we are the lucky ones who will bear witness to humanity’s entry into a wider galactic community.
     
    “There are those who have greeted the arrival of our visitors with fear and terror.  There are those who believe that the aliens do not come in peace, that they come to conquer the human race.  And yet I must say to the world that there is no sign that the visitors have hostile intentions.  A new day has dawned and I ask only that we greet the new world with the confidence and maturity that it deserves.  There is no need to fear the changes the aliens will bring to our world.  The human race will survive and prosper.
     
    “The aliens have requested a meeting with the United Nations,” he concluded.  “I will be present in New York, as will many of the world’s leaders, even those who would normally be considered pariahs in the global community.  Together, the human race can meet any challenge; we can walk into the future with our heads held high.”
     
    He bowed his head, slightly.  “Thank you for your time,” he said.  “Goodbye – and God bless America!”
     
    Jayne watched as the reporters scrambled forwards, shouting questions.  The President’s Press Secretary had warned them