Frank was thunderstruck. Aside from a few flings in college, his experience was limited to his lovely, shy, somewhat repressed Yoli, who got embarrassed every time Frank saw her naked. Yoli had been raised with the mores of the very conservative Philippines. If Frank had needed a reminder that Susan was going to be quite different from Yoli, this display of confidence, independence, and, yes, boldness would have certainly been it.
Dropping the last of his own clothing on the floor, Frank stepped forward and took her in his arms. "You're wonderful," he murmured as he guided her to the rectangular bed.
Chapter 5
The next three days flew by in a bright, sexy blur. They hit all the tourist spots in Brasilia, and they spent many hours learning about each other in their suite. They checked Susan out of her suite, and she moved in with Frank, to his great relief.
They had just returned from lunch at a downtown bistro when the suite's phone rang. It was the secretary to the Minister for Space, inquiring if Frank would be available for an interview with the Minister the following afternoon.
Frank was amazed at how quickly and completely the 'new' Susan could transform back into the 'old' Susan. The woman who accompanied him into the Minister's office showed no signs of the changes of the past three days.
The Minister was not alone. Frank was surprised when the Minister, Gilberto Almendes introduced him to Paulo Teceres, President of Brazil.
"We felt it advisable," the President began in heavily-accented English, "that you not be seen visiting the Palace; yet I felt it was imperative that I talk to you myself. As you know, our experiences with space development have been mixed. Now, you come, offering to spend many millions of dollars to enhance our space capabilities. I have heard of your plan, and I admit it seems too altruistic to be genuine. When someone offers me something for nothing, I become very nervous."
Frank smiled and nodded. "I understand completely, Mr. President. I too have always been suspicious of something for nothing. However, I do not consider this something for nothing. True, I offer to spend millions to expand your space capability. Yet I do it for my own purposes. Yes, I could have gone to the Russians, or to ESA, and spent several hundred million for a launch.
"But my project is genuine, sir. I wish to launch this mission in the name of 'Man's Hope International,' a multinational corporation registered in Geneva, not in the name of Frank Weatherly, or Russia, or ESA, or even Brazil. If accepted, our agreement would provide me a lease of land at Alcântara, on which I will build a launch pad and control center. But when my ships launch, they will not be launching from Brazil's Alcântara Launch Center; they will be launching from the corporation's launch pad, which happens to be located in Brazil. After my mission is completed, we will have a big, public ceremony during which I will sign the launch pad over to the government and people of Brazil. The main reason for doing it this way, Mr. President, is to make sure that everything that is done will be done by me, not by the government of Brazil. You will be able to 'disavow any knowledge of my actions' as they used to say in an old TV show. I suspect you will be required to do that on several occasions, at the UN, among other places.
NASA will not be happy to be unable to get details of my program, and they will use every ounce of influence they can muster. I'm sure they will demand that your government launch an investigation of my activities, an investigation in which they would gladly assist. I hope to draft the agreement in such a way that you can refuse, unless they have firm proof of wrongdoing under Brazilian law. Secondly, it gives me the freedom to do nearly anything I like without stumbling over 'inspectors' and 'consultants' from every Ministry that can dream up an excuse."
The president's eyes narrowed. "It sounds as though you intend to engage in illegal acts."
Frank nodded. "I know. But I will be frank, Mr. President. I suspect that I will be skirting the edge of legality pretty close on occasion, but I will do nothing to which my lawyers could not mount a defense. If this contract is accepted, I will consider Brazil to be a partner in my enterprise; and one does nothing that will harm a partner." He grinned. "To put it another way, one does not pee in one's own pool."
He paused and sobered. "Actually, I expect your government's involvement to be mostly political. Aside from all the hooraw in the UN, I am virtually certain that a U.S. arrest warrant will be issued for me, probably over that same technology transfer nonsense they used on you before. I will have to depend upon your government to refuse to let the U.S. government bully you into surrendering me or permitting them to search my premises. If you do turn me over to them, I expect the project will be ruined. Oh, I'll probably end up in jail and in various courtrooms for the next twenty years, but it would mean that Brazil would again be only one of many small space programs, vying for contracts to launch small satellites."
Frank shook his head. "I am well aware that the Russians consider me a fanatic, sir. They go along because they will obtain a hundred million of my dollars for a pet space project. But I believe they think I will be back in a few months, begging to use Baikonur, and they will be able to obtain many more of my millions. There is only one Russian involved with the deal who really believes it might happen, and he is more engineer than politician.
"But no, sir. I will not say I have no intention of doing anything illegal. To be honest, It is possible that I will find it necessary to obtain a small nuclear reactor to place aboard the ship, for instance."
The President interrupted stonily, "Brazil will not assist you to obtain nuclear technology." The denial was flat, and obviously final.
"I would not expect that, sir," Frank replied. "The most I would ask from Brazil is that your inspectors possibly fail to note a higher-than-normal radioactivity level.
"At any rate, that is the only possibly illegal act I contemplate, and I'm not even certain that will become necessary. Even if I must do that, I give you my word that I will not do anything immoral, or contrary to the best interests of mankind or Brazil."
The President, still frowning, shrugged. "A fanatic's promise is of little value. Whose definition of the 'best interests of mankind' do we use?"
"Mine, of necessity. Sir," Frank replied. "But I can only accomplish my mission if I have the support and help of good, talented people. At the moment, there are few people involved. We have David Tarrant, the former U.S. Astronaut, and Paul Goodman, a well-known American physicist and scientific generalist. In Russia, we have Sergei Andorovich, an engineer in the Russian space program, and Dr. Anton Ternayev, Deputy Director of Engineering at RKK Energia. These are good, solid, reasonable people, not a fanatic among them. I do not think they would be with me if they thought I was a fanatic, or that my plan was impossible."
The President still looked troubled. The possibility that Frank might do something illegal plainly bothered him. "Very well. We have talked with the specialists at the National Institute for Space Research, and they seem to agree that your project is at least technically possible." A thin smile broke his troubled expression. "Some of them became quite passionate about it, I understand." The smile faded "And you will be unsurprised to learn that we have launched a detailed investigation into your background and finances."
The President rose to his feet. "You will please provide a list of the people you mentioned to the Minister." The troubled expression had not left his face. "If all of this checks out, I will agree to sign your contract. Both our legal staffs, of course, must draft it and we will sign one copy in English, for you, and one copy in Portuguesa, for us. We will provide your facility, Senhor Weatherly, and we will protect you from your government. And I pray to God we are doing the right thing."