"Leak? You mean you think there really is a leak out of the White House?" Moore asked. "Come on. That has to be just a ploy by the DNC. Although, it is interesting that the article in that magazine had a drawing that looks like it was lifted right out of one of our Top Secret documents. But look, the Seppies have managed a technology that we haven't by teleporting this battle cruiser the way they did. Maybe they didn't need a leak. Or maybe there was a leak, who the hell knows?"
"Yes, sir. Too much of a coincidence perhaps, perhaps not, but we are looking into it. Right now I would say that nobody has any more information on it than I do," the DNI replied.
"Well, then. Mike, let's keep it that way."
"Yes, sir."
"But there has to be a leak somewhere. Any idea where it really is? I mean, the Separatists don't have the resources to build all this and to generate the QMT-4s and a facility like that out in the Oort. Could they have done that without having stolen some knowledge of this concept? If they didn't get it from us, then where did they get it?"
"We don't know."
"I need something here people, anything. Work with me on this. We need to find the leak if it is real or to find out who their smart guys are and stop them, steal them, or whatever else is necessary." The public now believed there was a leak, somewhere. Congress had pointed its collective legislative finger at Moore and blamed him. They would be demanding to know where the security leak was now that yesterday's events had transpired, and today's call from Amaka Chi for impeachment was fuel to the fire. He had to give the public a spy before the polls opened on Tuesday.
"Senate Majority Leader Hardin Madira, Dem from Wyoming, is here with us tonight to give his take on the impeachment of President Alexander Moore." Gail Fehrer looked evenly into the camera, showing her unbiased news anchor face. "Senator Madira, as you may or may not recall, is also the great-grandnephew of the one hundred and eleventh president, Sienna Madira. Senator?"
"Thanks for having me, Gail." Senator Madira smiled for the camera, trying to look as comfortable and congenial as possible. "This is a dire time for our country. We see that the unchecked executive order spending of the Moore administration has led us to further terrorist attacks from the Separatist Union and has driven the wedge even deeper between the Sol System and the Tau Ceti colony. To my knowledge, all contact with the colony on Ares has been lost now since the president took office."
"Now, hold on a minute, Senator," Gail interrupted him. "Doesn't the record show that the Separatist Laborers Guild had strong ties to that colony, and isn't it likely that that is where the Exodus took them? So isn't it safe to assume that the Ares colony was just another extension of the Separatist terrorist organization?"
"I'm not completely certain where you're getting this information, Gail, but it is mostly speculation. It is just as likely that this administration has alienated them with the tariffs required to fund this little military buildup of Moore's. And now we see that not only has the White House been spending left and right basically unchecked, but now there are these security leaks of highly classified military technologies."
"That still hasn't been proven yet," Gail replied, not quite completely disgusted with the DNC carreer politician.
"Well, Gail, what we really are uncovering, thanks to the great work done by Congresswoman Amaka Chi and her staff and the tripartisan investigation into the Tau Ceti hiatus and the Martian Exodus, is that President Moore must have known about these security breaches that led to the terrorist attacks on Saturday. To develop the capabilities that the Separatists exhibited Saturday they must have had serious help from within our top research organizations. All of which were funded on executive orders." Senator Madira made a sour face and shook his head to display his disgust.
"So, what is your opinion on what should be done, Senator?" Fehrer asked.
"We're doing it. Moore's regime should be brought to an end, and he should be brought forward as a criminal to the state. The investigation will go forward whether he wins the election or not. I feel as strongly about this as I have about any issue in my thirty years of public service."
President Moore sat quietly, looking out the window of the Oval Office. He had enjoyed meeting the two Navy mecha pilots. The three of them chatted about mecha and discussed the situation in the Oort Cloud at length. It had been a good diversion from the political nightmare surrounding him like a black fog. The fog kept him from seeing through to who was behind all of the false nonsense that could cost him the election.
Although there was a political fog surrounding him, there hadn't been a clearer day in the city in weeks. He watched bluebirds play on the lawn outside the White House as he thought about his situation. The view had pretty much been kept the same for centuries. There were actually laws in place that kept architecture to heights below the peak of the Washington Monument, and there were other regulations that maintained the Capitol City's aging charm intact. The Capitol Mall had been protected by legislation for centuries now, and the Memorials Act of 2117 had made certain that America's historical monuments of the Beltway were maintained in pristine form.
It's a great city, Alexander thought.
Yes, sir, it is, Abigail added.
But his mind was elsewhere. What was happening to him? The election was only a day away and according to the polls was slipping out of his grasp. He had come this far and had taken major steps to prepare the country for what he feared were tough times ahead, but to lose the election before it happened based on bogus charges the way DNC would have it, he couldn't allow. Alexander was certain that this entire security leak mess was a setup. He knew what Top Secret programs he had interest in and which ones he had dealt in detail with. He had paid close attention to the quantum membrane teleportation technology because he feared how it might be used in the near future. The QMT-4 used in the wrong way could be devasting to a system's defenses.
There was no doubt in his mind that he was being set up, but by whom? Sure, there had been donations from the Separatists PACs and corporations, and it was a damned proven fact that all three candidates had received similar donations. The rigors and expense of campaigns required that a serious candidate accept pretty much any donation he got. Moore knew that he had been no different than any other candidate in that regard. Receiving campaign funds from Seppy sympathizers wasn't illegal, and it was nonsensical and circumstantial evidence that would go nowhere. But if they could falsely tie that in with the leaked classified documents it might be enough to impeach him. No, what was really enough to impeach him was the fact that the House and Senate were a large majority Dem and Indy, and they wanted the White House back. That, the politics, truly was the end of the story there. But Alexander knew that he had not leaked those documents or ordered them leaked. It just didn't make sense to him. Hell, if he were going to do something like hand over the system to Elle Ahmi and her fanatical Separatists, there seemed to be better ways than just leaking documents to the press. No, he was being setup— framed—and he was going to, by God, put a stop to it.
Who has the most to gain?
Follow the money, sir. Who funded Amaka Chi's campaigns? Digging there might be a good place to start.
Congresswoman Amaka Chi sure was getting a lot of face time with the public now that she had come out with the smoking gun against Moore. She had gained the most as far as he could surmise.
Could it be that simple? the president thought. Is this just a bunch of smoke and mirrors to create a windfall of publicity for a practically unknown congresswoman? The president considered the possibility as he stared out the window at the south lawn. It had only been luck as far as he could tell that Chi had gotten onto the Tau Ceti Commission. In fact, she was the most junior member of the commission, yet she somehow managed to end up as the spokeswoman. Maybe, she was sent to call me out because of the very fact that she is the junior member and has nothing to lose. If things turned bad for her attack, the DNC could just shrug it off as an attack by a junior member that didn't know better. Hmmm.