Mansfield turned away quickly and walked toward a door at the far end of the room. Maddox followed but stopped when he saw Mansfield enter what appeared to be a closet. Before he could voice further confusion, Maddox watched as a hidden wall inside the closet opened to an elevator.

When Maddox first conceived of becoming leader of the space station project, he realized he would become privy to very important, top-secret information. But as he looked at the elevator, he realized how secretive some of that information could apparently get. This was by far the strangest thing he'd ever seen. Anxiety still lingered about where the elevator led but curiosity got the better of him and he stepped inside.

By the time the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Maddox guessed they were ten to twelve stories below the earth's surface. Mansfield walked out of the elevator and down the long, dim hallway without giving a second thought to his surroundings. Maddox, on the other hand, attempted to absorb as many details while closely following the Chief of Staff.

Some kind of underground bomb shelter, he thought. It doesn't look very modern, though. It must have been built years ago.

The simplistic design and plain, empty hallways conjured images of architecture prior to the computer era. Maddox had trouble believing that any modern architect would create a shelter so outdated. After passing a handful of doors, Maddox finally had to ask a question about this place.

"Where do all these doors lead?"

"What do I look like, a tour guide?" Mansfield asked. "They are living quarters, in case a nuclear bomb ever hit D.C."

When they reached the end of the hall, Mansfield opened the set of double doors unlike the others they passed. Upon seeing a large table in the middle of the room and dozens of television monitors lining the walls, Maddox figured this must be some kind of situational strategy room. James Armour and another familiar smiling face sat at the head of the table.

"Wesley, thank you for coming," the smiling man said, getting up and crossing the room to shake the project leader's hand. "Sorry for the unannounced visit, but I thought you'd understand the need for complete secrecy."

"Yes, Mr. President," Maddox said. "This place is amazing. How far down are we?"

Marshall gave a quick history of the bunker. Although he did not rush through the explanation, Maddox could tell the President had more important things to discuss. Therefore, Maddox did not ask anything else despite his curiosity. Instead, he listened as the President explained how there was one very important topic they had to talk about: slush funds.

"Slush funds, sir?" Maddox asked.

"Yes, Wesley. Millions of dollars have been put into these secret funds throughout the years, money put aside for use by Presidents of the past and future. Let me explain how these work: you see, excess money from other government accounts-"

"I am aware of how those accounts work, sir," Maddox interrupted. "I just don't understand why you flew me cross country to talk about slush funds."

The President seemed glad that Maddox wanted to get down to business.

"As you know, Wesley, the government has had to spend billions of dollars on the space station project so far. In fact, the estimated budget for the entire project has been exceeded by countless millions already."

Money! Maddox thought to himself. I should've known this would come down to a money issue.

"Sir, we've already discussed how the original plans would not be feasible without modifications we had to make along the way," Maddox began to explain.

"Would you let the President finish before you start with the excuses?" Mansfield snapped.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Peter on this one," Marshall said. "He's right, I'm not here to listen to excuses. I'm here to ask for your continued help in dealing with delicate situations.

"First, I'd like to thank you for continuing to dupe the media into believing the space station construction is far behind schedule. I assume this deception is still just deception?" Marshall asked.

"Yes, sir," Maddox quickly responded. "We are now well ahead of schedule. Much further ahead than I could've ever hoped."

"Good, then the information I've been given is correct. That means the start of space construction is not far away?"

Maddox had not given the idea of space construction too much consideration over the previous six months. While the training of the space crew progressed beyond expectation, plans to begin transporting station parts to orbit were still in the earliest stages. This part of the construction project was the only one in which the government demanded to play a crucial role. The original plans called for NASSA and McNalley & Jones to work together on the best way to transport the station to space.

The three other men stared at Maddox, awaiting an answer that the project leader knew would make them unhappy. Beginning space construction was not an endeavor that could be rushed. Maddox was shocked to discover that Armour hadn't informed the other two men of this fact.

"I'm sorry for all of the effort you've put into getting the four of us together, Mr. President. But I'm afraid I need far more time to work with experts on how to begin planning for actual space construction," Maddox explained.

The project leader saw the three other men look at each other. A knowing smirk on Mansfield's face clued Maddox that the rest of the men knew something he did not.

"That is what we're here to talk about. Isn't it?" Maddox asked, wondering what he was missing.

"Yes, Wesley. That is what we are here to talk about," Marshall said.

With the push of a button, the lights dimmed and a large projection screen lowered from the ceiling at the far end of the room.

