“I enjoy your honest approach to things, Andrew, and you are by no means a yes man.”
“I’ve advised Presidents in the past and will do so in the future if asked. You are no more or less familiar with the world than any of them, Andrew said.
“You’re kidding, I thought I was the worst.”
“No, Ma’am, because none of them knew anything and you’re no worse than the rest.”
“I hope that wasn’t intended to reassure me,” Ellen said.
“No, Ma’am, just to make you aware of your need to know more.”
“Your honesty is refreshing as always, Andrew.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.” Ellen grinned.
“Do you anticipate any problems with the treaty?”
“Yes.” Ellen looked surprised.
“You do?”
“Yes, there are always problems with the Russians even back to the Imperial days.”
“Explain, please.”
“They propose ideas for an arrangement such as this treaty then when you meet to finalize it, they have additions and usually take back some of what they proposed initially.”
“Do you expect that this time?”
“If they’re true to form then yes. The Russians are very hard to deal with over any matter.”
“What will they take back or add?”
“Impossible to say, you can’t predict what they’ll do.”
“How should we handle it?”
“Their foreign secretary Vasily Glasovitch, with be there alongside Deniken. I should be next to you on the first day. It is better if the two secretaries argue their side.”
“What about the second day?”
“Glasovitch will be gone and so will I. It’ll be just you and Deniken.”
“What do I do?”
“On the first day you and Deniken will confer with Glasovitch and me and after we have hashed things out the two Presidents will state their positions.”
“Will we reach an agreement?”
“Not right away and there’ll be a recess where we can talk alone,” Andrew explained.
“You and Glasovitch met last year and hammered out the framework of the agreement. Why are we having problems now?”
“That’s the way these things work, Ma’am.”
“Do we give in to their demands?”
“No, not at all. We bargain, we push back against what they’re asking for, we make our case and see what happens.”
“Any predictions?” Ellen asked.
“I never make predictions, it limits flexibility.”
“Will we go back home with a signed agreement?”
“Too early to tell,” Andrew said and Ellen sat back and sighed.
“Great,” Ellen said shaking her head.
“Don’t despair, Madam President, this is how diplomacy works.” Andrew smiled as he got up to leave.
“Thank you, Andrew, for your advice.” He smiled as he left. It was going to be tough negotiating with the Russians and maybe they thought the same way about the United States. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, that’s what she was told almost daily by sage advisors but she thought that somewhere along the line there would be something even a small something in this job that would be easy… she was still waiting for it. The meeting was scheduled for three in the afternoon so she spent the morning talking with Clarice and Bonnie then a few minutes with Andrew again to prepare for the meeting with Deniken. At two thirty the car arrived in front of the hotel and Trent knocked on her door and Bonnie opened it.
“It’s time, Ma’am,” Trent said and Bonnie nodded and told the president.
“Well, you’re on, Ellen,” she said to herself as she put on the final touches in the bathroom mirror. “I wish Belinda was here to make things perfect.” At that she chuckled remembering Belinda’s egocentric remark about her own beauty. “Okay, Ellen, go dazzle them.” She blew herself a kiss in the mirror then grinned as she headed out her hotel room for the car and maybe to history in the making. It would be historic but not how she imagined.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“What are the main problems you’ve encountered?” Dave asked Warren as they sat with Little Wolf in the lobby. Warren was experimenting with sending electricity over long distances to a receiving tower. The ultimate goal was sending electricity to the moon. Yes, the moon. Westinghouse had set him up in the desert of New Mexico and he’d been there for over a year.
“The biggest one is controlling the stream.”
“Because it has a tendency to spray?” Dave asked.
“Yes, we call it shotgunning. You must’ve run across this in the lab,” Warren said.
“On a much smaller scale. We send current two to three feet and though it holds its line, there are trace amounts of spreading and you’re working over miles.”
“It’s a problem but we’ve worked solutions with some effect.”
“What exactly?” Dave asked.
“Lasers,” Warren said.
“You parallel the current with lasers?” Little Wolf asked.
“Yes, how’d you know?” Warren asked.
“I read an article by Erik Sommerstom,” Little Wolf said.
“He’s sharp, the Swedes have been working on this for years,” Dave said.
“Yes, I’ve talked to Sommerstom, we share ideas,” Warren said.
“What does Westinghouse think of you sharing with another scientist?” Dave asked with furrowed brows.
“We share but neither one of us gathers anything that they didn’t already know. It’s a cat and mouse game trying to steal shortcuts.”
“Have you garnered anything?”
“He inadvertently told me the intensity of the laser he was using.”
“And you adjusted yours?” Dave asked grinning.
“Yes, and it worked,” Warren replied chuckling.
“Does he know?” Dave asked.
“I think he might because he stopped returning my calls and emails.”
“The physicist turned spy,” Little Wolf quipped and they laughed.
“My work is strictly for science and I don’t think the government has much interest in what I’m doing.” Dave looked at Little Wolf and nodded.
“Don’t kid yourself, Mr. Warren, if there are weapon applications to your work the military will be in your lab in 24 hours, maybe sooner,” Little Wolf posed,
“You think so?”
“I know so, right, Mr. Dave.”
“He’s right, Warren.”
“Are there any weapon possibilities?” Little Wolf asked.
“I guess with lasers and high voltage electricity involved there’s certainly a chance. A beam of current could be directed with lasers to fire at missiles or planes.” Warren replied.
“Welcome to the army, Captain Peabody,” Little Wolf said.
“You think so?” Warren asked.
“I don’t know but if the military finds out what you’re doing their imagination will get the best of them and they’ll be all over you and the lab, just like Little Wolf suggested,” Dave said.
“But we’re keeping everything a secret,” Warren pleaded.
“Mr. Warren, the government knows what everyone is doing these days. I’m sure they’re aware of your work. They just haven’t acted yet.”
“What will they do?” Warren asked.
“I don’t know but I’d guess they’ll take your results and kick you out,” Little Wolf replied.
“They wouldn’t need me?”
“They might if they thought you were indispensable. They’d draft you and keep you a secret.”
“Dave,” Warren said nervously.”
“Little Wolf is right; this could be the weapon of the future and it’d be the end of you going home to see Ariel or anyone else.”
“I’d be another Manhattan project?” Warren said with a questioning tone.
“I’d say so,” Dave replied.
“I never thought about that. Would I have a legal argument against them stealing my work, Little Wolf?”