8

Despite having ascended to the most powerful political office in the world, President Zachary Herney was average in height, with a slender build and narrow shoulders. He had a freckled face, bifocals, and thinning black hair. His unimposing physique, however, stood in stark contrast to the almost princely love the man commanded from those who knew him. It was said that if you met Zach Herney once, you would walk to the ends of the earth for him.

"So glad you could make it," President Herney said, reaching out to shake Rachel's hand. His grasp was warm and sincere.

Rachel fought the frog in her throat. "Of... course, Mr. President. An honor to meet you."

The President gave her a comforting grin, and Rachel sensed firsthand the legendary Herney affability. The man possessed an easygoing countenance political cartoonists loved because no matter how skewed a rendition they drew, no one ever mistook the man's effortless warmth and amiable smile. His eyes mirrored sincerity and dignity at all times.

"If you follow me," he said in a cheery voice, "I've got a cup of coffee with your name on it."

"Thank you, sir."

The President pressed the intercom and called for some coffee in his office.

As Rachel followed the President through the plane, she could not help but notice that he looked extremely happy and well-rested for a man who was down in the polls. He was also very casually dressed - blue jeans, a polo shirt, and L.L. Bean hiking boots.

Rachel tried to make conversation. "Doing... some hiking, Mr. President?"

"Not at all. My campaign advisers have decided this should be my new look. What do you think?"

Rachel hoped for his sake that he wasn't serious. "It's very... um... manly, sir."

Herney was deadpan. "Good. We're thinking it will help me win back some of the women's vote from your father." After a beat, the President broke into a broad smile. "Ms. Sexton, that was a joke. I think we both know I'll need more than a polo shirt and blue jeans to win this election."

The President's openness and good humor were quickly evaporating any tension Rachel felt about being there. What this President lacked in physical brawn, he more than made up for in diplomatic rapport. Diplomacy was about people skills, and Zach Herney had the gift.

Rachel followed the President toward the back of the plane. The deeper they went, the less the interior resembled a plane - curved hallways, wallpapered walls, even an exercise room complete with StairMaster and rowing machine. Oddly, the plane seemed almost entirely deserted.

"Traveling alone, Mr. President?"

He shook his head. "Just landed, actually."

Rachel was surprised. Landed from where? Her intel briefs this week had included nothing about presidential travel plans. Apparently he was using Wallops Island to travel quietly.

"My staff deplaned right before you arrived," the President said. "I'm headed back to the White House shortly to meet them, but I wanted to meet you here instead of my office."

"Trying to intimidate me?"

"On the contrary. Trying to respect you, Ms. Sexton. The White House is anything but private, and news of a meeting between the two of us would put you in an awkward position with your father."

"I appreciate that, sir."

"It seems you're managing a delicate balancing act quite gracefully, and I see no reason to disrupt that."

Rachel flashed on her breakfast meeting with her father and doubted that it qualified as "graceful." Nonetheless, Zach Herney was going out of his way to be decent, and he certainly didn't have to.

"May I call you Rachel?" Herney asked.

"Of course." May I call you Zach?

"My office," the President said, ushering her through a carved maple door.

The office aboard Air Force One certainly was cozier than its White House counterpart, but its furnishings still carried an air of austerity. The desk was mounded with papers, and behind it hung an imposing oil painting of a classic, three-masted schooner under full sail trying to outrun a raging storm. It seemed a perfect metaphor for Zach Herney's presidency at the moment.

The President offered Rachel one of the three executive chairs facing his desk. She sat. Rachel expected him to sit behind his desk, but instead he pulled one of the chairs up and sat next to her.

Equal footing, she realized. The master of rapport.

"Well, Rachel," Herney said, sighing tiredly as he settled into his chair. "I imagine you've got to be pretty damned confused to be sitting here right now, am I right?"

Whatever was left of Rachel's guard crumbled away with the candor in the man's voice. "Actually, sir, I'm baffled."

Herney laughed out loud. "Terrific. It's not every day I can baffle someone from the NRO."

"It's not every day someone from the NRO is invited aboard Air Force One by a President in hiking boots."

The President laughed again.

A quiet rap on the office door announced the arrival of coffee. One of the flight crew entered with a steaming pewter pot and two pewter mugs on a tray. At the President's bidding, she laid the tray on the desk and disappeared.

"Cream and sugar?" the President asked, standing up to pour.

