In the transmission booth, Sexton's campaign managers gasped in horror at the careless remark. After all, entire campaigns had been sunk by far less than taking a potshot at NASA. Instantly, the phone lines at the radio station lit up. Sexton's campaign managers cringed; the space patriots were circling for the kill.
Then something unexpected happened.
'Fifteen billion a year?' the first caller said, sounding shocked. 'With a B? Are you telling me that my son's math class is overcrowded because schools can't afford enough teachers, and NASA is spending fifteen billion dollars a year taking pictures of space dust?'
'Um… that's right,' Sexton said warily.
'Absurd! Does the President have the power to do something about that?'
'Absolutely,' Sexton replied, gaining confidence. 'A President can veto the budget request of any agency he or she deems overfunded.'
'Then you have my vote, Senator Sexton. Fifteen billion for space research, and our kids don't have teachers. It's outrageous! Good luck, sir. I hope you go all the way.'
The next caller came on the line. 'Senator, I just read that NASA's International Space Station is way overbudget and the President is thinking of giving NASA emergency funding to keep the project going. Is that true?'
Sexton jumped at this one. 'True!' He explained that the space station was originally proposed as a joint venture, with twelve countries sharing the costs. But after construction began, the station's budget spiraled wildly out of control, and many countries dropped out in disgust. Rather than scrapping the project, the President decided to cover everyone's expenses. 'Our cost for the ISS project,' Sexton announced, 'has risen from the proposed eight billion to a staggering one hundred billion dollars!'
The caller sounded furious. 'Why the hell doesn't the President pull the plug!'
Sexton could have kissed the guy. 'Damn good question. Unfortunately, one third of the building supplies are already in orbit, and the President spent your tax dollars putting them there, so pulling the plug would be admitting he made a multibillion-dollar blunder with your money.'
The calls kept coming. For the first time, it seemed Americans were waking up to the idea that NASA was an option — not a national fixture.
When the show was over, with the exception of a few NASA diehards calling in with poignant overtures about man's eternal quest for knowledge, the consensus was in: Sexton's campaign had stumbled onto the holy grail of campaigning — a new 'hot button' — a yet untapped controversial issue that struck a nerve with voters.
In the weeks that followed, Sexton trounced his opponents in five crucial primaries. He announced Gabrielle Ashe as his new personal campaign assistant, praising her for her work in bringing the NASA issue to the voters. With the wave of a hand, Sexton had made a young African-American woman a rising political star, and the issue of his racist and sexist voting record disappeared overnight.
Now, as they sat together in the limousine, Sexton knew Gabrielle had yet again proven her worth. Her new information about last week's secret meeting between the NASA administrator and the President certainly suggested more NASA troubles were brewing — perhaps another country pulling funding from the space station.
As the limousine passed the Washington Monument, Senator Sexton could not help but feel he had been anointed by destiny.
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.
