Meanwhile, several thousand miles from Columbus, two men are working at the headquarters of NASA.

- My general! Newspapers are panicking, pictures were leaked what should we do?

- Calm down Jones, the situation is still under control, leaked pictures are blurred.

- These are, but other observatories saw it clearly! They took pictures!

- No one knows what it is for sure yet. No need to panic people with rumors. I'll ask Lemoine to contact the press and serve the usual prose, what we saw is nothing but a comet that passed off the Earth.

- The Russians saw it, Sir, they won’t be fooled so easily!

- The Russians, like us, have no incentive to disclose the information in their possession. The people should know nothing, Jones, nothing! Have I made it clear!

Meanwhile, a young woman entered the room

- My respects, Sir, hello Jones. She said, bowing.

- Lemoine, you're at time, I have a mission for you.

- What mission, Sir?

- I assume you are aware of what is going on. An UFO is teasing us for a month, and we are unable to communicate with him, let alone identify.

- I know Sir, what do you expect from me? She said with a smirk on her face.

- I want you to inform the public of what is happening, per the usual terms.

- Should I hold a press conference?

- That will not be necessary. Just make sure that the media have our message and stop terrorizing people without any actual reason.

Sofiya Lesskova aka Sophie Lemoine left the room with a smile and vanished.

Meanwhile, on the Columbus, the commander and Albus were deep in conversation. They did not hear clicks produced by Sofiya materializing in front of the door.

- Commander? Can I speak to you?

- What's happening so badly, that you are teleporting directly in my office, Sofiya? He said, turning to her.

- Humans, they know.

- What did they say?

- Americans and Russians are aware of our presence and follow us in their telescopes. Our shields are not powerful enough. Pictures, too blurred to be exploited, have leaked to the press. They only speak of that.

- They said nothing to the people, but they cannot deny it forever. They tried to contact us.

- Yes, we received radio messages the other day, but we chose not to respond. Another thing, Sofiya?

- I must contact the Earth’s media, ask them to stop scaring the people. They are afraid, Sir.

- Afraid of what? Albus asked.

- Knowing they are not alone in the universe to begin with, afraid of being a piece of dust in the cosmos. And, to reveal that they have contacts, only visual for the moment, with aliens as they call us. It's not for nothing that they asked you to silence the press, Sofiya, they fear for their power. For now, you'll do what they say and keep me informed. We are not ready yet.

- Commander?

- Yes, Albus?

- Don’t you think we should call the board?

- It's a good idea Albus, I will prevent them.

- What about me? Shall I stay? Sofiya asked.

- Yes, the other members will need your explanations. I'll ask Cortex to write press releases for you. All you’ll have to do is to bring them during your next visit. And stop calling me Commander.

- Well, Ivan. I will warn others.

She went away shaking Albus’ hand and kissing the Commander on the cheek. He blushed when she left the room.

- What do you think Albus?

- I think that people are not ready, Commander. But I think we are. You would not have called the council if we weren’t.

 - I see that you are very insightful. We are ready, but I want to know the opinion of the board before going further.

- Who is Sofiya?

- Our spy, she joined NASA known as Sophie Lemoine shortly after our arrival.

- Sofiya, now me. I see you are very interested in the Earth...

- Sofiya is a Ossar, although she spent many years on Earth. Sofiya is our spy for several years now.

- There are Ossar on Earth?

- Obviously, this is not because officially we are not interested in the Earth that we are not aware of what's going on.

The commander looked at his watch and started to pick up the plans leaning on the table.

- Well Albus, file this out and help me to sort out the rest, they will arrive soon.

- They're coming here? I thought this was your office.

- My real office is just above, but I prefer to work here in peace.

- I see you do not like too much offices.

- Let's say that I prefer to avoid them...

He was cut in his sentence by the sound of footsteps.

- They're coming. Go sit down, I'll clean up the rest.

- Commander, where do I sit?

The commander showed him a seat at the end of table.

- Sit down here in front of me.

- In front of you?

- Yes, in front of me.

- I thought this seat is reserved for the Emperor. He said, pointing to a large armchair next to him.

- This is my place. The Emperor does not sit on the Council.

- Why?

- He has no need. Go and sit up.

The commander arranged the remaining documents piled on the table with a wave of the hand and stood behind the door, to greet the guests and guide them to their respective places.