"Cream, please." Rachel savored the rich aroma. The President of the United States is personally serving me coffee?

Zach Herney handed her a heavy pewter mug. "Authentic Paul Revere," he said. "One of the little luxuries."

Rachel sipped the coffee. It was the best she had ever tasted.

"Anyhow," the President said, pouring himself a cup and sitting back down, "I've got limited time here, so let's get to business." The President plopped a sugar cube in his coffee and gazed up at her. "I imagine Bill Pickering warned you that the only reason I would want to see you would be to use you to my political advantage?"

"Actually, sir, that's exactly what he said."

The President chuckled. "Always the cynic."

"So he's wrong?"

"Are you kidding?" the President laughed. "Bill Pickering is never wrong. He's dead-on as usual."

9

Gabrielle Ashe gazed absently out the window of Senator Sexton's limousine as it moved through the morning traffic toward Sexton's office building. She wondered how the hell she had arrived at this point in her life. Personal assistant to Senator Sedgewick Sexton. This was exactly what she had wanted, wasn't it?

I'm sitting in a limousine with the next President of the United States.

Gabrielle stared across the car's plush interior at the senator, who seemed to be far away in his own thoughts. She admired his handsome features and perfect attire. He looked presidential.

Gabrielle had first seen Sexton speak when she was a poli-sci major at Cornell University three years ago. She would never forget how his eyes probed the audience, as if sending a message directly to her-trust me. After Sexton's speech, Gabrielle waited in line to meet him.

"Gabrielle Ashe," the senator said, reading her name tag. "A lovely name for a lovely young woman." His eyes were reassuring.

"Thank you, sir," Gabrielle replied, feeling the man's strength as she shook his hand. "I was really impressed by your message."

"Glad to hear it!" Sexton thrust a business card into her hand. "I'm always looking for bright young minds who share my vision. When you get out of school, track me down. My people may have a job for you."

Gabrielle opened her mouth to thank him, but the senator was already on to the next person in line. Nonetheless, in the months that followed, Gabrielle found herself following Sexton's career on television. She watched with admiration as he spoke out against big government spending - spearheading budget cuts, streamlining the IRS to work more effectively, trimming fat at the DEA, and even abolishing redundant civil service programs. Then, when the senator's wife died suddenly in a car crash, Gabrielle watched in awe as Sexton somehow turned the negative into a positive. Sexton rose above his personal pain and declared to the world that he would be running for the presidency and dedicating the remainder of his public service to his wife's memory. Gabrielle decided right then and there that she wanted to work closely with Senator Sexton's presidential campaign.

Now she had gotten as close as anyone could get.

Gabrielle recalled the night she had spent with Sexton in his plush office, and she cringed, trying to block out the embarrassing images in her mind. What was I thinking? She knew she should have resisted, but somehow she'd found herself unable. Sedgewick Sexton had been an idol of hers for so long... and to think he wanted her.

The limousine hit a bump, jarring her thoughts back to the present.

"You okay?" Sexton was watching her now.

Gabrielle flashed a hurried smile. "Fine."

"You aren't still thinking about that drudge, are you?"

She shrugged. "I'm still a little worried, yeah."

"Forget it. The drudge was the best thing that ever happened to my campaign."

A drudge, Gabrielle had learned the hard way, was the political equivalent of leaking information that your rival used a penis enlarger or subscribed to Stud Muffin magazine. Drudging wasn't a glamorous tactic, but when it paid off, it paid off big.

Of course, when it backfired...

And backfire, it had. For the White House. About a month ago, the President's campaign staff, unsettled by the slipping polls, had decided to get aggressive and leak a story they suspected to be true - that Senator Sexton had engaged in an affair with his personal assistant, Gabrielle Ashe. Unfortunately for the White House, there was no hard evidence. Senator Sexton, a firm believer in the best defense is a strong offense, seized the moment for attack. He called a national press conference to proclaim his innocence and outrage. I cannot believe, he said, gazing into the cameras with pain in his eyes, that the President would dishonor my wife's memory with these malicious lies.

Senator Sexton's performance on TV was so convincing that Gabrielle herself practically believed they had not slept together. Seeing how effortlessly he lied, Gabrielle realized that Senator Sexton was indeed a dangerous man.

Lately, although Gabrielle was certain she was backing the strongest horse in this presidential race, she had begun to question whether she was backing the best horse. Working closely with Sexton had been an eye-opening experience - akin to a behind-the-scenes tour of Universal Studios, where one's childlike awe over the movies is sullied by the realization that Hollywood isn't magic after all.

