Chapter 1248 Business is all business
After sending away Director Griffin, who looked obviously unhappy, Lord and Pearson returned to the conference room to discuss some key points in the subsequent live broadcast.
However, as the commander of the Air Force Space Command, the former has many things to do at this juncture.
After all, the media broadcast is only an insignificant part of the entire interception plan, and it is impossible for him to finalize everything personally.
Therefore, Pearson only stayed for about half an hour longer before being transported by a commuter vehicle inside Peterson Air Force Base to the visitor parking lot away from the outer wall of the base.
In fact, before the 9/11 incident, as a retired major general with a strong connection with the Air Force, he only needed to obtain approval from the base commander or higher to drive in directly.
But later, considering the risk of terrorist attacks, not to mention outsiders, even the private cars driven by base staff could only stay in the outer area.
Pearson recalled where he parked his car, and just as he was about to take a step, he noticed a black Escalade just pulling out of the parking lot, and then slowly parked beside him.
The next second, the car door opened.
A middle-aged man with a thin build but a dignified face got out of the back seat.
It turned out to be Michael Griffin who had left before.
"Mr. Director?"
NASA is not a violent organization, so Pearson is not worried about rushing out of a van to put a hood on him and take him away.
"General Pearson, what a coincidence, we meet again."
Griffin's attitude is surprisingly good.
"What's the matter?"
Pearson didn't believe it was a coincidence.
The other party came out half an hour early, but he didn't leave the parking lot until now. He could tell with his toes that he was specially waiting for him.
But Griffin didn't hide anything, he took two steps forward and lowered his voice:
"There is no one else around now, and I don't have any recording equipment on me... I hope you can reveal in a private capacity how much risk is there in this interception test?"
"This is important to me and to all of America."
Pearson said to himself, "I'm afraid you'll think I'm stupid. I'm not a young man just entering the workplace. He gets excited when he hears one or two slogans that imitate movie lines, and he dares to say anything."
We met for the first time less than an hour ago, and we are familiar to each other at most. We have no common interests and no foundation of trust. How could I reveal the secret casually?
So I gave almost the same answer as in the conference room just now:
"I can only say that based on the experience of the last anti-satellite test, kinetic energy impact did not produce space debris that would harm the operation of the spacecraft..."
He said "no", not "won't".
Even if the other party turns on the recording equipment, it is impossible to take any advantage from this sentence.
However, Griffin showed a satisfied smile instead.
Of course I am not satisfied with this answer.
As the leader of NASA, he certainly knows that the guarantees made at this time are simply not reliable.
But I am satisfied with the attitude shown by Pearson——
This person has a very strict manners and knows how to protect himself wisely.
Even if you enter the game with your own body, you will leave yourself a way out.
In this case, the next thing will be much easier to handle.
"General, I will not authorize the use of any NASA-related materials in this media broadcast, including but not limited to symbols, pictures, voice and video materials... I hope you will also pay attention to this during the program production process."< br>
As he spoke, Griffin opened the car door again:
"Perhaps in the future, NASA will also need your professional image..."
After speaking, he got in the car and left without waiting for Pearson to answer.
He believed that the other party could understand his hint.
The latter watched the Escalade fly away and loosened the tie around his neck:
"Damn old fox..."
Although he said that, in fact, even without Griffin's trouble, he had never planned to tie himself to Lord's chariot.
Pearson is very clear that the Air Force Space Command currently has only one fundamental need, which is to respond with strong means to the new ballistic missile China tested last month to ensure the United States' deterrence capability at the strategic level.
But as an old man who retired long ago, he still needs to consider some more realistic issues.
After all, times have changed.
After gathering his thoughts, Pearson walked towards his GMC Yukon in the corner of the parking lot.
Sitting in the passenger seat was a fashionable woman wearing a bright red windbreaker who looked slightly younger than him. "How's it going?"
The woman asked, closing the book open in her lap.
"Today NASA Administrator Griffin also came to Lord and confirmed to him the potential risks of this interception."
Pearson replied as he started the engine.
"NASA still needs to ask the Air Force about risks?"
The woman's slender eyebrows were slightly raised.
"They are all pretending to be confused...just acting on each other."
