Chapter 36 – The Fury hearings
"You moron!" yelled Dell Rusk. "You miserable, stupid, brainless…!" The man he was addressing trembled for his life. That he was a U.S. Senator did not make him feel any safer. "You worthless dolt, don't you realize we needed Fury where he was?"
The room was locked, and Senator Anthony Worfle feared for his life. That he was a Senator of the US did not make him feel any safer; the man before him had a reputation as a killer, and besides he was Secretary of State for Defence. Worfle was sure that, if he was by any chance murdered in the office in the Pentagon, his body would be sneaked out somehow and the media would be informed that he had died at home of a heart attack. It would not be the first time.
If it was even noticed. It was only a week since the greatest catastrophe in the history of the United States. The sudden death of a Senator might not even make the front pages.
….
[four days earlier]
When the Manhattan catastrophe and the Las Vegas disaster took place, the USA were still reeling from the Oklahoma City bombing. The new disaster were a hundred times worse, reaching far beyond the United States. In dozens of ways, from the electronic information that guaranteed, indeed formed, immense capital flows from all the world, to all the thousands of residents and visitors from every nation on Earth who met every day in the gambling city and the Hudson river island, there was hardly a country, maybe hardly a person, who was not affected – usually for the worse. Banks and financial institutions had to double-check and reconstruct their data. Huge expenditure was to be expected to reconstruct the island's infrastructure; all the buildings in the affected area had to be checked, one by one, floor by floor and room by room, for structural integrity; many would have to have major work on them, and many were likely to have to be knocked down and rebuilt. The credit of thousands of banks and companies was threatened.
And then there were the people. Hundreds were accounted dead, and hundreds more were missing. One or two hundred thousand locals did not know what to do from then on; with tens of thousands of workplaces destroyed or unusable, they did not even know whether they would have a job in the future, and certainly had no idea what to do tomorrow or next week. The uncertainty was damaging society as much as the actual loss had. Among the dead and missing there had been at least ten CEOs from major financial institutions and companies; also merchant bank partners, top lawyers, a couple of state senators, four or five TV personalities - people who affected matters simply by who they were. Several organizations were beheaded and needed to reorganize itself, while time went and ordinary decisions were put off.
Insurance was a particular concern. In both cities, square miles of prime real estate had been devastated and needed rebuilding. In New York City, when the Avengers had moved the fight away from the business district and into the container port, hundreds of loaded containers had been destroyed, and people were still reckoning the losses And some nightmare possibilities were heaving into sight. Someone realized that swindlers might make payments from accounts that had been empty or nonexistent or not theirs to use. But an attempt in some states to subject payments to checks was stopped because, the federal government felt, it was too important for business to carry on somehow.
And then there were the vanishing people. Several police forces in the US and abroad – including Miss Marvel's New Orleans colleagues – began receiving "evidence" that suspects, key witnesses, and Persons Of Interest, had just happened to make up their minds to visit New York City or Lost Wages just before the catastrophe. Nobody believed these reports, but they could not be verified unless the persons concerned ever turned up, which they obviously had no intention of doing. Besides, in at least three cases, it turned out to be true. After all, almost any person at any time would have a reason to visit either or both.
For all these reasons, the whole world, including all the governments, was clamouring for information from Manhattan. And from a few buildings in Washington DC. Almost from the moment Graviton ripped South Manhattan from the ground, the White House and the State Department had been beleaguered by demands for information and explanation from every government on Earth. President Clinton's aides were heard to mutter that they would like to know what the Governor of Gibraltar had to do with Manhattan, but there probably was an excellent reason.
Two days after the disaster, before the President had managed to get a plan together, he was horrified to hear – from the media! – that the Senate announced hearings into the matter, with General Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, as the star witness.
….
