Chapter 76 Chapter Seventy-Five

Dana was sleepy-eyed, standing in front of the full-length mirror and observing herself thoughtfully.The wound on her head has been subtly covered by the new hairstyle, showing only a little bruise, her body is still as soft and perfect as before.She looked into her eyes. There were no new wrinkles at the corners, no puffy eyelids, and she was more radiant than ever, full of eager anticipation that she had never felt before.She was once again the free woman in the world, and completely successful. "Will you have breakfast?" asked Mary Sheldon from downstairs. Dana put on a soft lacy dressing gown. "Just coffee, thanks," she said. "What time is it?"

"What time is it after nine?" A minute later Dana walked into the kitchen where Mary was pouring coffee. "What's today's schedule?" she asked. "It's all about women—I'm going to go to the shop and do some shopping. Then lunch at a familiar tearoom, and then at the Ocean Bureau Club, and play tennis with an opponent for an hour or so." "Sounds pretty good," Mary said lightly, "but I advise you to stop pretending to be a rich bad woman, you are not that kind of person, but to be a responsible woman, you are actually That's the kind of person."

"What does it mean?" Mary raised her hand angrily: "What do you mean? First of all, baby, you are a celebrity now. Maybe you don't know it, but the phone rings for three days and the microphone will be knocked off. All the women's magazines in the country want to publish you. A special experience, I got at least eight invitations for you to do the National TV Talk Festival. Like it or not, you're top news right now. Do you think it's time to calm down and get ready for the reception? " "What's there to say? Because I'm the only woman and twenty men on the floating wreck, and I'm a dignitary."

"You nearly died at sea, and you talk about it as if you were visiting a yacht cruising the Nile. You must have gotten used to the fact that the men cater to you no matter how wayward you are there." If only Mary knew the whole truth.But Warren Nicholson made Dana and everyone on board swear to secrecy, and everyone had to keep the Russian attempt to steal the ship deep in their hearts and forget about it. "There's so much going on there," Dana sighed. "I'm not who I used to be." "What does it mean?" "First of all, I plan to divorce Gene."

"Has the matter reached this point?" "It's come to this point," Dana repeated resolutely, "I want to ask the Oceanic Bureau for a period of time off to play for a while. As long as I am still the woman my lover touted, I can get compensation. Personal experience, Television—that allows me to do what every girl aspires to do in life." "What's up?" "Spend money, and have time to spend it." Mary shook her head sadly: "I'm beginning to feel like I helped raise a monster from the sidelines." Dana squeezed her hand tenderly: "It wasn't you, my dear friend. I almost died before I realized that I had made my own life a dead end."

'I think it started in my childhood..." Dana's voice trailed off as horrific memories loomed. .Even my married life has been adversely affected by it.Gene saw some signs and he married me more out of pity than deep love.He treated me unconsciously as a father rather than a lover.Now I can't force myself to go back.I no longer have that emotional response in my heart to create and maintain a relationship that lasts.I'm a lonely man, Mary,.From now on, I will bear it alone.That way I'll never hurt anyone else. " Mary looked up tearfully. "Well, I think we're even. You're getting a divorce and going back to celibacy, and I'm getting rid of celibacy and joining the ranks of housewives."

Dana grinned, "You and Mel?" "Yeah, me and Mel." "when?" "Better hurry up. Otherwise, I'll have to go to Happy Maternity Store and order a bridal gown." "Are you pregnant?" "This isn't some figment of the imagination." Dana went around the table and hugged Mary. "I can't believe you've got a baby." "You'd better believe it. They tried everything they could to save them during the experiment, and they gave them huge doses of adrenaline, but it didn't help. The frog died anyway."

"You mean experimenting with rabbits?" "Where are you? They don't use rabbits long ago." "Oh, Mary, I'm so happy for you. We're both going to start a new life. Don't you think so?" "Certainly," said Mary coldly, "it's best to start over very successfully." "Is there any other way?" "I'm going to take the easier path, dear." Mary kissed Dana lightly on the cheek. "It's you I'm worried about. Don't go too far, too fast, and take risks." "Adventures are fun."

"Mark my words. Learn to swim in shallow water." "It's boring." Dana's eyes showed a thoughtful look, "I'm going to start on the top of the wave." "Where do you want to start a small business?" Dana and Mary looked at each other calmly: "Just dial the phone." The president came from behind his desk in the Oval Office to greet Senate Majority Leader John Burdick. "Nice to meet you, John. How are Jose and the little ones?" Burdick was a tall, thin man with shaggy black hair that he seldom combed.He shrugged kindly. "Josey's fine. You always know the little ones. An old daddy's just a cash cow as far as they're concerned."