"The reason I mentioned slush funds earlier was because of this," Marshall said. He clicked a remote that displayed a picture on the screen.

It was a sketch of some sort of space shuttle, a shuttle unlike anything Maddox had ever seen. At first glance, the drawing looked like something Maddox would see in a Hollywood movie, a blockbuster with a very large budget. If the proposed dimensions were accurate, this shuttle would be nearly twice as tall and three times as wide as any other shuttle in history. Having already done research in this subject, Maddox thought he recognized multiple similarities between this drawing and the Russian proton rocket boosters, which had been used to transport many of the main parts of the International Space Station into orbit.

A rocket this size would never work, Maddox thought to himself. From the limited research he'd done on the subject, two major flaws were immediately evident. The first, and most obvious, problem was the sheer size of the rocket. The weight of the rocket itself, combined with thousands of extra pounds of projected weight, would make the rocket like a tank trying to haul a tractor-trailer up a 90-degree incline. Normally a whiz with numbers, Maddox could not even guess the amount of rocket fuel needed to blast this monstrosity into space. The space needed to store that amount of fuel would be at least half the size of the entire rocket, leaving an insufficient amount of storage for the space station parts. No, Maddox thought, the problems a rocket this size could cause would make it detrimental in the long run.

Even if the President assembled the brightest team of space engineers in the country, overcoming this major flaw would take years of technological advancements and countless testing procedures before the rocket could be used. Besides, the size issue led Maddox to the second of the major flaws: none of NASA's launch sites had been built to accommodate a space shuttle quite so large. Finding a location for such a site would take time, and the construction of a massive launch pad and control tower could very well take years.

Maddox hated to be cynical all the time but the three men in the room wanted him to turn lead into gold and do so in very little time.

"Mr. President, I hate being the bearer of bad news but no technology exists to build such a shuttle," Maddox said.

Maddox noticed that the other men did not appear disappointed with this news. President Marshall clicked on a button and the sketch of the shuttle disappeared. It was replaced by a realistic image of the sketch, an image that Maddox assumed must be computer-generated. When he looked closer, he noticed that images of numerous construction workers had been added on the ground and on scaffolding around the shuttle.

I guess the people were added to show a scale of the shuttle's size, Maddox figured. He felt more confused with every moment he stared at the picture. Maddox eventually came to a shocking conclusion.

"This is real," he whispered in awe, barely loud enough for the others to hear. The President laughed, like a father happy to see his son open a Christmas gift.

"But no NASA launch facility could possibly accommodate a shuttle that size."

The President continued smiling.

"A facility has not only been built but the shuttle is already there, waiting for its liftoff," Marshall said.

Although he was looking at a picture of the shuttle and staring into the faces of two men who had no reason to lie, Maddox still had trouble believing this was real.

"How is this possible?"

"Have you ever heard of Beyer Technologies?" Armour asked.

"Of course," Maddox answered right away. "McNalley & Jones thought Beyer Tech was going to be the front runner for the space station project, especially after we saw their presentation. We were in shock that they weren't announced a finalist."

"Yes, I always thought their presentation was the most impressive," Mansfield said, taking a shot at Maddox any way he could. "They certainly got my vote."

Maddox had too many questions about the shuttle to worry about petty squabbling.

"We were quite confident that the proper companies were selected as finalists," Marshall began. "But we were also very impressed with the technology Beyer Tech brought to the table. So impressed, in fact, that we decided they were needed for a job that was equally important as the space station. We knew that space transportation was needed to haul the station parts but no shuttle had ever needed to transport such a huge supply of cargo."

"I was always under the impression that we'd strike up some kind of deal with Russia to use their proton rocket boosters, like with the ISS," Maddox said.

"We have been forced to rely on Russia's help for too much of this project already," Mansfield said. Feeling belittled yet again by the Chief of Staff's negativity, Maddox turned to the President for his answer. He was surprised to find Marshall in agreement with Mansfield.

"Peter is right. While Russia's help has been invaluable to the success of the station thus far, we know that relying on them for space transport could prove detrimental in the long run. Besides, if we want to begin space construction within a couple months, we're going to need to do so in total secrecy."

"A couple months?" Maddox barely comprehended the meaning of the words. Although most of the station was ready for the next stage of the building process, the project leader was not ready to hear this kind of news.

"I don't see the point of waiting," the President said. "Whether we succeed or not, it's all going to happen in space."