The afternoon shadows were lengthening as Joyce Summers' Toyota went around the little headland that marked where the ridge south of Sunnydale Valley met the sea, and she saw the town open before her crossed the ridge and looked at the pretty little town spreading across the shore and up the valley, and the land spreading on both sides of it. With the sun going slowly down towards the Pacific, it was the perfect moment to take the whole landscape in. Joyce's eyes and Buffy's both widened, though neither had said anything to the other. After a second, as the town grew closer, Joyce whispered: "I think we could be happy here…."
Buffy felt like she agreed for a second, but then she realized she was feeling something on the edge of her awareness – something that she thought she recognized. She let her face fall into a studied lack of expression, while hoping to all the powers in Hell and Heaven that she was wrong.
…..
The news of the Senate hearings came like a thunderbolt across the political landscape. Everyone, including the media, understood this as a blow against the President. But that was not altogether how it had begun, and not what its instigators intended it to achieve. The Republican majority leader was a patriot and understood well enough that now was not the time for partisan one-upmanship. But Senator Robert Kinsey wanted the Senate to take the initiative, and specifically wanted Nick Fury questioned on oath. The Majority Leader found that many of his people agreed. As the hours went by and rumours hardened into reports, it was becoming clear that the federal superhero agency was at the centre of whatever had gone wrong. The minds of politicians work in a certain way, and some of them were already thinking of General Fury as a selected scapegoat.
The morning sun saw the President walking up and down the Oval Office, his feet striking the floor so hard it could be felt, trying to work off some tension. It was an almost impossible dilemma. There was no way he could leave the necessary transfer of information to foreign governments until after the hearings. It would not only be an unforgivable slight – letting allied and enemy governments find out from the hearings – but he barely had the time to bring the documents and witnesses to be presented. The Senate had taken from him any time for international contacts. And doing it at the same time on both fronts would be complicated, demanding and might lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding.
"Suppose," he said, as an idea took shape in his mind, "suppose we invited the diplomats… the representatives of the various governments, to the hearings? That way, they would learn what the Senate learns, and do so officially, as representatives of their governments. With modern technology, their governments could follow things in real time, and instruct their representatives."
"That's an idea, sir. It sounds good to me. But will the Republicans go for it?"
"Well, you go to the Majority Leader from me and find out."
As it turned out, the Majority Leader was quite willing. In fact, he welcomed this opportunity to show the President that this was not an act of partisan hostility against him. Half an hour later, the two men were together, working out the procedures for this unprecedented and probably unique Senate session – which, at some point in the course of the discussion, metamorphosized into a joint Congress session, with up to 150 ambassadors and envoys attending as guests.
….
As the sun was setting in the Pacific, Richard Wilkins sat on the rooftop terrace of his modest private house in the eastern Hills district of Sunnydale, looking down over his town. For this was his town – he had started it, built it, managed it as a shepherd manages his sheep. Now, for the first time, he had let an enemy power into his own fiefdom. A potentially enemy power, at least. Joyce Summers was a nice lady, and he sincerely hoped that she and her daughter should not suffer until the time came. But he could envisage a situation where the home of the Slayer could become the second of the two towers, like in that novel, standing against him, pole against pole, with the town as a concealed battlefield. It was not likely, but it was a possibility, and he had to think about it. To reflect about it.
…..
[four days later]
Taking all his courage in his hands, Senator Worfle answered Dell Rusk. "Sir, it was not my decision or anything I could influence. And it wasn't the Majority Leader either. You know Senator Kinsey, sir…"
"I do," growled Rusk. "I have long wondered whether we could recruit him."
"Sir, may I give a bit of advice?" replied Worfle. "If you ever decide to, don't present the decision as recruitment. Treat it as him becoming your ally. Don't even mention Hydra. He needs to feel that he is in charge, that he is a leader… though in fact he tends to be the instrument of others."
"That was something like my own idea. I think that if we do, he will eventually become a loyal and productive member. He might not even notice he is being absorbed."
"Well, sir, in this case, as I read it, Kinsey drove developments, but he did so because a friend of his had set him off. I think he is the glove puppet of Thaddeus Ross. And I think he must have spent the last day or two getting everyone in the party who is in debt with him to line up behind his proposal for hearings about SHIELD."
