Quick Note: It's taking longer than I thought it would to turn my 50K words of NaNoWriMo 2013 scribblings into approx. 10 coherent chapters I can post (Sorry). But it will definitely happen, over the next few months. Until then, here's a teaser (with possible bonus typos).
The following Interlude takes place before and after Rachel and Brittany's meeting with the President of the US (back in the Book I Epilogue.). Which means it actually takes place before the previous Interlude (aka Chapter 19). Book II will pick up with Rachel and Brittany in NYC after the Book I Epilogue.
A week before Rachel and Brittany meet with the President.
"What can you tell me," the President asked his staff. "What do we know about these alien women? Where do they come from? What are their plans?"
"Mister President, we really don't know much about their plans," his science advisor admitted, waving at the large screen cycling through photographs of the four alien women.
"Why not? We've got the best analysts the NSA can hire and more computers than China. If Brad Pitt writes a letter to his mother, we have a copy before she sees it. Surely somewhere in there is useful information."
"We've had to cut back on data gathering, Mister President," his National Security Adviser said. "You won the last election because the NSA screwed up and took down the previous administration with it."
"The NSA still has talented people," his Chief of Staff said, "but this isn't the movies. They can't hack into some alien computer network with a laptop. They need more time, and resources."
"I get it, Jack, but there must be something you can tell me," he said. "We're meeting with them next week, and I want some leverage."
"Mister President?" One of his security detail said, from the door.
He looked over at her. He'd almost forgotten they were there. Ever since the aliens had taken the Yucatan the Secret Service had insisted that, since they didn't know the capabilities of the aliens, even his private meetings needed additional security.
"Yes, Agent Harris?" the President said.
"I was working with the Bureau before the last election, in Ohio," she said. "There was a missing persons case that was brought to our attention. Four teenaged girls disappeared into thin air."
"And?"
"A car was found in an abandoned warehouse," she said. "They originally thought it belonged to these girls."
"Was it?" he asked, wondering if he needed a less talkative agent to replace this one.
"No, Sir," she said. "But one of alien women looks very familiar. Like an older version of one of the missing girls."
"You think they aren't really aliens?" the Science advisor asked.
"I can't answer that, sir," she said. "But the resemblance is striking."
"I want to know everything you can find out about these missing girls," the President said to his personal aide. "Before tomorrow."
"Yes, sir, Mister President," his aide said.
"Well?" the President said. He'd managed to have a quiet dinner with his wife and the twins and was now ready to get back to business.
His aide waved the remote for the screen and started his presentation. The first image was of the four. Three dressed as cheerleaders and the other dressed like a schoolgirl.
"Four young women, three cheerleaders and a music geek," he said. "They don't appear to be friends, though some sources claim the Latina, Santana Lopez, and the tall blonde, Brittany Pierce, were closer than friends should be. The other blonde, Quinn Fabray, was the head cheerleader. They call them Cheerios."
"Cheerios?" the President asked, puzzled.
"The school had a very competitive cheerleading team, run by one Sue Sylvester," the aide said, stopping at a picture of an older woman dressed in an exercise suit, holding a microphone and apparently yelling at a group of cheerleaders.
"So that's where she ended up," Admiral Luige said.
"You know her, Admiral?" the President asked. The Admiral was a recent addition to the Joint Chiefs.
"Sue Sylvester," the Admiral said. "The first woman to complete Seal training. She was an instructor for a decade and then we lost her to the CIA. She supposedly retired years ago."
"There are no female Seals," the National Security Advisor said.
"Not officially," the admiral said. "We get several female candidates a year. Can't send them out into the field. Congress would have a fit. The ones who make it become instructors or transfer to places where their talents are needed. Sylvester was the first. Tough bird."
"Her Cheerios were National Champions seven out of the last eight years. Four of them consecutively," the aide said.
"Not surprised," the Admiral said. "What happened the year they weren't?"
"That was the year these four disappeared," the aide said, flipping to a magazine cover of Sylvester and the three missing cheerleaders.
"What about the fourth?" the President asked. "What, exactly, is a music geek?"
"She was captain of the school Glee club," the aide said. "She let everyone know she was going to be on Broadway. She was very vocal about her future plans."
"Not modest," the President said. "Must not have been very popular with her peers."
"No, sir. There was some sort of conflict between her and the other girls."
"What was the connection between them?"
"The other three were also in the Glee club. They disappeared returning from some singing event at a local mall, right before Christmas."
"Ah. Do we have them singing?" the President asked, curious.
"Of course, sir," the aide said, hitting a control on the remote. The sound of a female voice singing something the President recognized from a trip to New York, though he wouldn't be able to name it, filled the room. They listened until the voice died away.
"I'm no expert," the President admitted, "but whomever that voice belonged to deserved to brag even just a little."
"Rachel Barbra Berry," the aide said. "Knowledgable people give her the credit for her Glee Club's success."
"What else do we know?"
"Local law enforcement didn't seem to be in any hurry to find them," the aide said. "That is why Agent Harris most likely learned about them. Some of the families convinced the Governor to call in the FBI."
"And didn't find them," the President surmised. "Where are their families now?"
