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.What are we afraid of? Are the implications too terrifying for scrutiny?“Whatever the case, I proceeded with research.First, I looked into all the information I could on the subject, all the examples of animal intuition.“It turns out, they are everywhere, right before our eyes.You don't have to look at all.Someone simply must give you a tap on your shoulder.”The White House“Where is the President?” Karen asked, her hands on her hips.“He's in his private study, if you must know,” Abael replied, calm as always.She strode right past him, but he maneuvered his electric wheelchair around to block her.“I must ask you to stop.”“Get out of my way, you freak,” Karen said, stomping past.She opened the door off the oval office and walked down the corridor to the private study.She didn't bother to knock, but swung the door open and stomped in.What she saw stopped her dead.The President was sitting at his desk against the wall to the left.He was staring at a monitor displaying a group of uniformed officers with a Chinese flag in the background and the characters PLA in front.The President was obviously having a dialogue with them.Foreign policy wasn't her area of expertise, but she wasn't an idiot, either.The President was talking with the People's Liberation Army of China, a country with which military cooperation would have been unthinkable due to less than amicable relations of late due to friction in the South China Sea.She said, “Baraq?”The President, looking a bewildered, immediately switched off the monitor.“What is it, Karen?”“There's something.I need to show you something.” Eying him uneasily, she strode to a screen in the corner and turned it on to Fox News.On the monitor, the anchor was saying, “--Medical Center in Towson, Maryland, where a quarantine is underway.You can see the police have arrived and, we are told, also the Centers for Disease Control.On the scene now is Fox's Lisa Hamilton.Lisa, what's the situation in Towson?”“While officials here will not speak to anyone, we have received information from an anonymous source saying that the hospital is under quarantine due to a virus of some sort.The source stressed that the public should not be alarmed, but that a mysterious virus reminiscent of Swine Flu has turned up there and the hospital has been quarantined.And, while no one will speak to us here, it is quite clear that the hospital will not be accepting any new patients.Police have been cordoning off the area, and it is surrounded—”Karen muted the television station.“Mr.President, this is an illegal quarantine, but I ordered it.I ordered it because I gave Abael an executive order for you to sign that would have authorized it two days ago.Even though he said he'd send it back to me yesterday, I never got it.”The President looked apologetic, “I'm sorry, Karen.I've been a little….”“With all due respect Mr.President, what could possibly deserve your attention more than this?” she motioned to the screen.The President took a heavy breath and looked off to the side, appearing solemn.“Preparations.”“For what?” Karen asked almost breathlessly.She was suddenly not feeling nearly as important as she had before.In fact, although she would never admit it, she now felt a little unnerved.Especially when she felt Abael's presence behind her and turned to see him warning the President of the United States with a dark, icy gaze.The President raised his eyes and gazed directly at her, “You will know.When the time is right.You will all know.”Karen raised her hand to her hairline, gripped by a sudden headache.She lowered her hand and said, “If it's something more important than a national health crisis, don't you think you should have a meeting with your cabinet? Don't you think we should be prepared, too?”The President nodded slowly.“I have given that a lot of consideration.I certainly would not leave you in the dark unless it was absolutely necessary.”Although feeling less secure, Karen braced herself and demanded, “Why are you talking with the freaking People's Liberation Army? What is going on, Baraq?”Abael interrupted, holding up the signed executive order, “Here's the signed order.I'm so sorry I didn't have this brought over to you yesterday, Karen.”She eyed Abael distrustfully but snatched it from his rigid grip.The President said, “Thank you for coming over, Karen.Now, please, I was in a meeting [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]