The young lady stood and ignored the whistling coming from somewhere near the back. She spoke loudly and clearly so all could hear.

"I've noticed that the coverage on TV and in the newspapers shows only men," the girl said. "The construction teams at the funeral last week were all men and everything I've seen about ground construction contained only men. My question is this: Is the space station project a men-only club?"

Maddox was momentarily taken aback, not expecting any sort of question like this, especially not the first one. He'd done many interviews that asked the same questions in the same order so it actually felt refreshing to hear something unexpected.

"Are the participants in most areas of this project mainly men? Yes," Maddox answered, continuing with total honesty. "Does that mean it's a man-only club? Certainly not. The truth is, most people in this profession are men. But our current construction workers were selected solely on a volunteer basis. There's currently only one woman on any of my teams. But that woman happens to be the leader of Team Five. She has the respect of every man on the crew but that's because she earned it through hard work and intelligence. This program is open to all people, men and women. As long as you're intelligent and willing to work hard, we want you."

The girl smiled, pleased with Maddox's answer. When she sat back down, more hands raised. He pointed to a section of raised hands.

"What about last month's accident?" a skinny young man asked. "What are the chances something like that could happen again?"

"Any person who has worked in space travel or space construction or any area where dangerous space work is concerned will tell you that there is always a chance of a disaster," Maddox said. "Let's face it, anything that goes wrong in that kind of environment is automatically a dire threat.

"Going into the project, we were optimistic about maintaining perfect safety levels, even though we knew there was great risk involved. Unfortunately, our perfect safety levels were compromised in a way we all feared most. We hope to learn from this first disaster to avoid a second. But by no means can we guarantee complete and utter safety for all involved in space construction."

Maddox's honesty caused an outbreak of worried murmuring among the audience. The skinny kid who asked the question had a follow-up, which he shouted over the sudden burst of noise.

"Why would you think anyone in their right mind would want to risk their lives then?"

"Some of the best things in life involve taking risks. People risk their lives every day when they travel in cars or fly in planes. Most of you in this room take risks when you have to go to class and deal with a teacher like Dr. Owens," Maddox said, eliciting more laughter from the crowd. "The risk factor involved in this program is very high, but we believe the reward factor is equally high. All I'm doing is asking you to consider. Those who feel that the danger outweighs the benefits need not apply, and I would thank you for listening to me today. But for those of you who feel this challenge is something you'd like to pursue, we'll be more than happy to consider you.

"Let me add one more thing. I realize that not too many people are willing to take this risk. But don't think that by being brave and signing up you will automatically be given the opportunity. As I've said before, we're only taking the brightest and most qualified students. I will be speaking at ten top schools in the country and only the top 200 students who apply will be accepted into the program. And out of those 200 that we select, we'll be happy if half make it through the rigorous training program."

Maddox recognized another change on faces in the audience. Many students had apparently been under the impression that applying meant being accepted. Now they appeared worried when Maddox mentioned how competitive entrance into the program would be.

Maddox glanced down at his watch and was surprised to see more time had passed than he expected.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be on my way," he announced. "I have to give this same speech to the students over at Harvard. I hope they have as receptive a crowd as here."

Maddox opened his briefcase and took out a stack of applications, enough for about half of the students in the large lecture hall. The project leader thought he'd be lucky if a small percentage of these applications were used, but it was better to leave too many than not enough.

"Please read the instructions carefully, they will tell you how to fill out the forms and where they need to be returned. Thank you all for coming and have a nice day."

Maddox left the lecture hall before he could be bombarded with more questions. He rushed to his limousine, hoping that the drive to Harvard would not take long. It would be quite rude of him to be late.

As Maddox walked through the Harvard campus, his cell phone rang. When he picked up, the man on the other end introduced himself as one of the professors he'd spoken with before his speech at MIT. Maddox forgot he left his number with the professor, in case the students had issues with the applications.

"I'm afraid we have a bit of a problem with the number of applications you left," the professor said.

"Don't worry about the extras," Maddox said. "You can throw them away. We printed out way more than we needed."

"Actually, Mr. Maddox, our problem is the opposite," the professor said. "We ran out of applications and there are dozens of students who still want one."