"Ah, yes. Ross, of course, hates Fury like poison." General Ross had actually gone to Rusk to protest against Fury taking over, as Ross saw it, Operation Nevada. Rusk had been as sympathetic as he could without committing himself.
"That is what I think, sir. So far as I know, Kinsey had nothing against SHIELD until recently, though he found Fury rather a nuisance. That is what we all did."
"Are you saying that you knew nothing about this initiative till it got started?"
"Yes, sir. And you might say that I knew nothing about it till after. I did not realize its real aim till they started to question Fury. I thought it was Kinsey driving the party to take a strong position against the President. But it has become clearer and clearer that the President is not meant to be the target. In fact, Kinsey's people have given him everything he required and did everything they could to look reasonable. And you will have noticed that the line of questioning always moved away from him. In fact, some Dems have done him more damage than any of us."
….
The extraordinary procedure for the Fury Hearings had to be communicated immediately, or as soon as possible, to foreign governments, and then to the press. Most governments could be notified by the State Department, but a certain number were important enough to be informed by the President in person.
"Delmonaco," said the President, "arrange a series of calls with.., let me see… first the President of Russia. Then the President of China. Then Baron Victor von Doom. Then the Prime Minister of Japan. Then the Chancellor of Germany. Then…"
…..
In bed with Valentina, as the night fell, Nick Fury found himself awake and increasingly nervous. For the first time, it occurred to him that these hearings, which were turning into a bigger and more unwieldy circus with every hour, might leave him exposed. Until Valentina (now sleeping peacefully with her padded manacles on) had asked a few pointed questions, the very idea that he might be charged or scapegoated had not struck him.
…..
[the first day]
Jack O'Neill and Sarah watched the hearings from his fishing cabin, where they had gone to spend a couple of days away from both their jobs. And, more importantly, to test themselves. If they could live together for one week-end, they could think of knitting their relationship, and even their marriage, back together. And the hearings helped; they gave them both something to focus on rather than the state of their relationship, and, by drawing attention away from it, they made it easier to just get along.
…
Samantha Carter spent the week-end studying, and also reading the material that SWORD had given her in preparation for her induction on Monday. The thing that interested her most was that the papers implied that the agency had some sort of access to outer space – which seemed to offer a possible short-cut to her frustrated dream of being an astronaut. She was also pleased with the amount of science that seemed to be part of her possible feature. She paid no attention to the first two days of the Fury hearings, and barely knew that they were going on.
….
Buffy and Joyce had a peaceful if exhausted first night's sleep in their new home. In the morning, as they began work on all the furniture and objects left by the movers, Joyce turned the radio on almost without thinking, so they would have a background to all the backbreaking work of setting up home. And when she heard that the Fury hearing was being broadcast instead of the usual classic rock show, she almost switched the radio off.
It was Buffy who stopped her. "No, Mom, let's listen to this. It might be interesting."
After a moment's astonishment, Joyce replied: "Are you sure? There won't be any dancing or anything about fashion, you know."
"Well," answered the teen-ager with a smile, "I've decided that there is more in the world than fashion. Shoes, for instance. I haven't been paying enough attention to shoes…"
Joyce laughed, and started opening a large box.
…
Steve Rogers found himself curious to follow the hearings. For one thing, as a superhero of sorts – though he had not worn the uniform or the shield since his awakening – he could say he had an interest in the federal agency for superhero control. And after months in which he had barely paid any attention to politics, spending all his time acquainting himself with daily life and society in the future, he suddenly felt a reawakening of the keen interest he had felt in his youth, when he devoured the political and foreign pages of every newspaper he could find.
