“Still, I must ask you — given the nearly simultaneous timing of the two incidents, and knowing that Orion’s primary cargo was a lab element of ISS — has a connection between what happened in Brazil and the shuttle blaze been considered?”
“I have no knowledge that would lead me to believe that, and don’t think we should go too far with that kind of speculation. NASA maintains a very close relationship with UpLink, and we’ll be keeping track of any developments in Mato Grasso that could impact on the program. I intend to be absolutely forthcoming to the press about whatever we learn, bearing in mind that we need to be careful about any details that might jeopardize the safety of UpLink personnel abroad.”
“So you’re not concerned about Roger Gordian suspending operations at the plant? If the stories coming out of Brazil turn out to be true?”
Huh? Suspending operations? Where’d that come from? Feel free to whip something up out of thin air, why don’t you, Gary?
“No, I’ve heard nothing at all to indicate that’s being contemplated.”
Another pause.
“Unfortunately, I’m being signaled that we’re coming up on our daily ‘Keep Your Lawn Lean and Green’ segment. Please accept our prayers and best wishes as you move forward with your investigation. I hope you’ll return to give us an update.”
“Thank you, Gary, I’m sure that I will,” Annie said.
Onward, she thought.
It was at her afternoon press conference that Annie detected an emerging thread to the coverage, one that was being gradually twisted through a journalistic hook with sales figures and ratings points as the intended catch.
She’d scarcely taken a breath after having completed her opening statements when an Associated Press reporter opened the Q&A by shooting his hand into the air and jumping from his seat in front of the podium like a kindergartner desperate for his teacher’s permission to visit the potty.
“In your appearance on a national television broadcast earlier today, you discussed Roger Gordian closing down his International Space Station plant in Brazil due to an attack on its grounds by armed militants,” he said. “Can you elaborate on that situation for us?”
“As I stated before, I’ve heard nothing whatsoever about any such closing, and have to point out that your categorization of the intruders as militants is incredibly premature—”
“But you confirmed that a break-in took place, am I correct?”
“Yes, though break-in was the interviewer’s phrase, not mine,” she said. “My purview is the Orion probe and that’s where I wish to keep my focus. In my prepared comments a moment ago, I explained that the shuttle’s remains are being transported from the launch site to the Vehicle Assembly Building for reconstruction, a procedure I’ve been busy coordinating throughout the day. The remainder of my time has been spent working out procedural guidelines for the investigation, selecting members of our team, and doing everything I can to let the press know what we’re up to.”
Annie motioned to another print man, Allen Murdock, a staff reporter with the Washington Post.
“To stay with the issue my colleague from AP just raised,” Murdock said, “when asked on television whether the events in Brazil could have been linked to Orion, you stated you had no knowledge of it — quote, unquote — but refrained from dismissing the possibility outright. Does that mean there may be signs that they’re related acts of sabotage? And if so, who do you believe might have been responsible for them?”
“Allen, I don’t think it serves me any purpose to parse words. ‘No knowledge’ means precisely that—”
“But it’s well known that Roger Gordian has been a steady proponent and financial backer of ISS for many years. If the reports of his company closing up shop in Brazil were to prove accurate, wouldn’t it be reasonable to conclude that the decision was precipitated by a serious threat to his employees?”
That makes, what, three qualifiers in a single sentence?
“You’re asking several questions at once, all of them hypothetical, and I’d rather stick to the facts. Again, I’m not sure how this notion about UpLink abandoning the program originated, though it seems to me it’s based on a supposition drawn from a misrepresentation of some remarks that were made on the air earlier, which I think everyone here would agree can really get things in a tangle.”
Next!
She pointed to a fresh face. A young woman swimming amid a school of combative males. Sisterly kinship. Feminine rapport. Her press pass identified her as Martha Eumans from CNBC.
Martha stood. “Should UpLink decide to withdraw its support of ISS, whatever the reason, how seriously would it impact upon the space station’s future prospects…?”
And so it went for another very, very trying half hour.
“Annie, I realize these are difficult times, but gotta say you’re looking magnificent.”
“That’s very kind of you, Mac.”
“Mac” was McCauley Stokes, the sixtysomething cable talk show moderator popularly known for his folksy interviewing style, ever-present ten-gallon hat, and gold clasped string tie, as well as his string of twentysomething silicon-enhanced wives — all of which served as trademark reminders of his virile, high-in-the-saddle Texas cowboy heritage. The rough-rider routine, however, was as ersatz as his current bride’s outrageous bustline. For while Stokes had been born in Texas, it was to parents who had been the third-generation beneficiaries of an oil family fortune, migrated to the exclusive blue blood community of Greenwich, Connecticut, when he was four years old, and raised and educated him in an atmosphere of pampered gentility, where the closest he’d ever gotten to a horse had been the viewing stands of the local polo grounds.
“Hey, I’m not just being polite, Annie, you really are something else. A woman to be admired in every way.” He tipped his hat. “We’re gonna cover a lot of ground with you tonight, a whole lot, I say…”
My God, he’s doing Foghorn Leghorn.
“… but before we get to Orion, let’s play catch-up, hear how you been holding up on the home front. Last time you were a guest, you’d just returned from six weeks in space, remember? That was back in, what, late ’99?”
“I believe so, Mac. It was after my third and final mission.”
“And since then we know you’ve suffered the loss of your husband, Mark.”
She inhaled, looking at Stokes in the monitor that, in this particular instance, had been provided to her by the studio technicians.
“Yes, that’s true. Mark died just over a year ago.”
“A woman like yourself — two children, high-octane career — it must be tough trying to lead an active social life. Have you dated anyone since Mark passed?”
Deep, deep breath.
“My professional and maternal responsibilities are very fulfilling, Mac. And about all I care to handle right now.”
“But a lady with your beauty, smarts, and class, with all your verve, catch me, has gotta have scores of young bucks locking antlers—”
Bucks? I don’t believe this.
“Mac, forgive me for interrupting, but I’m sure my personal affairs are of less interest to your viewers than the progress we at NASA are making with regard to the Orion investigation.”