Maddox's mind began to fill with more logistical questions, as the shock of hearing this news wore off.

"Having this shuttle built is one thing," he said, a sense of frustration building in his voice. "But won't numerous test flights have to be completed to ensure total safety? And before that, won't one of the launch sites somewhere need to be modified to support such an oversized shuttle? And why the continued need for secrecy about everything? My workers have done such a superb job but we still have to hide our success from the world. Doesn't our success deserve some glory?"

"How long have you been holding that back? Maybe you should consider therapy, it might help deal with your emotions," Mansfield said snidely.

This time, Marshall shot his Chief of Staff an annoyed look and the bulldog promptly backed down.

"I understand your frustration, Wesley. But you must understand that I have my reasons for doing things this way, the way we've done them all along," Marshall began. "And if you listen to the remainder of what I have to say, maybe you'll have a better overall understanding of my ultimate plans."

At this moment, Maddox realized he was standing, having gotten out of his seat at some point during his frustrated tirade. He took a deep breath and sat back down, suddenly embarrassed at losing his cool in front of such a distinguished group of men.

With the push of a button, the screen at the front of the room changed. The photograph of the newly-built 'super' shuttle switched to a photograph of a man. Maddox was surprised to see a simple head shot of a person so it took him an extra moment to recognize him.

"Jon Morris," Maddox said.

"I thought you might recognize him," President Marshall said.

"It would be impossible for me to forget him."

While a senior in college, Wesley Maddox had garnered attention as one of the brightest minds in recent history, and many top companies in the country desperately sought his services. But if there was one soon-to-be graduate receiving as much attention as Maddox, it was Jon Morris. Numerous educational journals casted Maddox and Morris as intellectual adversaries though the two barely knew each other.

Morris had chosen teaching over research once he graduated and left Maddox alone to shine.

"I thought Jon still taught at Harvard," Maddox said, trying to recall if he'd heard news about his college 'rival.' Nothing had come to mind but Maddox was so consumed with the space station that he hardly had time to hear about anything.

"Morris got a job with Beyer Tech shortly after the President announced the space station competition," Armour explained. "At that time, he was hired for consulting more than actual R&D. Beyer Tech knew he completed no significant research after college but he still had a great reputation for space engineering. After all, hiring a Harvard professor was still a great catch back during the huge hiring boom that followed the announcement. Every company interested in entering proposals was hiring anyone with knowledge on the subject and Morris was just one of dozens of consultants to be enlisted.

"But little did Beyer Tech know that hiring Morris would ultimately give them no shot at winning their space station bid. Instead, this hiring led to them hitting a jackpot of their own."

President Marshall took over the story. Maddox knew he was about to hear the meat of the story.

"Just a few days into the early developmental stages of Beyer Tech's space station proposal, Morris dropped a bombshell on his bosses." Another click of the button and the photograph of Morris changed to a long strand of symbols and numbers, some kind of complicated formula.

"What is it for?" Maddox asked.

The screen changed again, this time to an image of a space station against a plain, black background. Maddox immediately recognized the image as Beyer Tech's proposed model, a model that did not make the top five. Marshall, Mansfield and Armour watched Maddox, waiting to see if the project leader could figure out the mystery on his own.

This space station model looks nothing like the space shuttle that Beyer Tech built, Maddox thought. And how the hell does Morris's formula make any kind of difference?

"If this is supposed to be some kind of test, I'm obviously failing," Maddox said.

"Maybe this will help," President Marshall said.

The empty black background behind the model space station morphed into a launch pad. The still image also turned into an animation, as a dozen short tubes emerged from the bottom of the space station.

"I don't remember those tubes from the presentation," Maddox said. "And why would the station be completed on the ground?"

"This part of the presentation never made it to the public," Marshall explained. "Once we saw this, we made a separate deal with Beyer Tech and edited out what we didn't want the public to see."

Maddox's frustration returned as the President danced around the truth.

"I still don't understand. A completed space station on the ground makes no sense. It can't do any good if it's not in orbit. Even with the size of the huge shuttle they've already built, there would be no chance of ever hauling that station off the ground. So unless Morris's mystery formula somehow breaks the laws of gravity and that thing can float into space, I don't understand....well, I just don't really understand anything you're showing me."

President Marshall clicked the button and the following animation only succeeded in muddling Maddox's mind more.