His first impression was one of slightly surprised familiarity. He had had some experience of these circuses, though he had never had the opportunity to see one from beginning to end. A couple of times, in what he was beginning to think of as the old days, he had himself been summoned to Washington DC to testify about this or that. And from what he could see, in spite of the various unique features of this hearing, the nature of the circus was still the same. Most of the procedures and courtesies were similar. A joint session of Congress was not something he had ever seen in person (he had only recently found out that one was planned, to honour him, when he went missing) and the foreign representatives allowed to speak and ask questions made it even odder, but most things seemed the same to him: the lawyers' questions that meant more than they said, the ego-tripping senators and representatives talking just to hear the sound of their voices, the points of order, the odd little legalisms… he had seen, or read of, these things before.
As the show went on, however, he became quite disturbed. It became clear to him that there was an undercurrent in the questions and answers that tended to scapegoat General Fury for the disaster, as well as for anything that might have gone wrong with his agency before. Oh, it was not obvious – at least, not yet. Steve suspected that that would change later. But he had more than three years' experience of warfare, and a lifetime before that in the most miserable and violent part of New York City. He had never seen or heard of Nick Fury before, but he recognized by instinct a fighter who got his own hands dirty doing the job he had been told to; and he believed him when he implied that he had been left alone to deal with huge problems, under-resourced to the point where he had had to confiscate enemy resources and assets in order to go on operating. The careless higher-ups, having to make do and mend what you have, feeling alone as the enemy continued to press and seemed invincible… it was all too familiar. And he began to form a definite view on what was going on here.
…..
That evening, a child was running away screaming from a dark alley in Sunnydale. The poor little creature did not realize that the monster who had tried to kill her was already dead, collapsed into a filthy patch of black dust; although, if he had turned to look at the scene, he might have been almost as scared. A huge man, with a smooth, handsome, but grim face, and a long black duster, stood over the scattered ashes with a pointed piece of wood.
After a few seconds of incredibly swift action, Angel stood motionless, contemplating what he had just done. He had killed a vampire – someone like himself. He had wondered if he could. After decades of hiding, one sight of a tiny blonde creature had suddenly given a direction to his drifting unlife. But… if he wanted to help that little Slayer, he had to be ready to kill his own kind. Until this night, he had wondered whether he could. Tonight he had found out – it was possible. It was almost easy. A dead human stared at you, reminding you of his existence – he knew that, if anyone did. A vampire just- suddenly was not. It was almost easy.
…..
When he went to bed, Nick Fury was scared of himself. He already hated having to bind his woman to keep her safe from herself. But now, tonight, he carried such anger in himself that he positively did not want to touch her, let alone have sex with her. He knew that anything he did tonight would have rage in it.. fury. Hah, there was an old, old joke. The fury of Fury. But he did not want to hurt Valentina; he didn't want to see bruises marring that alabaster skin. He did not want to hurt the thing he loved. And it was Valentina herself, understanding well enough his mood and his needs, who got him to… perform.
…..
Sunday had come, and Sam had gone through all her reading material, study and SWORD induction papers both. She felt at a loose end. It was a lovely day, with a cool northern wind and without the vicious humid heat she had so often found in DC, and she decided she wanted some fresh air.
Sam, of course, was always Sam. She could not just go out and ramble, unless of course she was reading some scientific material or working out a problem in her head. When that wasn't possible, like now, she just set out to explore her neighbourhood methodically, street by street and alley by alley. And as she turned one anonymous corner, she was pleased to find a beautiful church building, all in elaborate and elegant European-looking Gothic.
If Samantha Carter had studied art history with the passion she put into astrophysics, she would have noticed that the building mixed features from different periods and places in the history of the Gothic style; but no such observation marred her pleasure in finding this elegant alien in an anonymous DC back street. It was clearly the work of an immigrant community intending to evoke, even to replicate, the beauties remembered from their home.
In spite of what she had said to Sharon a couple of days before, Sam was at best rather doubtful about the Church and the religion she had been very vaguely brought up in. But if she was anything, she was a Catholic, and this was a Catholic church, and it was Sunday. She went in and sat down, taking more pleasure in the richly decorated interior.
….
