The Beginning...

Gateway
The light array swirled and moved until the they shone brightly on the podium. The Seal of the President of the United States was illuminated. In the Green Room President David Carpenter paced back and forth as he was briefed on the events of the past twenty-four hours of war waged on an unknown planet by soldiers of the United States.
Even as president of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, the information given to President Carpenter was still ten levels above top secret. Yet, there he was being given the opportunity to learn about the war waged behind the scenes. An usher knocked on the door and one of the Secret Service men opened it, gun at the ready. The usher told him the president was on in two minutes. President Carpenter looked at his shoes and then smiled.
“Well, I know what I have to do then gentlemen. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a country to run,” President Carpenter said. He smiled and shook hands with the various agents that had stood around the room.
The usher had waited outside the room for President Carpenter and grabbed him by the sleeve leading him down a corridor filled with wires held down by heavy thick black tape and pieces of discarded props. Another usher poked his head out from a corner and motioned for both men to move quickly.
“Mr. President, you’re on in thirty seconds sir, knock ‘em dead sir,” said the second usher. He pointed towards the podium.
President Carpenter entered the room that was a soundstage and held only one camera, a cameraman, the podium and the Great Seal behind the podium. The president’s notes were on the podium’s lip, waiting to be read to the camera and rest of the United States.
“Good evening my fellow Americans. I know that this is the day that I should be making my State of the Union address. There has been a change of plans. Instead I’m going to tell you a story. It’s not a complicated one, but it does require some background information that has been buried since Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency,” said President Carpenter.
“President Jefferson and several other Founding Fathers had known of paths, gateways, and doors into other...worlds. I know, it sounds like a lot of science fiction, but it is true. In fact, most of our technology has come from other worlds. The most well known was the Stealth Bomber. However, dealing with other worlds had been a great and secretive thing. And never a safe one at that. But tonight, all that has changed. Tonight, I have learned that soldiers from our own military have been struck down in another world. Our weaponry cannot harm the creatures that did this. I’ve been told that atomics also have no effect on the world or the enemy,” Carpenter said. He paused for effect and looked straight into the camera’s eye.
“Effective immediately I am establishing the Enhanced Soldier Program, dubbed ESP, and hope that Congress will pass this into a fully functioning initiative. We know the enemy is a very real threat and they want nothing more than the eradication of all known forms of life on our planet. I am also restarting an old program, Project: Grave Pit and renaming it Project: Gatekeeper. This project will enable us to begin the cultivation of the Red Planet, Mars, through wormholes. With these two programs at our side we will defend this planet, we will prevail and we will not go gently into that night as our enemies wish us to. Thank you, and good night,” said President Carpenter.
The camera’s light changed from red to yellow then turned off. The cameraman wiped his face with his shirt and stood looking at the president. He did not speak but merely turned towards the camera and threw up.
President Carpenter walked over to the cameraman and placed a hand on his shoulder. The president gripped the shoulder and spoke.
“Things are going to be okay. I promise,” said Carpenter. He stood up and walked back the way he had come in.