Fire erupted from the tubes that appeared on the model space station and the huge craft began to slowly rise. A small box in the corner of the screen displayed the speed. After one minute, the space station flew faster than any space shuttle Maddox ever heard about, far quicker than the 1,400 meters per second that normal shuttles traveled. At the 90-second mark, two boosters from the bottom of the space station separated from the rest of the vehicle, nearly a full 30 seconds sooner than normal. By the time the space station jettisoned the external fuel tank and began its orbit around the Earth, it was moving at a pace of nearly 12,000 meters per second. The animation came to an end once the space station started its orbit. Doubts swirled in Maddox's mind.

"That was a very nice cartoon, if only they had included a cloaking device," the project leader said, his voice oozing with sarcasm. "But unfortunately, we don't live in a world where the rules of Star Trek apply."

"Beyer Tech assured us that this could work," Armour responded, his voice confident.

"I'm no expert when it comes to rocketry but the secret boosters on their station design are nowhere near the size needed to hold enough fuel to launch it into space. In fact, if Beyer Tech's space station was anywhere near as heavy as ours, then no amount of rocket fuel could ever lift it into orbit. There are limits to what can be propelled into space, so unless Beyer Tech designed some kind of new..."

Maddox stopped talking, as the formula developed by Jon Morris suddenly came to mind. The formula had to be the difference between what he thought was inconceivable and what the other three men in the room knew was possible.

"What exactly did Jon Morris figure out?"

"A new strain of rocket fuel allows what you just saw to become reality," Armour said. "This fuel burns so hot for so long that building larger space vehicles is now feasible."

Armour gave a quick history of how Morris developed the new fuel that would revolutionize space travel. Morris had always dreamt of deep space flight but knew one of the biggest obstacles was the speed at which current spacecraft could travel. Once he graduated college, Morris could get a job wherever he wanted. But these companies left deep space flight to the movies. Morris realized his only chance to make his dream a reality was by altering the way space travel currently operated.

Morris took a job teaching at Harvard, the youngest person ever hired by the prestigious university. In his free time, he studied under some of the world's finest physicists and chemists, absorbing as much knowledge of fuels as he could. His formula took years to fully develop before he was ready to begin testing. More time was spent in covert labs, with Harvard footing most of the bill on the top-secret research. Development was extensive and arduous, especially since safety precautions had to be taken during every phase of the potentially unstable fuel. But once the fuel was perfected in the lab, Morris was excited to announce his breakthrough to the entire space community.

Until the destruction of the first potential deep space probe completely ruined everything. NASA was disbanded and the world lost all hope in the space program. Morris knew his moment to shine had passed by for the time being but he clung to the hope that a route to his dream might one day appear. So instead of going public with his fuel formula at a time when there was little use, Morris waited for the reemergence of a new space program.

"He didn't have to wait long," Armour said, concluding the story. "President Marshall announced the space station project and Beyer Tech hired Morris as a consultant to their presentation. A few weeks into the early stages of R&D, he unveiled his discovery to the Beyer Tech's board members and consequently changed the entire direction of their planning."

Maddox had always assumed he'd won, but now he was not so sure of his victory. While he had mostly been associated with failures during construction of the space station, the three men in front of him spoke of Morris as though he was a savior.

"Why us then? Why choose our standard space station design instead of something more state-of-the-art?" Maddox asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"A fear of change, of trying something totally new and it failing," Marshall answered honestly. "We felt that stability was more important than an advancement in technology. Your space station design was more proven than Beyer Tech's. We therefore decided that a partnership was the best course of action in the long run."

"We knew that creating space station parts would take a long time. Even though you are way ahead of schedule, it has still taken years for the first stage of construction to finish. If Beyer Tech had taken this long to build their parts, they would have needed a few more years to put those parts together to complete the station. We would be relying on unproven technology to get the space station into orbit. If something catastrophic were to happen and years of construction were wasted, there would not be enough time to start all over and make a second attempt."

Maddox could sense there was something else being kept from him. Five minutes earlier, he thought he'd finally learned that the secret was the existence of Morris's top-secret massive shuttle, powered by an ultra-enhanced fuel source. But the strange sense of desperation had returned to the President's voice, a desperation that normally appeared when he spoke of the strict time constraints put on the completion of this project. Maddox still had to ask the obvious question that came to mind.

"Mr. President, the world would forgive you if a project this huge did not go as planned due to unforeseen obstacles. I still have trouble understanding why you've placed such difficult time constraints on everything and why such major developments along the way have been kept secret."

Maddox noticed that President Marshall looked at James Armour for a split second longer than normal.