Although Gabrielle's faith in Sexton's message remained intact, she was beginning to question the messenger.

10

"What I am about to tell you, Rachel," the President said, "is classified 'UMBRA.' Well beyond your current security clearance."

Rachel felt the walls of Air Force One closing in around her. The President had flown her to Wallops Island, invited her onboard his plane, poured her coffee, told her flat out that he intended to use her to political advantage against her own father, and now he was announcing he intended to give her classified information illegally. However affable Zach Herney appeared on the surface, Rachel Sexton had just learned something important about him. This man took control in a hurry.

"Two weeks ago," the President said, locking eyes with her, "NASA made a discovery."

The words hung a moment in the air before Rachel could process them. A NASA discovery? Recent intelligence updates had suggested nothing out of the ordinary going on with the space agency. Of course, these days a "NASA discovery" usually meant realizing they'd grossly under budgeted some new project.

"Before we talk further," the President said, "I'd like to know if you share your father's cynicism over space exploration."

Rachel resented the comment. "I certainly hope you didn't call me here to ask me to control my father's rants against NASA."

He laughed. "Hell, no. I've been around the Senate long enough to know that nobody controls Sedgewick Sexton."

"My father is an opportunist, sir. Most successful politicians are. And unfortunately NASA has made itself an opportunity." The recent string of NASA errors had been so unbearable that one either had to laugh or cry - satellites that disintegrated in orbit, space probes that never called home, the International Space Station budget rising tenfold and member countries bailing out like rats from a sinking ship. Billions were being lost, and Senator Sexton was riding it like a wave - a wave that seemed destined to carry him to the shores of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"I will admit," the President continued, "NASA has been a walking disaster area lately. Every time I turn around, they give me yet another reason to slash their funding."

Rachel saw her opening for a foothold and took it. "And yet, sir, didn't I just read that you bailed them out last week with another three million in emergency funding to keep them solvent?"

The President chuckled. "Your father was pleased with that one, wasn't he?"

"Nothing like sending ammunition to your executioner."

"Did you hear him on Nightline? 'Zach Herney is a space addict, and the taxpayers are funding his habit.'"

"But you keep proving him right, sir."

Herney nodded. "I make it no secret that I'm an enormous fan of NASA. I always have been. I was a child of the space race - Sputnik, John Glenn, Apollo 11 - and I have never hesitated to express my feelings of admiration and national pride for our space program. In my mind, the men and women of NASA are history's modern pioneers. They attempt the impossible, accept failure, and then go back to the drawing board while the rest of us stand back and criticize."

Rachel remained silent, sensing that just below the President's calm exterior was an indignant rage over her father's endless anti-NASA rhetoric. Rachel found herself wondering what the hell NASA had found. The President was certainly taking his time coming to the point.

"Today," Herney said, his voice intensifying, "I intend to change your entire opinion of NASA."

Rachel eyed him with uncertainty. "You have my vote already, sir. You may want to concentrate on the rest of the country."

"I intend to." He took a sip of coffee and smiled. "And I'm going to ask you to help me." Pausing, he leaned toward her. "In a most unusual way."

Rachel could now feel Zach Herney scrutinizing her every move, like a hunter trying to gauge if his prey intended to run or fight. Unfortunately, Rachel saw nowhere to run.

"I assume," the President said, pouring them both more coffee, "that you're aware of a NASA project called EOS?"

Rachel nodded. "Earth Observation System. I believe my father has mentioned EOS once or twice."

The weak attempt at sarcasm drew a frown from the President. The truth was that Rachel's father mentioned the Earth Observation System every chance he got. It was one of NASA's most controversial big-ticket ventures - a constellation of five satellites designed to look down from space and analyze the planet's environment: ozone depletion, polar ice melt, global warming, rainforest defoliation. The intent was to provide environmentalists with never before seen macroscopic data so that they could plan better for earth's future.

Unfortunately, the EOS project had been wrought with failure. Like so many NASA projects of late, it had been plagued with costly overruns right from the start. And Zach Herney was the one taking the heat. He had used the support of the environmental lobby to push the $1.4 billion EOS project through Congress. But rather than delivering the promised contributions to global earth science, EOS had spiraled quickly into a costly nightmare of failed launches, computer malfunctions, and somber NASA press conferences. The only smiling face lately was that of Senator Sexton, who was smugly reminding voters just how much of their money the President had spent on EOS and just how lukewarm the returns had been.

