"Steve White - The Prometheus Project" - читать интересную книгу автора (White Steve)

- Prologue

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file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/White,%20steve%20-%20The%20prometheus%20project/0743498917___0.htm (1 of 8)28-12-2006 15:57:06
 - Prologue




PROLOGUE
"Mr. President! Mr. President!" The White House press corps rose to its collective feet like an attention-
seeking wave.
The President of the United States smiled into the tumult and the TV cameras, and raised his hands for
silence. "That's enough questions for now, ladies and gentlemen. Let me just make a few concluding
remarks." He waited until something resembling silence had descended on the Press Room, and his
expression grew serious. "This has been a . . . vigorous campaign, and feelings have sometimes flared,
as they will among people of strongly held beliefs. But that's over now. The electorate has spoken, and
the Constitution admits of no doubt as to the outcome. Now it is a time for healing, and for unity. It is
for that reason that President-Elect Langston and I called this joint press conference. And now, let me
turn the podium over to the President-Elect."
Harvey Langston rose to his feet with a muttered "Thank you, Mr. President." He took his place behind
the Presidential seal and smiled at the reporters who, he knew, had never really expected to see him
there.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to add my voice to the President's. As we know, all sorts of things get
said in a campaign . . . by both sides. But now the President and I share a common goal: a smooth
transfer of power. My transition team has been in close communication with the President's staff to
assure that my administration can hit the ground running. I intend to act without delay to deliver what
the people have demanded by putting me in this house. The people want compassionate government.
The peopleтАФ"
"Forty-one percent of them, anyway," someone could be heard to remark, somewhere in the room.
"тАФwant us to focus on our own domestic problems, and not on foreign adventurism," Langston
continued without a break, forcing himself to ignore the dig. Plenty of time later to stick it to that
wiseass reporter, he thought, knowing that Sal DiAngelo, his campaign manager, would have spotted
the man and noted his name. "The people want us to abandon our weapons of destruction and seek
peaceful solutions to the conflicts we ourselves have provoked! The peopleтАФ"
From off to the side, DiAngelo caught his eye and frowned. Stop campaigning, damn you! Langston told
himself. You don't have to campaign any more. You've won! He still had to periodically remind himself
of that fact, as incredible to him as it was to most of the country.
"The people want continuity and the regular exercise of constitutional processes," he finished smoothly.
He prided himself on these seamless recoveries. It was an ability that could be counted on to save his
bacon as long as DiAngelo or one of his other handlers was around to shoot him warning looks when the
shrillness started to creep back into his voice. "And now, I'll take a few questions."
He got through the questions from the floor, recognizing only those journalists he knew were friendly or,
at least, predictable. Then it was over, and the President and his successor were out the doorway of the
Press Room together, trailed by a gaggle of staffers and Secret Service men.