Chapter 207 (1/2)
White House
On the second floor of the White House, adjacent to the official Presidential quarters, lay the Treaty Room. Before construction of the West Wing, working offices for the President and his staff were located on the east side of the second floor. The Treaty room has been used as an official waiting room, a Presidential study, the President's office, and as the meeting place for the cabinet members. President's Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant had decided American policy in this room during their time in office. Treaties such as the one bringing an end to the Spanish-American War and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty had been signed within these hallowed walls.
The walls were adorned in a palette of deep greens, burgundy and gold. This, along with the other fixtures present in the room, was there to pay tribute to a horrific day in American history. This tribute came in a close recreation of the room Abraham Lincoln was taken to and died in, in a house opposite Ford's Theater.
Seated comfortably in the room, a collection of leaders was once again hard at work hammering out the future of a Treaty already enforced, but not existing on paper. President Hayes, Penegal of the Asgard, Dorin of the Furling, Opher of the Nox, and Melia of the Ancient's were busy at work discussing amendments to the Protected Planets treaty. As the others present in the room were members of the Five Races, the Secret Service detail had been ushered into the hall.
”So we're in agreement on the addition of Unas occupied worlds to the Treaty?” Hayes asked.
”I believe we are Mr. President.” Dorin replied.
”As a species that shows promise of further development, we are all in agreement.” Penegal answered.
”We are pleased to see the worlds of the Pegasus Galaxy also being added. While these planets are already being protected by the forces of Earth and of the Asgard, the symbolic gesture of adding them to this agreement is one my people welcome.” Melia explained.
”Though vessels stand guard over the many worlds in Pegasus, a threat still exists that must be overcome.” Dorin added.
”Through combined fleet efforts, we have pushed the Wraith to a distant corner of the galaxy. Despite this, more is required for a final victory. Worlds that refused the introduction of safe harbor with the aid of Furling technology even now continue to be culled with catastrophic results.” Penegal continued.
”When we first began collecting intelligence from the nanites introduced to the Wraith, we had promising results. Sadly, that information source is not continuing to pan out as we had hoped. My experts are not really sure as to the why.” Hayes stated.
”We have gone over the nanite performance logs in great detail, and believe we can answer that question. Information continues to flow from low-level soldiers up to Wraith commanders. The Queen that was infected is the first obstacle. Wraith Queen physiology differs from that of a soldier or commander.” Melia explained
”Doctors McKay and Zelenka theorized that might be the case. Our Wraith friend Todd also suggested as much. The unknown variable in that is that for a few short hours, the nanites infecting the Queen did seem to gain a bit of traction within.” Hayes countered.