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still be too asleep to have understood correctly.

"Hold on," Herney said. "We must have a bad connection. Did you just tell me that NASA intercepted this meteorite's coordinates from an emergency radio transmission-and then pretended that PODS found the meteorite?"

Ekstrom was silent, alone in the dark, willing his body to awake from this nightmare.

The silence clearly did not sit well with the President. "For Christ's sake, Larry, tell me this isn't true!"

Ekstrom's mouth went dry. "The meteorite was found, Mr. President. That is all that's relevant here."

"I said tell me this is not true!"

The hush swelled to a dull roar in Ekstrom's ears. I had to tell him, Ekstrom told himself. It's going to get worse before it gets better. "Mr. President, the PODS failure was killing you in the polls, sir. When we intercepted a radio transmission that mentioned a large meteorite lodged in the ice, we saw a chance to get back in the fight."

Herney sounded stunned. "By faking a PODS discovery?"

"PODS was going to be up and running soon, but not soon enough for the election. The polls were slipping, and Sexton was slamming NASA, so... "

"Are you insane! You lied to me, Larry!"

"The opportunity was staring us in the face, sir. I decided to take it. We intercepted the radio transmission of the Canadian who made the meteorite discovery. He died in a storm. Nobody else knew the meteorite was there. PODS was orbiting in the area. NASA needed a victory. We had the coordinates."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I thought you should know."

"Do you know what Sexton would do with this information if he found out?"

Ekstrom preferred not to think about it.

"He'd tell the world that NASA and the White House lied to the American people! And you know what, he'd be right!"

"You did not lie, sir, I did. And I will step down if-"

"Larry, you're missing the point. I've tried to run this presidency on truth and decency! Goddamn it! Tonight was clean. Dignified. Now I find out I lied to the world?"

"Only a small lie, sir."

"There's no such thing, Larry," Herney said, steaming.

Ekstrom felt the tiny room closing in around him. There was so much more to tell the President, but Ekstrom could see it should wait until morning. "I'm sorry to have woken you, sir. I just thought you should know."

Across town, Sedgewick Sexton took another hit of cognac and paced his apartment with rising irritation.

Where the hell is Gabrielle?

112

Gabrielle Ashe sat in the darkness at Senator Sexton's desk and gave his computer a despondent scowl.

Invalid Password - Access Denied

She had tried several other passwords that seemed likely possibilities, but none had worked. After searching the office for any unlocked drawers or stray clues, Gabrielle had all but given up. She was about to leave when she spotted something odd, shimmering on Sexton's desk calendar. Someone had outlined the date of the election in a red, white, and blue glitter pen. Certainly not the senator. Gabrielle pulled the calendar closer. Emblazoned across the date was a frilly, glittering exclamation: POTUS!

Sexton's ebullient secretary had apparently glitterpainted some more positive thinking for him for election day. The acronym POTUS was the U.S. Secret Service's code name for President of the United States. On election day, if all went well, Sexton would become the new POTUS.

Preparing to leave, Gabrielle realigned the calendar on his desk and stood up. She paused suddenly, glancing back at the computer screen.

Enter Password:_

She looked again at the calendar.

POTUS.

She felt a sudden surge of hope. Something about POTUS struck Gabrielle as being a perfect Sexton password. Simple, positive, self-referential.

She quickly typed in the letters.

POTUS.

Holding her breath, she hit "return." The computer beeped.

Invalid Password - Access Denied

Slumping, Gabrielle gave up. She headed back toward the bathroom door to exit the way she had come. She was halfway across the room, when her cellphone rang. She was already on edge, and the sound startled her. Stopping short, she pulled out her phone and glanced up to check the time on Sexton's prized Jourdain grandfather clock. Almost 4:00 A.M. At this hour, Gabrielle knew the caller could only be Sexton. He was obviously wondering where the hell she was. Do I pick up or let it ring? If she answered, Gabrielle would have to lie. But if she didn't, Sexton would get suspicious.

She took the call. "Hello?"

"Gabrielle?" Sexton sounded impatient. "What's keeping you?"

"The FDR Memorial," Gabrielle said. "The taxi got hemmed in, and now we're-"

"You don't sound like you're in a taxi."

"No," she