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

In the two weeks following the accident aboard the space station, President Marshall was the busiest he'd ever been. During his two terms in office, this was the biggest catastrophe he had to oversee, or at least the biggest one known to the public. Marshall was so busy that secret plans made by the 'Inner Circle' had to be put on the back burner. The only move he made regarding the comet came on the same day he addressed the nation. Marshall sent Peter Mansfield to meet with Tyler Ainsworth to deliver the demands required of Ainsworth's seacraft.

"He didn't take our demands well, did he?" Marshall asked.

The President and Peter Mansfield were finally alone in the Oval Office, the first chance the two had had to discuss their plans in private for nearly a week.

"He feels cheated. Plus, he's insulted because he thinks you're using him and his seacraft as a backup plan in case the space station fails," Mansfield said.

"He's right," Marshall responded.

"He seems to be running a tight ship, literally," Mansfield said. "He's very crafty. I have to say I was impressed by his operation but that makes me nervous. I'm not sure we'll be able to trust him."

"I can do one better," the President said. "I can guarantee we can't trust him. But Tyler Ainsworth is the last thing I should be worrying about. As long as we check in on him from time to time, he can't pick up his craft and hide from us. Now China, that's where I'm having bigger trust issues."

Between the accident, his trip to Washington, continuing to assemble the passenger list and helping create the space construction training program, the Chief of Staff completely forgot to ask President Marshall about the details of his trip to China. Mansfield knew the President was stood up by the Chinese President and did not divulge information regarding Comet Clement, but that was the extent of what he'd heard.

"So what exactly happened while you were there?" Mansfield asked.

Marshall described the rude reception that met him and the way the Chinese Prime Minister and Foreign Affair's Minister spoke down to him about the space station and America's ability to complete it. The President said China was angriest about America's partnership with Russia in constructing the station. He also described how he was moments from still sharing the comet secret when the meeting was interrupted by the accident story.

"But the most shocking part was something the Foreign Affair's Minister told me," Marshall said. "He said that China was building their own space station."

"That can't be," Mansfield said.

"According to him, it can be. Not only are they building it, he said ground construction is already complete and they'll soon start construction in space," the President said.

The Chief of Staff had trouble believing the Chinese were being honest. America's space station took years of planning, years involving hundreds of people working together to make construction of such a massive project possible. For China to say their station was already done with ground construction seemed totally inconceivable.

"Were they bluffing?" Mansfield asked. "It doesn't seem possible."

"We can't underestimate their ability," Marshall said. "As they were fond of pointing out, China has taken great strides in the field of aerospace. Although the Chinese might not have the same amount of experience, I'm sure their space program rivals ours or the Russians."

"You think they were serious?" Mansfield asked.

"I don't know," Marshall said. "But in all sincerity, I hope they were telling the truth. I hope they'll finish building a station before the comet strikes."

"What do we do about them?" Mansfield asked.

"I've already asked James to pull satellite imagery of all major, well-known Chinese military facilities where construction would be possible," Marshall said. "If what they're claiming is true - and I feel in my gut that it is - we track their progress and make sure they move fast enough to finish. If they aren't moving quickly enough, I'll return to China and give them earlier warning about the comet so they can increase their efforts."

President Marshall's intercom buzzed and he heard the familiar voice of his secretary, Mae.

"Mr. President, Vice-President Brighton is here for his scheduled meeting," she said.

The President stood and walked over to the desk, where he pushed the button on his intercom.

"Please tell Andrew to wait just one moment," Marshall said.

"Yes, sir."

Mansfield stood from the Oval Office sofa.

"What does Brighton want?" he asked. Mansfield hadn't appreciated how the Vice-President handled himself immediately following the space station accident.

"Andrew probably wants what everybody else wants," Marshall said. "To talk more about the space station and my decision to continue construction."

"Brighton was only looking out for himself by giving his opinion to shut down construction," Mansfield said. "He only wants to look good for when he announces his own candidacy."

"That might be true but that's a good thing," Marshall said. "If we have a friend in office after next year, it will make running our operation much smoother. Because if the wrong person wins the next election, there's a chance our operation could be completely shut down. No matter who is elected, we'll have to tell them about the comet situation, about the real reason for building the space station. If Andrew Brighton is the next President, things will be a lot easier. Andrew and I have always gotten along, I've always trusted his ability to be my vice-President, even when people suggested I get a new running partner before my second term. Besides, if I didn't know what we know and I was in Andrew's position, I may have come out against the space station, too."

