Waking before the dawn had become a habit when she served in the Army. She always felt she had to prove herself better than the men just to be perceived on the same level with the male officers. Her persistence and tenacity earned her a Bronze Star Medal for her work in Saudia Arabia during both Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Elements of the 82nd Airborne Division were some of the first units in country in 1990 and much of the planning to get the 1st Brigade to the desert was conducted by then second Lieutenant Brienne Sylvester and her section.

By zero four fifteen, she was in her Secret Service-manned uparmored suburban heading to Arlington National Cemetery. The 3rd Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard who posted for all the burials at the National Cemetery had been placed on alert at zero dark thirty prepared to role out as if they were going to combat for the express purpose of providing additional security for the Vice President while she conducted Physical Fitness Training running along the roadways of the cemetery. Officers of the Battalions considered it a great training tool, they often had a Quick Reaction Force prepared whenever a VIP was on their grounds.

Five miles and thirty-five minutes later, Vice President Sylvester and her security detachment were on their way back to the US Naval Observatory and number one Observatory Circle. After showering and dressing, she rushed to the suburban to be driven to the West Wing of the White House. She quickly sipped her coffee, black and sampled an array of fruits one of her aides placed in the vehicle. She scanned through her e-mails while Peggy briefed her on the day’s agenda. She listened to the young woman speak while scanning over the E-mails stopping to quickly scan over the more important ones. It was just past zero six hundred hours by the time she arrived. She made her way to her office at the end of the hall past the Oval Office, right across from the Chief of Staff. 

“Good morning, Mr. Gerard,” a curt greeting to the Chief, a slight lilt in her voice accompanied by her Texas accent. The door closed behind her and her aide. Margaret “Peggy” Lawton stood 5’ 11” with long auburn hair. She dressed in a similar fashion as the Vice President. Her light blue eyes made the 31-year old Harvard graduate very attractive. She always seemed to stand out in every room she entered. The young woman held a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations.

--

Peggy took a seat against the wall, near the Vice President, tablet in hand ready to record notes as the meeting commenced. Later, she would read her notes back to the Veep to confirm they both were on the same sheet of music.

The Chief of Staff lead the meeting as usual, [i]“Benton, this may be something we need to do at a press brief where we bring AJ in, if we do it fast."[/i] The Chief addressed the Press Secretary. Bri could see the young man from Seattle visibly squirm as though nervous about the task. When the Chief suggested the Press conference to inform the public about the arrival of friends from distant worlds, Bri considered a televised briefing by the President alone; not in the presence of the press, denying them the opportunity to ask irrelevant questions. Get right to the point and spell it out for everyone.

Apparently, the kid was thinking the same thing she was, [i]"I think this is too important for a simple press conference. If we go public, which I am not 100% in favor of at this juncture, we do it with a live message to the world from the Oval Office. An historic message that marks the start of a new era in humanity. Just the president and the camera, telling everyone that we are not alone."[/i]

“I believe Mr. Birch is absolutely correct. I agree completely with his assessment on the issue,” Vice President Sylvester stated her support in a commanding Texas voice.

The conversation turned to the European Union which if served properly with members who were all in agreement could be a formidable group. They were larger than the United States of America when working collectively. The members of the EU had the tendency to argue over lesser issues more often which served as an impediment to any real discussion. The hope was they would view this visitation as an extremely serious matter and not allow petty squabbles to get in their way.

“Mike, I like this idea best,” The Vice President interjected her opinion. She rarely called the Chief by his first name, preferring to address everyone by Mister or Miss. “With you addressing Congress, I will meet with the president to discuss your idea for informing the people. Personally, I believe it is best to let the people know instead of trying to keep the [i]others’[/i] visit a secret. Keeping this a secret could prove to be exceedingly difficult since we have no control over who may see them. I will urge the president to make it appear the US is taking the lead on discussions and that we are in contact with the Europeans and others. We should definitely include the Russians and the Chinese on this. Undoubtedly, they know as much as we do. I think we have passed the moment where if they wanted to destroy us, they would have done so already. We can assume they seek dialogue. We need to be prepared with a response. I will speak to the President about this. Thank you, Mr. Gerard.”