4 The President
Half a mile back, Shuckworth, Shanks and Showler werekeeping the television camera aimed all the time at the GlassElevator. And across the world, millions and millions of peoplewere clustered around their TV screens, watching tensely thedrama being acted out two hundred and forty miles above theearth. In his study in the White House sat Lancelot R.
Gilligrass, President of the United States of America, the mostpowerful man on Earth. In this moment of crisis, all his mostimportant advisers² had been summoned urgently to hispresence, and there they all were now, following closely on thegiant television screen every move made by thisdangerous-looking glass capsule and its eight desperate-lookingastronauts. The entire Cabinet was present. The Chief of theArmy was there, together with four other generals. There wasthe Chief of the Navy and the Chief of the Air Force and asword-swallower from Afghanistan, who was the President's bestfriend. There was the President's Chief Financial Adviser¹, whowas standing³ in the middle of the room trying to balance thebudget on top of his head, but it kept falling off. Standingnearest of all to the President was the Vice-President, a hugelady of eighty-nine with a whiskery chin. She had been thePresident's nurse when he was a baby and her name wasMiss Tibbs. Miss Tibbs was the power behind the throne. Shestood no nonsense from anyone. Some people said she was asstrict with the President now as when he was a little boy. Shewas the terror of the White House and even the Head of theSecret Service broke into a sweat when summoned to herpresence. Only the President was allowed to call her Nanny.
The President's famous cat, Mrs Taubsypuss, was also in theroom.
There was absolute silence now in the Presidential study. Alleyes were riveted⁴ on the TV screen as the small glass object,with its booster-rockets firing, slid smoothly⁵ up behind the giantSpace Hotel.
'They're going to link up!' shouted the President. 'They're goingon board our Space Hotel!'
'They're going to blow it up!' cried the Chief of the Army.
'Let's blow them up first, crash bang wallop
bang-bang-bang-bang.' The Chief of the Army was wearing somany medal-ribbons they covered the entire front of his tunicon both sides and spread down on to his trousers as well.

分享到：