As they stretched out the curtains across the room they had designated as the living room Joyce was saying to Buffy: "We were lucky, our bank wasn't involved in the Manhattan disaster, and I had no stock anywhere in New York or Las Vegas. But when one thinks what could have happened… apart" (she said with a meaningful smile) "from some crazy girl going straight into danger because Spider-Man was there, we could have been financially ruined for no reason at all. And I hope Peter and Katharine are all right. They have a lot of friends in the Manhattan area."
"I know, Mom," answered Buffy with a frown. "They were very worried about them, and spent most of our last day together trying to track people down. Maybe we ought to call them."
"Yes, let's."
….
When he was alone, Richard Wilkins was quite capable of standing or sitting still for hours, thinking in the slow methodical way that belonged to a man who had lived hundreds of years, going through his thoughts and his plans one by one as if they formed a geometric pattern spreading in all directions, often over decades. And so it was not surprising that this morning, when town business was over for the week and the cleaning woman was home with her children, he was still where he had been the previous afternoon, as the night wind had blown uselessly about him. Now, however, he rose and went in. His thinking had been done for the moment. He had seen the Slayer move in with her mother. He had checked on Heinrich Nest in his underground prison. He had looked at his city, not in any depth, but enough to know that no major novelty was coming down the pike. He was mildly happy with the state of his plans. He had not noticed Angel in the shadows, but even if he had, he might not have considered him. Just another vampire! And if he had actually managed to penetrate the secret of his mind, he might even have been pleased, at least for a while For he did not want the Slayer to fail and die too soon.
….
Rupert Giles was thinking about his position there in Sunnydale. For a modestly paid school librarian on a trial contract, he had got himself quite a substantial little home. But apart that he did not fancy going back to the days of his student digs in London, there was the fact that he was going to be the full-time Watcher of an active Slayer. He needed a large private space, including a gym room for her to train, a weapons store, space for books and magical items.
Besides, he did not believe he could keep his position clandestine for long. Whatever Richard Wilkins was, he gave Giles the willies. He felt sure that he had lived on the Hellmouth for a long time, and, unlike the rash and greedy Heinrich Nest, he had made good prudent use of it. He was the last thing Giles had wanted to meet in a situation that was already critical before he had ever met his Slayer. He knew that the Council had employed every resource they had to achieve the improbable result of having him employed in the right place at the right time. Injury or no injury, it was likely that Merrick would have been recalled to London anyway, because he was not regarded as ruthless enough for the prospect of facing the Master and the rest of Sunnydale. It was his reputation as the super-tough "ripper" that had sent Giles in his place, to hold together an already dangerous situation. The war was is getting worse. Vampires were increasing in numbers across the world, and positively crowding Sunnydale. The Master is showing his hand. The Slayer had to go to the very shadow of the Hellmouth, which meant in all likelihood that she would die. To face that prospect with equanimity requires a soul of old leather, such as that which Quentin believed his "Ripper" to have.
…..
As Sunday night was sweeping across the City that Never Sleeps – not even after the catastrophe of five days earlier - the Daily Bugle offices were in the grip of the usual rush of getting the next day's paper ready to print. As often happened, the Bugle had a scoop and had to decide what to do with it. They had word of what had happened to the Mad Thinker, the Constrictor and the Armadillo. The officer whom Armadillo had impaled on an iron pole had lived long enough to give a full account of events, and the police had unwisely informed some of the relatives of the dead, without realizing that the family of the Constrictor would never respect any request for confidentiality.
"I'm worried," said Robbie Robertson, "about the effect on the public. What happened is bad enough, but this… this might start a scare. A witch hunt."
"Look, Robbie, we've had this kind of problem before," answered Jameson. "This is a scoop, and it's important – the disastrous results of police brutality. That's how we have to slant it."
"I just don't want it above the fold, JJJ. I don't want it emphasized. It's too much like a call to the population to hunt super-villains down."