The car turned out of the parking lot and drove to the nearest highway entrance:
"For Lord, the most important thing is the successful interception. Anyway, the space launch mission has nothing to do with him. As long as he doesn't knock down the International Space Station, it doesn't matter if he creates some space debris... In fact, you may not know that some of them will be scrapped at the end of their lives. The spacecraft will disintegrate on its own, and although the amount of space junk produced is small, the actual threat is greater..."
"For Griffin, although NASA has a transcendent status in the industry, it still has to deal with the outside world frequently. The threat of space debris has been very popular in recent years. Whether the interception is successful or not is not important to him, but if it is If there is too much turmoil in public opinion, he will be very passive, so he needs to try his best to remove himself from it..."
"So the Air Force won in the end?"
The other party is obviously more interested in the results.
"The missile defense system is a project jointly promoted by Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics... and almost all the military industry giants you can name. Now even the fleet is ready, and there is absolutely no way it can be changed midway. plan, so you don’t have to worry at all, our investment can 100% make a big profit, it’s just a question of whether the profit is 100% or 200%..."
Pearson shrugged, as if he had expected this.
But then the conversation changed:
"But if I have to talk about the result... I prefer a win-win situation."
"Win-win?"
The woman looked very surprised:
"You mean, NASA has already guessed..."
This time, Pearson did not answer directly:
"There have always been rumors that Griffin's position as director was personally assigned by the White House to be responsible for promoting the commercialization of aerospace..."
"Even we can think of seizing this kind of opportunity. NASA is not stupid, so how could it really be led by the Air Force?"
……
The other side.
After leaving Peterson Air Force Base, Griffin immediately rushed to Denver Airport and took a special plane back to Washington before getting off work that afternoon.
Assistant Director Ray Ann Meyer has been waiting at the door of the office for a long time, holding a black folder in his hand.
"Your Excellency, Director, I have found all the information you asked me to collect this morning."
After hearing this sentence, Griffin subconsciously stopped:
"So fast?"
Even ignoring the half-taken-off coat, he took the folder from the assistant's hand.
"Their actions have not been kept secret, so it is not difficult to check."
Meyer showed an expression of admiration and a bit of flattery:
"I must say, Director, your guess is absolutely correct. That young Wilbert Pearson and the two companies under his wife's name have purchased a total of more than 2.5 million in the past three days. Dollar stocks, a large portion of which are even mortgage loans with high interest rates, are clearly confident in the short-term returns on these investments.”
"Ha...as expected."
Griffin sat back on the chair, opened the document in his hand, and quickly scanned the contents:
"Raytheon, Amazon Group, Stellar, Clean Space..."
"You have good vision. There are defense contractors directly related to this interception test, start-up companies focusing on cleaning up and recycling space debris, and large companies investing in commercial aerospace. They are all profitable deals."
After speaking, he showed a slightly sarcastic smile:
"It seems... our Major General has already predicted the possible consequences of this satellite interception plan?"
Meyer nodded, then took two steps forward, came to the director's desk, and added in a low voice:
"Not only that, I also initiated some... personal connections and found out that the couple invested another 1.5 million into a private equity fund, and this fund held a small share of the space exploration company, and It is very likely that we are preparing to further increase investment, but Space Exploration Company is not listed, so this news lacks conclusive evidence, and I did not write it in the written report.”
Griffin's smile gradually faded, and then became a little playful:
"If that's the case... to a certain extent, he is still on the same side as us?"
"I tend to think he just wants money."
Meyer replied cautiously:
"According to the assessment of our technical department, this interception process may produce 2,000-2,500 additional pieces of space debris, of which approximately 200-300 will remain in orbit for a relatively long time, although they have the potential to cause real damage to the spacecraft. It’s very small, but if combined with some public opinion, it’s enough to make a lot of money from the above stocks.”
But Griffin waved his hand:
"It's not important."
"Common interests naturally bring about a common camp. He wants to make money from this, which is a good thing for us."
Before the assistant next to him could react, he immediately changed to a serious tone:
"Lei, ask the news department to prepare and use the next few days to highlight the possible threats posed by used spacecraft and space debris..."
"On the surface, it is to create legitimacy for the interception test. In fact, when the interception is completed, we can say that there is a problem with the execution process. However, the intention of cleaning up space debris is good, and then the focus will be on the reuse of spacecraft, which will Paving the way for commercial rail transportation services.”
Meyer's initially confused eyes quickly became clear:
"I'll do it right away, Your Excellency."
(End of chapter)