"The Fabray's are in Israel. Some kind of church exchange," the aide said. The President grimaced but motioned for him to continue. "The Lopez's are originally from the Yucatan peninsula. They moved back last spring. The Pierces disappeared several years ago. No one has been able to locate them."
"And the Berry's?" the President asked. The image on the screen switched to two men, one tall, the other a foot shorter.
"They won a contest. All expenses paid. A month in Cancun," the aide said.
"Didn't see that coming," the President said sarcastically. "Anyone else we need to know about in this little migration from Ohio?"
"Rachel Berry's biological mother, and the eldest Fabray daughter also won trips to Cancun for the same time period."
"Looks like someone had this whole thing planned," the President said. "How positive are we that the four missing girls are our aliens?"
"There's no physical proof, but we're reasonably confident," the aide said. "They look a little older but not much." An image of the four girls, standing next to their older equivalents, appeared on the screen. "From the information from Schultz, they've possibly been brainwashed into believing that they're on some rescue mission, or some alien government really has picked four teens for some unknown task."
"And their claim that only someone with Mayan ancestry can use their alien equipment?"
"No proof yet," his aide said. "None of our other people have been able to get past their shields."
"We can't assume they are loyal to this country," General Pontife said. "They were teens when they were kidnapped. And we don't know what the aliens might have done with them."
"Let's assume, for now, they aren't lying," the President said. "What's our next step?"
"We need to know their capabilities," Admiral Luige said. "Can we defend ourselves against them? They don't appear to be interested in conquering the rest of Mexico but what if they change their minds? Who's side are they on? Ours? The aliens?"
"Can we use Schultz?" the President asked. "Do we have any other local assets?"
"Schultz? No," the National Security Advisor said. "They need to be able to trust her and we need her continued reports."
"Sylvester," the Admiral suggested. "She trained three of them. She should know if they've been compromised. And they'll trust her."
"Good," the President said. "Contact her. What else?"
"This," his science advisor said, taking the screen's remote from the President's aide. "It was reported this morning." A large, mechanical something appeared on the screen, with the moon shining brightly behind it.
"So, the aliens have a real spaceship," General Pontife said. "They had to get here somehow."
"It's proof they aren't just some mad scientist's minions," the science advisor said.
"When was the last time we had a mad scientist who could pull something like this off?" the President asked, curious.
"It's been a few years," the advisor admitted. "Nineteen sixty? Some crazy Canadian threatened to turn Lake Michigan to jello."
"What happened to him?"
"He disappeared before we could capture him," the advisor said. "He left behind several hundred tons of chemically unstable purple jello."
"Someone keep an eye on this spaceship," the President said.
"Yes, sir," General Wigg, the Air Force Chief of Staff, who'd been keeping quite, said. "How are the the Chinese reacting to the invasion?" the President asked. "They have that refinery nearby."
"The aliens seem to have missed all of the oil refineries, ships, and anything else that would cause problems for us or the Chinese."
"So, they are aware of local politics?" the President asked.
"As far as we can tell," his aide said. "They haven't approached any other governments that we're aware of, but they haven't done anything obvious to cause problems for themselves."
"Even if they were brainwashed into thinking they are aliens," General Pontife said, "they seem to have done a lot of careful planning to offend as few states as possible."
"Good intelligence gathering?" the President asked the National Science Advisor.
"If they are doing anything we haven't detected it," he said. "But based on their behavior, we could use some of what they've got."
"Would we understand it?" the science advisor asked. "Their leaders may have started out as those missing girls but all evidence points to a strong intelligence behind them."
"You think they're just puppets?" the President asked.
"Maybe?" the science advisor said. "We know they are clever, but are they really that clever?"
"We'll see," the President said.
After the meeting with Rachel and Brittany
"Your reaction?" the President asked his old friend after their alien guests had gone. She'd earned her current post, but he missed her ability to cut through the noise and give him advice he could actually use.
"Berry may be their front but I wouldn't underestimate the blonde, Pierce," she said. "I suspect the other two are just as dangerous, if not more so."
"I agree," the President said. "Now we just have to survive their encounter with the Security Council."
"And the public."
"Yes, dammit, the public," the President said. "But, you agree that we won't be the ones to reveal their origins to the public?"
"It will happen eventually," she said. "Someone will recognize them."
"And our response to the press?" the President asked his old friend.
"It doesn't matter," she said. "Wherever they are from, they now represent a powerful ally."
"An ally against something we don't know anything about yet," he grumbled. "Are we putting too much trust in them? In their past?"
"Possibly," she said. "But sometimes you have to risk it."
"And sometimes you just want to hide under the bed," the President said sourly.
"Yes," she said, laughing. "But even access to a small part of this technology will put us in a better strategic position."
"You would have been great in Truman's administration," he said. "They had to deal with all those Nazi scientists with blood on their hands."
"No," she said. "My tolerance for such things is very low. I would have thrown them into a dark hole somewhere, future of America be damned."
"If you say so," the President said. "Fancy a drink? The twins have been asking for you."
"Gladly," she said. "Don't want to disappoint my goddaughters."
"Gladys would like to see you also," he said, opening the door to his office and waving his security detail through before exiting himself.
"The First Lady knows where my office is," she said, following him out into the hall. "And her secretary has my number."
"You know it isn't the same thing," the President said. "Come along."
"Yes, sir," she said.