Ottawa, 0500 Hours
When Janus finished reading General Shipley's report aloud, the Italian stood up and said, excitedly, "They are getting ready to invade us!"
"They have already invaded us." The Frenchman.
"We are too late. It is a catastrophe." The Russian. "There is no way ..."
Janus interrupted. "Gentlemen, it is a catastrophe we can prevent."
"How? You know their demands." The Englishman.
"Their demands are out of the question." The Brazilian. "It's no business of theirs what we do with our trees. The so-called greenhouse effect is scientific garbage, totally unproven."
"And what about us?" The German. "If they force us to clean up the air over our cities, we would have to shut down our factories. We would have no industries left."
"And we would have to stop manufacturing cars," the Japanese said. "And then where would the civilized world be?"
"We are all in the same position." The Russian. "If we have to stop all pollution, as they insist, it would destroy the world's economies. We must buy more time until Star Wars is ready to take them on."
Janus said crisply, "We are agreed on that. Our immediate problem is to keep our people calm, and avoid the spread of panic."
"How is Commander Bellamy progressing?" The Canadian.
"He's making excellent progress. He should be finished in the next day or two."