"Things are hard enough with our enemies and the media and the public against us. It would've been nice to have your own vice-President on our side," Mansfield said.

"Maybe it's time we bring Andrew into the loop about everything that's going on."

Mansfield was the most hesitant of the 'Inner Circle' members to give knowledge to anyway else but Marshall made a good point.

"I suppose Brighton will have to find out about it somewhere down the road. But it might help us more in the long run if that time was sooner rather than later."

President Marshall pushed a button on his intercom.

"Yes, Mr. President?" Mae asked.

"You can send Andrew in now."

Mansfield left the Oval Office as the vice-President walked in. Brighton stopped the Chief of Staff and extended his hand.

"Peter, it's good to see you. How's the family?" Brighton asked, shaking hands with Mansfield.

"Very well, thank you."

Brighton had always been a bit too cheery for Mansfield's liking, friendly to the point that it seemed fake. But the public admired people with that quality and Brighton's positive attitude just might get him elected.

Mansfield closed the door to the Oval Office behind him. Instead of going back to his office to work on the dozens of projects he had, he sat down in the outer office and waited to see Brighton's reaction if the President took this opportunity to tell him about Comet Clement.

There might be a new member of the 'Inner Circle.'

Although the vice-President acted friendly toward Mansfield, President Marshall could tell something was bothering him from the look on his face.

"Andrew, it's good to see you," Marshall said. He stood from behind his large desk and extended his hand.

"Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

"It's the least I could do. Please sit down," Marshall said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Congratulations on your decision to run in next year's election."

Brighton raised an eyebrow.

"But sir, I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to run yet," Brighton said.

"Come now, Andrew. You don't have to beat around the bush with me. I'll honor your decision not to make the announcement public yet. But based on how well your meeting went with the Big Three last week, you could never convince me that you're not going to run," the President said.

Brighton was visibly surprised.

"You heard about that?" he asked sheepishly.

"Just because the Big Three don't agree with me about the future of the space station doesn't mean they don't support and respect me as President," Marshall said. "When you hopefully win next year, you'll quickly learn that not all of your allies will agree with everything you do, but you still must learn to co-exist and work together."

"Yes, Mr. President. I'll remember that," Brighton said.

"Now let's get down to business. I haven't heard why you want this meeting but I'm going to guess it has something to do with... the space station?"

Brighton nodded.

"That seems to be quite a popular topic as of late," Marshall said. "You don't agree with my decision to restart construction right away."

It was more of a statement than a question but one that Brighton felt he had to answer.

"It's not safe and we're risking the lives of every person we send to work on it," Brighton said. "I'm not in the minority with my opinion, either. The media, the public and many of our fellow party members feel the same way."

"I'm well aware of that," Marshall said coolly.

"Yet you do nothing to curb this criticism," Brighton said, growing frustrated by the President's nonchalant attitude.

In all the years Marshall knew Andrew Brighton, he never saw the vice-President lose his cool about anything. Even when his parents died and his wife nearly did as well, Brighton never lost his composure. He may have grieved and worried but he'd done so with a quiet dignity that Marshall always respected.

Running for President can make you crazy, though, Marshall thought, suddenly worried how Brighton would handle the pressure once actual campaigning began.

"If I worried about half the criticism I received in office, I never would've gotten anything accomplished," Marshall said. "Hopefully you'll have the opportunity to learn that one day."

"That's another reason I'm here, Mr. President. If you haven't noticed in recent days, being associated with this administration isn't always viewed as a good thing," Brighton said. "So much of America is upset by your decision that it might cost me a chance to win the election next year."

Marshall knew this was the case but he wanted to know why Brighton thought it.

"How do you mean?" Marshall asked.

"I don't know how I should respond to questions about the space station. I can't blow off the press because they'll turn me into a monster and the Big Three will yank their support for me. So if I come out to the media and voice my disagreement with you, it will appear that I'm a traitor to my own party. Who would vote for a candidate who didn't even support his own President?"

"That's true," Marshall said. "You could always tell the media that you and I are in total agreement about my decision."

"And go against what I've already stated publicly? I'd be lying if I did that and the American public would think I caved and was told what to say," Brighton said.

"That kind of hypocrisy would give you the image of being weak-minded, which is even worse than being belligerent," the President said.