The President dropped a sugar cube into his mug. "As surprising as this may sound, the NASA discovery I'm referring to was made by EOS."

Now Rachel felt lost. If EOS had enjoyed a recent success, NASA certainly would have announced it, wouldn't they? Her father had been crucifying EOS in the media, and the space agency could use any good news they could find.

"I've heard nothing," Rachel said, "about any EOS discovery."

"I know. NASA prefers to keep the good news to themselves for a while."

Rachel doubted it. "In my experience, sir, when it comes to NASA, no news is generally bad news." Restraint was not a forte of the NASA public relations department. The standing joke at the NRO was that NASA held a press conference every time one of their scientists so much as farted.

The President frowned. "Ah, yes. I forget I'm talking to one of Pickering's NRO security disciples. Is he still moaning and groaning about NASA's loose lips?"

"Security is his business, sir. He takes it very seriously."

"He damn well better. I just find it hard to believe that two agencies with so much in common constantly find something to fight about."

Rachel had learned early in her tenure under William Pickering that although both NASA and the NRO were space-related agencies, they had philosophies that were polar opposites. The NRO was a defense agency and kept all of its space activities classified, while NASA was academic and excitedly publicized all of its breakthroughs around the globe - often, William Pickering argued, at the risk of national security. Some of NASA's finest technologies-high-resolution lenses for satellite telescopes, long-range communications systems, and radio imaging devices - had a nasty habit of appearing in the intelligence arsenal of hostile countries and being used to spy against us. Bill Pickering often grumbled that NASA scientists had big brains... and even bigger mouths.

A more pointed issue between the agencies, however, was the fact that because NASA handled the NRO's satellite launches, many of NASA's recent failures directly affected the NRO. No failure had been more dramatic than that of August 12, 1998, when a NASA/Air Force Titan 4 rocket blew up forty seconds into launch and obliterated its payload - a $1.2 billion NRO satellite code-named Vortex 2. Pickering seemed particularly unwilling to forget that one.

"So why hasn't NASA gone public about this recent success?" Rachel challenged. "They certainly could use some good news right now."

"NASA is being silent," the President declared, "because I ordered them to be."

Rachel wondered if she had heard him correctly. If so, the President was committing some kind of political hara-kiri that she did not understand.

"This discovery," the President said, "is... shall we say... nothing short of astounding in its ramifications."

Rachel felt an uneasy chill. In the world of intelligence, "astounding ramifications" seldom meant good news. She now wondered if all the EOS secrecy was on account of the satellite system having spotted some impending environmental disaster. "Is there a problem?"

"No problem at all. What EOS discovered is quite wonderful."

Rachel fell silent.

"Suppose, Rachel, that I told you NASA has just made a discovery of such scientific importance... such earth-shattering significance... that it validated every dollar Americans have ever spent in space?"

Rachel could not imagine.

The President stood up. "Let's take a walk, shall we?"

11

Rachel followed President Herney out onto the glistening gangway of Air Force One. As they descended the stairs, Rachel felt the bleak March air clearing her mind. Unfortunately, clarity only made the President's claims seem more outlandish than before.

NASA made a discovery of such scientific importance that it validates every dollar Americans have ever spent in space?

Rachel could only imagine that a discovery of that magnitude would only center on one thing - the holy grail of NASA - contact with extraterrestrial life. Unfortunately, Rachel knew enough about that particular holy grail to know it was utterly implausible.

As an intelligence analyst, Rachel constantly fielded questions from friends who wanted to know about the alleged government cover-ups of alien contact. She was consistently appalled by the theories her "educated" friends bought into - crashed alien saucers hidden in secret government bunkers, extraterrestrial corpses kept on ice, even unsuspecting civilians being abducted and surgically probed.

It was all absurd, of course. There were no aliens. No cover-ups.

Everyone in the intelligence community understood that the vast majority of sightings and alien abductions were simply the product of active imaginations or moneymaking hoaxes. When authentic photographic UFO evidence did exist, it had a strange habit of occurring near U.S. military airbases that were testing advanced classified aircraft. When Lockheed began air-testing aradical new jet called the Stealth Bomber, UFO sightings around Edwards Air Force Base increased fifteen-fold.

"You have a skeptical look on your face," the President said, eyeing her askance.

