"No, I don't, but I'm assuming it's a male thing that you can explain to me later," she said. "Tell me what the two of you discussed."

"In a nutshell, he reminded me that we need to earn the confidence of the American people rather than sit back and take it as a given. I've got some very definite ideas about how to accomplish that based upon his suggestions, and don't intend to let this turn into anything resembling the debacle where an outside commission appointed by the White House went head-to-head against the space agency because of skepticism about its in-house probe."

"Well-deserved skepticism, as I recall," Ashley said.

"Yes," he said. "There are going to be doubts about the credibility of this investigation's findings no matter how thorough a job is done. But if we can't manage to cut them down to size, I don't think the program will ever recover."

She swallowed some of her muffin. "How's Dorset feel about your input? People get territorial."

"Thus far, we're in synch. Chuck is a reasonable man and has the best interests of NASA at heart." He turned to face her. "Also, he's got very little choice but to be receptive to my suggestions. Without UpLink's technology and access to foreign governments there's no ISS. Period."

She smiled at him.

"Hard to imagine anyone trying to ignore you when you get that steely look in your eyes," she said.

He cleared his throat, lowering his head to study his plate, a boyish sign of embarrassment that Ashley pretended not to notice.

She decided to wait a few seconds, then asked, "Which of your specific recommendations is Dorset supposed to call about this morning?"

"I told him who I'd like to head up the investigative task force. Unequivocally."

"And?"

"And his only real problem--or concern, I should say--was that he didn't want anybody in his organization to feel resentful about being bypassed for the job."

"Understandable," Ashley said. "Turf again. You know how it can be."

"I do, Ash. But there's no time to worry about NASA's bureaucratic harmony right now. The faster we get things done, the better. There's the Russian launch at the end of the month, and I want to see it come off without postponement. Because I am concerned about what'll happen if my old blowhard friend Senator Delacroix, or somebody equally good at being on the wrong side of every issue, starts calling the entire cooperative effort into question on the talk shows."

"Delacroix," she said. "He the one you saw wrestle that big stuffed bear in the hammer-and-sickle trunks?"

"On the Senate floor." He exhaled slowly. "Anyway, Dorset's going to let me know if the person I want is even interested in the appointment. If this pans out the way I'm hoping it will, we'll have taken a huge step toward gaining the public trust. And it'll be a deserved step."

"Any reason you haven't named your pick to me?"