After they sat down, they talked about their differences on the budget plan.Although the two were leaders of rival parties, attacking each other at every opportunity in public, they were close friends in private. "Congress is starting to think you've lost your mind, Mr. President. You've vetoed every spending bill Capitol Hill has sent to the White House for the last six months." "I'm going to keep vetoing until I walk out of this room for the last time." The president paused to light a thin cigar. "Let's face it, John. The U.S. government is bankrupt. Bankrupt after the war, but no one will admit it. We've been gleefully raising the national debt to incomprehensible levels, fantasizing that at some point the hapless bastard who beat us in the next election will do the same to the previous five. Take responsibility for ten years of squandered money."

"What do you want Congress to do? Declare bankruptcy?" "Sooner or later that may have to be done." "The consequences are unimaginable. The creditors of the national debt are half of the domestic insurance companies, savings funds, bonds and banks. All of these will be over overnight." "What's new about that?" Burdick shook his head. "I refuse." "Damn it, John, you can't cover it all up. Do you understand that every taxpayer under the age of fifty will never know what a Social Security benefit is again. In twelve years, even a third Those who are able to receive dole are absolutely unaffordable. That is one reason for my warning. This is a weak cry in the wilderness, I can only regret to admit. But in the last months of my term Here, as soon as I get the chance, I will speak out against this doomed fate." "The American people don't like bad news. You won't be very popular." "I don't give a damn. I don't give a damn what other people think. It's a selfish thing to win. A few months from now, I'm going to be on a brig somewhere in the south of Fiji to be quiet Sailing to earth, then to hell with the government." "I am sorry to hear you say that, Mr. President. You are a good man. Even your sworn enemies will admit it." But the president went on to say, "We had a great republic for a while, John, and you, me, and all the other lawyers screwed it up. The government is a big business, and those lawyers shouldn't be holding public office." .Only accountants and supply and marketing people are qualified to be congressmen and presidents." "Lawyers are needed to run the legislature." The President shrugged wearily: "What's the use? No matter what policy I make, it won't help." Then he straightened up in his chair and smiled slightly: "Excuse me, John, you are not here to listen to my speech. What are you thinking about?" question?" "The Aid for Poor Children Act." Burdick gazed eagerly at the President. "Are you going to veto this bill too?" The President leaned back in his chair and looked at his cigar. "Yes." He said flatly. "It's my proposal," said Burdick quietly. "I've worked hard to get it passed by both the House and Senate." "I know." "How can you veto a bill that benefits children knowing their families can't afford to get them proper medical care." "For the same reason, I vetoed welfare increases for citizens over age 80, federal scholarships for minorities, and a dozen other welfare wonders. Let someone fund these bills. Over the past decade, taxes have increased Five hundred percent has already driven the country's mainstay, the working class, to nowhere." "For mercy, Mr. President?" "For budget balance, Senator. Where will the money you want to implement your bill come from?" "You can cut Mita's budget first." It turned out to be the case.The nosy people in Congress finally broke through the Mita perimeter.It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway.At least it is too late now. The president decided to pretend not to know: "Mita?" "A high-ranking think-tank you have maintained for several years. I certainly do not have to explain its activities to you." "No need." The president said calmly, "no need to say." An awkward silence followed. Finally, Burdick said straight-forward: "My investigators spent months checking. You concealed the expenditure very cleverly, but they finally traced the source of the funds for salvaging the Titanic, and traced it to a top-secret organization. in the name of the tower, and finally tracked down to you. God, Mr. President, you approved the allocation of about 750 million US dollars to salvage this worthless wreck, and then lied that it cost less than Half the line. I'm only asking for fifty million dollars to implement the Children's Health Care Act. I might say, Mr. President, that your outlandish understanding of priorities is terribly guilty." "What do you want, John? To blackmail me into signing your talisman?" "Frankly it is." "I see. John, so what if I still refuse to sign your bill?" Burdick raised his hands: "Then you will force me to have no choice but to announce your secret use of public funds. In this way, I am afraid that this scandal of yours will make the previous Watergate scandal seem trivial." .” "You would do that?" "I will." The president's face was cold and calm: "Before you rush out of the room and spend more taxpayers' money on congressional hearings about my tricks on fiscal expenditures, please listen to me first. What's going on at the towers, what's their contribution to the defense of the country we serve." "I'm listening, Mr. President." "Ok." An hour later, Senator John Burdick sat contentedly in his office, carefully shredding secret documents about the Mita Division into the shredder.

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