The sound of his voice startled Rachel. She glanced over, unsure how to respond. "Well... " She hesitated. "May I assume, sir, that we are not talking about alien spacecrafts or little green men?"

The President looked quietly amused. "Rachel, I think you'll find this discovery far more intriguing than science fiction."

Rachel was relieved to hear NASA had not been so desperate as to try selling the President on an alien story. Nonetheless, his comment served only to deepen the mystery. "Well," she said, "whatever NASA found, I must say the timing is exceptionally convenient."

Herney paused on the gangway. "Convenient? How so?"

How so? Rachel stopped and stared. "Mr. President, NASA is currently in a life or death battle to justify its very existence, and you are under attack for continuing to fund it. A major NASA breakthrough right now would be a panacea for both NASA and your campaign. Your critics will obviously find the timing highly suspect."

"So... are you calling me a liar or a fool?"

Rachel felt a knot rise in her throat. "I meant no disrespect, sir. I simply-"

"Relax." A faint grin grew on Herney's lips, and he started to descend again. "When the NASA administrator first told me about this discovery, I flat out rejected it as absurd. I accused him of masterminding the most transparent political sham in history."

Rachel felt the knot in her throat dissolve somewhat.

At the bottom of the ramp, Herney stopped and looked at her. "One reason I've asked NASA to keep their discovery under wraps is to protect them. The magnitude of this find is well beyond anything NASA has ever announced. It will make landing men on the moon seem insignificant. Because everyone, myself included, has so much to gain - and lose - I thought it prudent for someone to double-check the NASA data before we step into the world spotlight with a formal announcement."

Rachel was startled. "Certainly you can't mean me, sir?"

The President laughed. "No, this is not your area of expertise. Besides, I've already achieved verification through extragovernmental channels."

Rachel's relief gave way to a new mystification. "Extragovernmental, sir? You mean you used the private sector? On something this classified?"

The President nodded with conviction. "I put together an external confirmation team - four civilian scientists-non-NASA personnel with big names and serious reputations to protect. They used their own equipment to make observations and come to their own conclusions. Over the past forty-eight hours, these civilian scientists have confirmed the NASA discovery beyond the shadow of a doubt."

Now Rachel was impressed. The President had protected himself with typical Herney aplomb. By hiring the ultimate team of skeptics - outsiders who had nothing to gain by confirming the NASA discovery - Herney had immunized himself against suspicions that this might be a desperate NASA ploy to justify its budget, reelect their NASA-friendly President, and ward off Senator Sexton's attacks.

"Tonight at eight P.M.," Herney said, "I will be calling a press conference at the White House to announce this discovery to the world."

Rachel felt frustrated. Herney had essentially told her nothing. "And this discovery is what, precisely?"

The President smiled. "You will find patience a virtue today. This discovery is something you need to see for yourself. I need you to understand this situation fully before we proceed. The administrator of NASA is waiting to brief you. He will tell you everything you need to know. Afterward, you and I will further discuss your role."

Rachel sensed an impending drama in the President's eyes and recalled Pickering's hunch that the White House had something up its sleeve. Pickering, it appeared, was right, as usual.

Herney motioned to a nearby airplane hangar. "Follow me," he said, walking toward it.

Rachel followed, confused. The building before them had no windows, and its towering bay doors were sealed. The only access seemed to be a small entryway on the side. The door was ajar. The President guided Rachel to within a few feet of the door and stopped.

"End of the line for me," he said, motioning to the door. "You go through there."

Rachel hesitated. "You're not coming?"

"I need to return to the White House. I'll speak to you shortly. Do you have a cellphone?"

"Of course, sir."

"Give it to me."

Rachel produced her phone and handed it to him, assuming he intended to program a private contact number into it. Instead, he slipped her phone into his pocket.

"You're now off-the-grid," the President said. "All your responsibilities at work have been covered. You will not speak to anyone else today without express permission from myself or the NASA administrator. Do you understand?"

Rachel stared. Did the President just steal my cell-phone?

"After the administrator briefs you on the discovery, he will put you in contact with me via secure channels. I'll talk to you soon. Good luck."

Rachel looked at the hangar door and felt a growing uneasiness.

President Herney put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and nodded toward the door. "I assure you, Rachel, you will not regret assisting me in this matter."

Without another word, the President strode toward the PaveHawk that had brought Rachel in. He climbed aboard, and took off. He never once looked back.

P/S: Copyright -->www_novelfreereadonline_Com

***