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"Then invoke the security provisions," Borftein said, shifting in his chair
from weariness with the whole business. "It's a security matter, isn't it? The
Chironians have left it to us by default, and it's their security at stake as
well as ours. The Pagoda's only two years away.
Somebody's got to take the helm in all this."
Fulmire gestured over the books and documents spread across his desk. "The
security provisions provide for Congress to vote exceptional powers to the
Directorate in the event of demonstrable security demands, and for the
Directorate to delegate extraordinary duties to the chief executive once they
are voted that power. They do not provide for the chief executive to assume
such duties for himself, and therefore neither can he do so for his
successor."
A short silence fell, and the deadlock persisted. Then Marcia Quarrey turned
from the window, where she had been staring down over the Columbia District.
"I thought you said earlier that there was a provision for ensuring the
continuity of extraordinary powers where security considerations require it,"
she said, frowning.
"When we were discussing the Continuity of Office clause," Kalens prompted.
Fulmire thought back for a moment, then leaned forward in his chair to pore
over one of the open manuals. "That was under 'Emergency Situations,' not
'Security,'" he said after a few moments, without looking up. "Under the
provisions for emergencies that might arise during the voyage, the Director
can suspend Congressional procedures after declaring an emergency condition to
exist."
"Yes, we know that," Quarrey agreed. "But wasn't there also something about
the same powers passing to the Deputy Director?"
Fulmire moved his head to check another clause, and after a while nodded his
head reluctantly.
"If the Director becomes incapacitated or otherwise excluded from discharging
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the duties of his office, then the Deputy Director automatically assumes all
powers previously vested in the
Director," he stated.
Kalens raised his head sharply. "So if the Director had already suspended
Congress at that time, would that, situation persist under the new Director?"
He thought for a moment, then added, "I would assume it must, Surely. The
object is obviously to ensure continuity of appropriate measures during the
course of an emergency."
Fulmire looked uneasy but in the end was forced to nod his agreement. "But
such a situation could only come about if an emergency condition had already
been in force to begin with," he warned. "It could not be applied in any way
to the present circumstances."
"You don't think that a ship full of Asiatics coming at us armed to the teeth
qualifies as an emergency?" Borftein asked sarcastically.
"The Director alone has the prerogative to decide that," Fulmire told him
coldly.
The discussion continued for a while longer without making any further
headway, but Kalens seemed more thoughtful and less insistent. Eventually the
others left, and Fulmire sat for a long
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teryear.txt time staring with a troubled expression at his desk. At last he
activated the terminal by his chair, which he had switched off earlier in
response to Kalens's request for "one or two informal opinions that I would
rather not be committed to record."
"Which service?" the terminal inquired. "Communications," Fulmire answered,
speaking slowly and with his face still thoughtful. "Find Paul Lechat for me
and put him through if he's free, would you. And route this via a secured
channel."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"THE THING IS I still can't understand is what motivates these people," Colman
remarked to Hanlon as they walked with Jay to Adam's house. "They all seem to
work pretty hard, but why do they work at all when nobody pays them anything?"
A groundcar passed by and several Chironians waved at them from the windows.
"It can't be quite like that," Jay said. "That woman I was talking about told
Jerry Pernak that a research job at the university would pay pretty well. That
must have meant something."
"Well, it sure doesn't pay any money." Colman turned his head toward Hanlon.
"What do you say, Bret?"
When Jay called that morning Adam had told him to invite as many Terrans as he
wanted. Jay reached Colman at the school that the Army was using as a
temporary barracks in Canaveral City, but Colman started to explain that he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]