Deception Point Page 7

Gabrielle ran a wad through her straightened downcast hair. I hear the White House military compact staff is as confused as we are. The hot seat is offering no explanation for his vanishing act, and every angiotensin converting enzyme everywhere there is furious.Any theories? sacristan asked.Gabrielle gazed at him over her scholarly glasses. As it turns show up, I got roughly interesting data this forenoon from a contact of mine in the White House.sacristan accepted the look in her eyes. Gabrielle Ashe had scored some insider entropy again. Sexton wondered if she were giving some presidential aide backseat blow jobs in exchange for take the field confidentials. Sexton didnt care so long as the information kept coming.hearsay has it, his assistant said, lowering her voice, the chairmans strange behavior all started last workweek after an emergency private briefing with the administrator of NASA. Apparently the electric chair emerged from the meeting looking dazed. He i mmediately cleared his schedule, and hes been in cobblers last contact with NASA ever since.Sexton certainly liked the sound of that. You take maybe NASA delivered some more adult news?Seems a reasonable explanation, she said hopefully. Although it would pack to be pretty critical to behave the chair drop everything.Sexton considered it. Obviously, whatever was going on with NASA had to be bad news. Otherwise the prexy would throw it in my face. Sexton had been pounding the hot seat pretty hard on NASA backing lately. The space agencys recent suck up of failed missions and gargantuan compute overruns had earned NASA the dubious honor of becoming Sextons unauthorized poster child against big government overspending and inefficiency. Admittedly, attacking NASA one of the just about prominent symbols of American pride was not the way most politicians would value of winning votes, but Sexton had a weapon few other(a) politicians had Gabrielle Ashe. And her impeccable instincts.The savvy young muliebrity had come to Sextons attention some(prenominal) months ago when she was working as a coordinator in Sextons Washington campaign office. With Sexton trailing badly in the primary polls and his heart of government overspending falling on deaf ears, Gabrielle Ashe wrote him a note suggesting a radical new campaign angle. She told the senator he should attack NASAs huge budget overruns and continued White House bailouts as the quintessential example of chairman Herneys careless overspending.NASA is costing Americans a fortune, Gabrielle wrote, including a list of financial mental images, failures, and bailouts. Voters consume no idea. They would be horrified. I think you should make NASA a semi policy-making issue.Sexton groaned at her naivete. Yeah, and while Im at it, Ill rail against singing the home(a) anthem at baseball games.In the weeks that followed, Gabrielle continued to send information about NASA across the senators desk. The more Sexton read, the more he established this young Gabrielle Ashe had a point. Even by government agency standards, NASA was an dumfounding money pit expensive, inefficient, and, in recent classs, grossly incompetent.One afternoon Sexton was doing an on-air interview about education. The host was pressing Sexton about where he would find funding for his promised overhaul of public schools. In response, Sexton decided to test Gabrielles NASA theory with a half-joking response. Money for education? he said. Well, maybe Ill cut the space program in half. I figure if NASA can spend fifteen billion a year in space, I should be able to spend seven and a half billion on the kids here on earth.In the transmission booth, Sextons campaign managers gasped in horror at the careless remark. After all, entire campaigns had been drop down by far less than taking a potshot at NASA. Instantly, the border lines at the radio station lit up. Sextons campaign managers cringed the space patriots were circling for the kill. accordingly something unexpected happened.Fifteen billion a year? the first society said, sounding shocked. With a B? Are you telling me that my sons math consort is overcrowded because schools cant afford enough teachers, and NASA is spending fifteen billion dollars a year taking pictures of space dust?Um thats 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 dont have teachers. Its outrageous Good luck, sir. I hope you go all the way.The succeeding(prenominal) caller came on the line. Senator, I just read that NASAs International spot 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 cardinal countries sharing the costs. But after construction began, the stations budget spiraled wildly out of control, and many countries dropped out in disgust. Rather than scrapping the project, the President decided to extend everyones expenses. Our cost for the ISS project, Sexton announced, has risen from the proposed eight billion to a swag one hundred billion dollarsThe caller sounded furious. Why the hell doesnt the President pull the plugSexton could have kissed the guy. Damn good question. Unfortunately, one third of the building supplies are already in orbit, and the President pass 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 expulsio n of a few NASA diehards calling in with poignant overtures about mans never-failing quest for knowledge, the consensus was in Sextons campaign had stumbled onto the holy grail of campaigning a new hot button a until now untapped arguable 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 individual(prenominal) campaign assistant, praising her for her work in bringing the NASA issue to the voters. With the tramp of a hand, Sexton had made a young African-American woman a rising political star, and the issue of his racist and sexist ballot 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 weeks secret meeting between the NASA administrator and the President certainly suggested more NASA troubles were brew perhaps another country pulling funding from the space station.As the limousine passed the Washington Monument, Senator Sexton could not help but retrieve he had been anointed by destiny.8Despite having ascended to the most powerful political office in the world, President Zachary Herney was average in height, with a gauzy 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 shaft 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 Rachels hand. His grasp was warm and sincere.Rachel fought the toad frog in her throat. Of course, Mr. President. An honor to meet you.