Chapter 8: a second phone conversation

Disclaimer: "Project Pegasus" belongs to Impossible Pictures™; everyone else to SyFy™.

"Hello, senator." Henry's voice had none of the awkwardness he felt earlier – rather, the scientist sounded smooth and in control of everything (and maybe he was).

"Dr. Deacon," the senator, on the other hand, did not sound particularly delighted about talking to Henry. "Am I guessing correctly that Josephine Lupo gave you her phone?"

"No, I took it first," Henry replied, truthfully. "Why?"

"Then I am correct in assuming that she isn't interested in any deals," senator Wen replied.

"Yes, you're correct," Henry assumed mildly, "and speaking of deals, what is yours, senator? The Astraeus project would've put the US mark in space-"

"The same way project Pegasus did?" came the grating reply. "Don't lie to me, Henry Deacon, I remember that you were marginally involved in it too – you were just too prominent a scientist to be kept out of it..."

"Your point being?" Henry interrupted his interlocutrix before she could go into a full-on rumble mode.

"My point?" the senator actually sounded incredulously. "You don't understand it? Very well, and I cannot say that I am surprised. Pegasus was supposed to fulfill a number of objectives, including the acquirement of materials on Jupiter's moons, the neighbours of Titan. They failed to do so. That was the US's second main stake in participating in that project, and it failed. And do you know why it failed?"

"Let me guess: because the person who was carrying-out that mission was a Canadian?" Henry said sarcastically.

"Now that's a Eureka scientist that I know of," senator Wen was highly sarcastic. "Always blaming somebody else. Barlowe blamed Lupo for making her crazy, while in reality she always crazy – brains in jars and what not – and you are blaming a Canadian geologist. Well, not this time, Henry. That objective failed because the geologist's spacesuit failed, and do you remember, who designed the space suits? Eureka people, Henry Deacon!"

"Oh, so it's our fault?" Henry said, failing to keep incredulity out of his voice.

"Since Eureka participated largely in designing the specialized spacesuits – yes," senator Wen's voice brooked no argument. "And considering that these spacesuits were still designed by Eureka brains the odds that they were going to fail again was far too great for liking of me and my compatriots. So we went out and prevented yet another embarrassing failure of America in space."

"You kidnapped people, Wen!"

"They would've died instead, on Jupiter's moon," the senator replied, dismissively. "This way, they're actually doing what they were hired to do, for once in their childish and irresponsible lives."

"It's called creativity-"

"If it's on the government's money, it's called wasting of the funds, or perhaps embezzling, if you actually had the brains to do that," senator Wen's voice brooked no argument. "Either way, our discussion is irrelevant. It is time for Eureka to be brought to heel and actually start doing what it was supposed to do, or it will be closed down permanently. Maybe once you will stop having the taxpayers' money to finance every little pet project of yours, you will become more reasonable, Deacon." And she hanged up.

"...Okay," Jo said after a brief pause when it became obvious that no one was currently willing to break the silence after senator Wen's monologue, "this means war, I take it?"

"Yes," Henry said flatly. "It is. Also, everyone? I actually got an idea as to how we will go from here."

"We're listening."

And they did.

TBC