on his breakfast bun. “It doesn’t really change a damned thing, Jamie. They’re already talking about reducing the budget for the National Science Foundation.”
“But that’s where most of the university grants come from!”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Cut off the NSF funds and the universities won’t be able to support their work on Mars.”
“Well, that’s where the battle line is now. That’s what I’m fighting to protect.”
Jamie looked into Delgado’s troubled eyes and realized this man was on his side, but struggling against tremendous forces.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“Not a hell of a lot, Jamie. They’re not interested in Mars.”
“Let me talk to the president,” Jamie begged. “Maybe I can make her see the situation more clearly. Maybe I—”
“She won’t see you,” Delgado snapped, his tone hardening. “She can’t afford to be seen with you.”
“Can’t afford . . . ?”
“Look: she was elected by a paper-thin majority and now she’s facing the off-year elections with everybody blaming her for the greenhouse floods and anything else that’s happened during her first two years. Those Bible-thumping New Morality zealots already control the House of Representatives. By November they’ll have the majority in the Senate!”
“So she can’t afford to antagonize them, is that it?” Jamie asked.
Delgado turned on his heel and strode away. Crumpling the empty wrapper in one hand while he gulped the last of his coffee, he walked up to a trash receptacle and dumped both. Jamie followed him and did the same.
Over his shoulder, Delgado said, “Come with me, Jamie. There’s something I want to show you. Something you need to see.”
Ignoring the line of taxicabs parked along Constitution Avenue, Delgado hurried up toward the Ellipse. At first Jamie thought they were going to the White House after all, but Delgado veered off at Seventeenth Street and marched Jamie into a glass-walled office building. There was no plaque on the entrance, no sign announcing what the building was or which government agency might be housed in it.
Puffing slightly from the pace the science advisor set, Jamie followed Delgado through the inevitable security checkpoint in the quiet, nearly empty lobby. After they went through the metal detector a sullen-looking overweight guard in a blue National Security Agency uniform handed them identification badges. Jamie eyed the heavy black pistol holstered on the guard’s hip as he clipped his badge onto the front of his windbreaker. Delgado led Jamie into a waiting elevator.
“What is this place?” Jamie asked as the elevator doors closed. To his surprise, it went down, not up.
“It’s a new climatology facility,” the science advisor answered.
“Why-”
“There’s something you’ve got to see. Something that just might put things into the proper perspective for you.”
The elevator went down four levels, then stopped with a lurch. The doors slid open.
There were more people in the corridor down at this level than there had been in the lobby. Still, the men and women seemed to Jamie to be moving at a leisurely pace. Government employees, Jamie thought.
The smooth cream-colored paneling of the corridor was set with a series of doors, all of them blank except for five-digit numbers stenciled on them. Mounted beside each door was a small keypad. Delgado walked Jamie to the end of the corridor and tapped out a security code on the pad next to its double doors. They slid open noiselessly.
Jamie followed the science advisor into a darkened room, lit only by the giant display screens that filled three of the walls. People sat at what looked to Jamie like electronics consoles. The place reminded him of a NASA mission control center, except that the usual crackle of tense excitement was missing.
The wall displays were electronic maps, Jamie saw. He recognized satellite views of the continental United States, Europe, Latin
“But that’s where most of the university grants come from!”
“Don’t I know it.”
“Cut off the NSF funds and the universities won’t be able to support their work on Mars.”
“Well, that’s where the battle line is now. That’s what I’m fighting to protect.”
Jamie looked into Delgado’s troubled eyes and realized this man was on his side, but struggling against tremendous forces.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“Not a hell of a lot, Jamie. They’re not interested in Mars.”
“Let me talk to the president,” Jamie begged. “Maybe I can make her see the situation more clearly. Maybe I—”
“She won’t see you,” Delgado snapped, his tone hardening. “She can’t afford to be seen with you.”
“Can’t afford . . . ?”
“Look: she was elected by a paper-thin majority and now she’s facing the off-year elections with everybody blaming her for the greenhouse floods and anything else that’s happened during her first two years. Those Bible-thumping New Morality zealots already control the House of Representatives. By November they’ll have the majority in the Senate!”
“So she can’t afford to antagonize them, is that it?” Jamie asked.
Delgado turned on his heel and strode away. Crumpling the empty wrapper in one hand while he gulped the last of his coffee, he walked up to a trash receptacle and dumped both. Jamie followed him and did the same.
Over his shoulder, Delgado said, “Come with me, Jamie. There’s something I want to show you. Something you need to see.”
Ignoring the line of taxicabs parked along Constitution Avenue, Delgado hurried up toward the Ellipse. At first Jamie thought they were going to the White House after all, but Delgado veered off at Seventeenth Street and marched Jamie into a glass-walled office building. There was no plaque on the entrance, no sign announcing what the building was or which government agency might be housed in it.
Puffing slightly from the pace the science advisor set, Jamie followed Delgado through the inevitable security checkpoint in the quiet, nearly empty lobby. After they went through the metal detector a sullen-looking overweight guard in a blue National Security Agency uniform handed them identification badges. Jamie eyed the heavy black pistol holstered on the guard’s hip as he clipped his badge onto the front of his windbreaker. Delgado led Jamie into a waiting elevator.
“What is this place?” Jamie asked as the elevator doors closed. To his surprise, it went down, not up.
“It’s a new climatology facility,” the science advisor answered.
“Why-”
“There’s something you’ve got to see. Something that just might put things into the proper perspective for you.”
The elevator went down four levels, then stopped with a lurch. The doors slid open.
There were more people in the corridor down at this level than there had been in the lobby. Still, the men and women seemed to Jamie to be moving at a leisurely pace. Government employees, Jamie thought.
The smooth cream-colored paneling of the corridor was set with a series of doors, all of them blank except for five-digit numbers stenciled on them. Mounted beside each door was a small keypad. Delgado walked Jamie to the end of the corridor and tapped out a security code on the pad next to its double doors. They slid open noiselessly.
Jamie followed the science advisor into a darkened room, lit only by the giant display screens that filled three of the walls. People sat at what looked to Jamie like electronics consoles. The place reminded him of a NASA mission control center, except that the usual crackle of tense excitement was missing.
The wall displays were electronic maps, Jamie saw. He recognized satellite views of the continental United States, Europe, Latin
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