JJJ wasn't stupid. What Robbie Robertson meant was that the news could have two impacts on the public, both dangerous. Sections of the public might go paranoid and assault innocent people who just looked like the fugitives, or who had super-powers but were wholly innocent of anything. Or they might actually go after one of the actual fugitives, and be killed. You don't tackle someone with super-powers. JJJ had seen both in his career at the Bugle: a man lynched by a mob who took him for a paedophile, only for the police to prove that he was quite innocent; and several civilians bloodily beaten to death by a super-powered criminal who had been suddenly and casually discovered. He did not want to see that sort of thing again.
"All right, below the fold. But it has to be on the front page. This is not only a scoop, it's important news."
"Good. We'll lead with the Fury hearings again, then?"
"Sure we will."
….
The hearing had gone on over Sunday, which is why Jameson and Robertson had been able to lead with it. And this time, Nick Fury had gone home, no longer furious, just weary and disgusted. But he still had no mind to just give up. It was quite clear to him that the endgame, at least for many of the congresspeople present, was his head on a plate. But if they wanted it, they would have to take it for themselves.
…..
Although Angel had been expecting the Slayer, it was still a shock, in its own way, when he found that 1640 Revello Drive was occupied, and that he could half-see the little blonde figure through the windows.
…
Monday morning, Jonathan and Sarah O'Neill travelled from the fishing cabin to her office in Wilmington, where he left her, and then to his new quarters in Maryland, where he would take over from Seirce. They had waited till the very last moment to leave, not wanting to waste one minute of that idyllic stay.
….
Somewhere in the immense void of space, where Earth was no more than a little blue ball – yet still closer than any other planet – a female figure floated, impossibly, in the void of space, alive and aware. But as impossible as that seemed, even more impossible was the thing that faced her. She called it Aeon.
She knew that the insanely shapeless object held a mighty mind, that could play with her as a child plays with a toy. She was vaguely aware that the power within that mind had already shaped and reshaped her. And yet she also knew that she had consented to what was being done to her, and that she knew that it was good.
The shapeless floating mass watched – or at least followed - as the woman called Captain Marvel turned and flew back to the little blue ball from which she had been taken. It did not know how to smile, but it felt a sense of expectancy and satisfaction.
….
The journalists who reported to Robbie Robertson and JJ Jameson were, that day, uniformly weary and jaded. The hearing had become repetitious, unpleasant, and boring. Fury was being targeted in a way that seemed increasingly obvious and even a bit futile. At the very least Fury had an answer for every question. Nobody thought that they would be able to hit him with a knock-out blow, as things were going.
…..
But the steady drumbeat of criticism and loaded question was having its effect on ordinary members of the public, people who did not have Steve Rogers' experience. Oliver Pike, for instance, having caught only headlines and the occasional TV snippet in the intervals of his hard-working life in Las Vegas, had become convinced that this Fury guy was probably incompetent, possibly corrupt, and that he certainly had been in the job too long. Buffy and Joyce, who had followed the hearings more carefully, were more aware of the underlying atmosphere of witch-hunt, but given what they had heard, they were disposed to believe that the head of SHIELD had done enough to deserve it.
…..
Sam's first day on the new job was full of surprises. First, it was Colonel Abigail Brand in person who welcomed her. She had never expected to be important enough to be inducted by the head of the whole agency. But it seemed that Colonel Brand had important plans for the scientific part of the agency's work, and that she was particularly pleased with Samantha's scientific credentials. As a matter of fact, the Colonel was not the only person she met for the first time that day; waiting for her in Brand's office was Professor Emil Kalderash, her own PhD supervisor at UC-Boulder, with whom she had corresponded very intensely without ever meeting him in person. A few attempts had failed for various reasons, usually to do with the fact that both were very busy people. When SWORD asked him for a reference, it seemed, he had taken the opportunity to fly to DC and meet his brilliant student in person. Of course, he also had other errands, that justified his journey.
