In his next broadcast, Dolf accused the U.S. Government and NASA of a long history of obstructing the development of space technology in the U.S. by using money and supposed NASA support to obtain detailed information, and then asserting control. He accused NASA of using variations of three basic techniques. First, the use of government contracts to control and/or kill independent developments. Second, through phony 'partnerships' designed to encourage the partner to overextend, at which point they typically destroyed the partner and the project by abruptly withdrawing their support. Finally, by launching an 'investigation' of 'possible violations' of the technology transfer laws to drive away investors and customers. He referred his listeners to specific cases in which he alleged that each of these techniques had been used. Then he demanded that the U.S. Congress launch an investigation of NASA to refute his charges. "These," he claimed, "are much more valid 'crimes against humanity' than those of which Frank is accused, since they have held back man's drive to space." He also called on any company or nation that had experienced these techniques to go public.
In another broadcast, he challenged every spacegoing nation on Earth to categorically deny that they had ever launched a nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed military or other satellite. He claimed that the people of the world would recognize that anything but a flat 'we have never' denial would be, in fact, an admission. He stated that he would call them on it in his broadcasts, and demand that detector satellites be launched to verify that no Earth-orbiting satellites were emitting detectable nuclear traces. He also mentioned that upon completion of their mission, the Earth would have a useful space station from which to launch cheap, plentiful detector satellites. "In fact," he said, "My crewmate Ron Mbele has already designed one that would be cheap to manufacture and easy to deploy." He urged the leaders of the world's spacegoing nations to be careful in their denials.
The President of the United States went on national TV to denounce the 'vicious, unwarranted attacks' by the crew. When asked if he planned to respond to Dolf's challenge with a categorical denial, the President replied, "It has always been the policy of the United States to prevent the spread of nuclear power and nuclear weapons into space. In fact, the U.S.sponsored the UN ban on nuclear power in space."
The President of the Russian Federation announced that, "This government has never launched a nuclear payload into space." China remained silent, as did the European Union.
Meanwhile, Brazil was the first nation to respond with a categorical denial excepting the launch of Man's Hope, of course, closely followed by India and Japan and a host of smaller nations, from Kazakhstan to Peru.
Dolf's next broadcast began with, "By refusing to categorically deny it, the President of the United States yesterday confirmed that the U.S. has launched nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed satellites, as did the President of the Russian Federation, who claimed that 'this government has never launched a nuclear payload', but failed to address the actions of previous governments, particularly the USSR. China and the European Union were more honest; they simply refused to answer. So, this pretended outrage over our small power source is as phony as the charges against Mr. Weatherly."
US Congressmen and Senators, ever vigilant for opportunities to enhance their visibility, began appearing on every talk and news show, demanding an investigation of NASA's dealings with private companies. NASA fell back on the 'national security' defense, while it frantically tried to defuse the situation. The NASA director 'categorically denied' that Frank Weatherly had been the target of a NASA vendetta, but fell back on 'no comment' when asked about unofficial reports from the IRS and SEC that their investigations had been initiated at the request of NASA. Smelling blood in the water, the U.S. media began delving into various past NASA contracts and 'partnerships'. Brazil and the SeaLaunch company were particularly helpful.
After starting the riot, of course, Dolf let it fester, moving back to mission-related subject in his reports. It wasn't from lack of commitment; the ship was approaching the comet.
Dolf's listenership reached an all-time high as they approached and then "landed on" the comet. The world hung on his every word, and his reports were rebroadcast numerous times and translated into numerous languages. Commentators argued about every detail of every report, and talking heads interviewed each other almost every day.
It was at the end of one of those briefings that Control said, "Hey, Dolf? Could you tell Mister W to call Anton? It's important."
Dolf chuckled. "I think you just did." But he repeated the message before signing off.
Frank frowned. "Anton" had to be Dr. Anton Ternayev, the Russian engineer. But what could he possibly want? The mission had launched. Energia's involvement was over. Could it perhaps have something to do with his Kliper/Parom investment?
Moscow was five hours behind the Philippines, so Frank didn't have to wait, and give the CIA a chance to set up an attempt to locate him. He used three separate anonymous servers before using VoIP to call Anton's office number.
"Frank!" The Russian answered. "I'm glad you got back to me so quickly."
"Yeah, well, I wanted to call quick, before the CIA could figure out how to backtrack this call. What's up? Is it the Kliper project?"
Anton laughed. "No. That project is running merrily along. No, this is something else. Something you'll like.
"When you came here the first time, there were quite a few people who were very suspicious of you and your plan. One of them was the Energia Director at Baikonur.
"Well, he has realized his error. Last week he appeared at Energia headquarters, and submitted his resignation. His major reason was that he had concealed the existence of a second Energia booster. I'm not sure how we missed it. It was the one in that picture you kept waving around. If we had thought about it, we'd have realized that Energia would never have gone to the expense of moving that booster from Baikonur without a compelling reason. I notified Gorneliev, of course. We had, after all, sold you 'all' our Buran-related equipment, and I thought a second core stage should certainly have been included."
"For some reason, Gorneliev informed the President's office. Gorneliev called me yesterday, frantic to get in touch with you." He cleared his throat, and his voice turned formal. "'The President of the Russian Federation, recognizing that this core stage should have been included in his original purchase, offers to Frank Weatherly the Energia booster located at Baikonur. It is the hope of the government of the Russian Federation that Mr. Weatherly will use this booster to launch the second Buran now located in Brazil.' That is the official text, but the point is that you've got another core stage! You can launch Man's Dream!"
Frank sighed. "Thank him kindly, Anton, but there's not much I can do about it. I don't have the money to launch the Dream, even if that core stage was in Brazil. And by the time I do, Man's Hope will be back.
"What?" Anton's voice was incredulous, then it began turning furious. "You don't have the money! Are you insane? Or just a blind, stubborn fool?" There was a pause as he took a deep breath.
"Do you ever read anything besides stock market reports and Dolf's speeches? Don't you know that you and the Man's Hope's crew are the most famous people on the planet? In Russia, you are heroes. You are using Russian technology to put man into deep space. You fool, you're more popular here than the President!"
"Now, our President is not always wise, but he is very intelligent. I suspect he sees this as a way to get his name publicly associated with yours. If he could think of a way to get a picture of himself with you, he'd probably fly around the world, if necessary. I'd bet that if I dropped a hint in his ear, he'd be willing to pay to ship the booster to Alcântara. Hell, tell him you'll meet him there and he'd probably deliver it personally!