But the biggest surprise was to be told that her first job was to take part in the debriefing of Captain Philip Lawton. She had already heard that, but, in view of the fact that it would be against every possible rule of procedure, she had dismissed it. And while it was impossible to think that Alison Brand could harbour a sense of humour anywhere, nonetheless she had to ask whether she was serious.
"Perfectly serious, Lieutenant. You see, the debriefing is not about your adventure in Manhattan. It is about something altogether different, which you were not informed of at all."
And that was when Samantha found out that she had worked and risked her life with an alien, and that it was an alien who had flirted with her, with Jennifer, and with Buffy.
….
When the end came, it came suddenly and without warning. As Samantha and three other officers were on the second day of what was to become a very long amount of evidence from Captain Lawton – or Mar-Vell – there was a sudden outburst of talk and noise in the corridor. Without even paying attention to the "Confidential" sign on the door, someone – a friend of one of Samantha's three colleagues – bust in and practically yelled: "Fury's resigned!"
…..
And it was that same evening that Senator Anthony Worfle reported the events to a still furious Dell Rusk. "Congressman Bagus, who is one of Kinsey's friends, just stood up and charged Fury with having put his girlfriend on the payroll as his assistant, or else with violating military code. He had photos of Fury and Valentina Allegro in bed together. Allegro is not even an American citizen, and he played it as serious violation of security as well as code. Fury answered that had years of loyal service behind her, and that SHIELD is not subject to the military code anyway. Yes, said Bagus, because you made it so, and he brought up an old directive which stated that SHIELD was a law enforcement agency rather than a branch of the armed forces, counter-signed by Nick Fury and dated ten years earlier. So Fury just got out a scrap of paper, wrote in 'I hereby resign from all functions within SHIELD,' signed and dated it, and placed it in the hand of the Vice-President, who was presiding the hearing. He said: 'I will carry on till my successor is nominated, and I trust that shall be soon. Since this is what your colleagues wanted, I assume one will be found soon.' He just walked out." He took a breath. "The whole Senate and House and 150 or so foreign dignitaries just stood there looking at each other, and eventually the Veep, as chair of the Senate, declared the session closed."
Dell Rusk was silent for a few seconds. He no longer seemed to be in a murderous mood, but Worfle kept silent and waited for a clearer sign.
"So what is our next step?"
Worfle breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Well, My Leader, I think we need to find a candidate within SHIELD to support. One who would suit our goals, of course."
"Indeed. How do you feel about Maria Hill?"
For a second, Worfle was speechless.
"Well… My Leader… so far as I can see, she is too junior, young and inexperienced. And her race, My Leader."
"Exactly. Sitwell has made it clear that he does not want to be promoted, and we have nobody else high enough to be promoted to the top. Besides, it's too soon. We need a few more years to saturate the higher and middle levels of SHIELD with our people. And we need to be sure that there always are enough token inferior races in visible positions, so that nobody thinks that the agency is 'too white.' I think" the tall man continued "that she suits us in every way. What experience she has is all in the field, so she will rely on Sitwell, who is a brilliant organization man. She is a woman, and not white, so the media will commend us for a bold and innovative choice, and she is much younger than Fury, so this will be hailed as the beginning of a new age. Which," he concluded with a cruel smile, "it may well be."
"I understand you now, My Leader. And of course, when the time comes, we will arrange that one of her inevitable blunders becomes so blown up by the media that she has to resign."
"Indeed, Worfle, indeed. After all, that was the plan for Fury. We just have to apply it to an even easier target. Heil Hydra!"
"Heil Hydra, My Leader."
….
These were the immediate results of the Manhattan/Las Vegas disaster. The whole world was shaken, and there was a widespread fear that the worst was yet to come. And those who still felt that they were in control of things were, in general, in hiding or in disguise, and their goals might not have appealed to the frightened majority of mankind: such powers as Richard Wilkins, Dell Rusk, Victor von Doom, and, across the depths of space, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree. But each of these was wrong. A time of war, terror, and heroism, was coming, and nobody's plans and designs would be allowed to stand.
END OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE STORY OF THE SISTERS