Deception Point Part 6

By Tram Doan

I'm gone, Chris Harper thought, feeling numb at the thought of imprisonment. Senator Sexton knew that the submission lied about PODS's software.
Leading Gabrielle into his office and closing the door, he hated the NASA Director. Tonight Harper learned how bad the Director's lies could be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jun 2, 2024

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DECEPTION POINT PART 6

TRAM DOAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECEPTION POINT PART 6

I'm gone, Chris Harper thought

The End

By Tram Doan 2024

DECEPTION POINT PART 6

I'm gone, Chris Harper thought

I'm gone, Chris Harper thought, feeling numb at the thought of imprisonment. Senator Sexton knew that the submission lied about PODS's software.

Leading Gabrielle into his office and closing the door, he hated the NASA Director. Tonight Harper learned how bad the Director's lies could be.

Not just forcing him to lie about the PODS project. He also fabricated evidence to be ready to harm him in case he changed his attitude and did not want to continue lying.

Evidence of misappropriation of public funds. Harper thought to himself. To threaten. How insidious. After all, no one will put their trust in a corrupt person who wants to ruin the most glorious moment in the history of the United States' space research program. Already knowing that the Director dared to do everything to protect NASA, he still felt stunned when he heard the President announce about the meteorite with fossils inside.

Harper walked back and forth next to a large table containing a miniature model of the PODS satellite - a prismatic object with many antennas and reflective glass. Gabrielle sat down and looked at him intently, waiting.

The sick feeling in his stomach once again reminded Harper of what he felt during that press conference. He presented it in a very unconvincing manner, and many people questioned him about it. So Harper was forced to continue lying that he was seriously ill that day. Both reporters and his colleagues expressed dissatisfaction, but then quickly forgot about that strange press conference.

Now, that lie is back to haunt his mind.

Gabrielle Ashe was more polite:

- Mr. Harper, now the Director has become your opponent, so you need an ally. And Senator Sexton will be the only friend he will have in this context. Let's start with PODS's software story. Please let me know the specific developments.

Harper sighed. He knew it was time to confess the truth.

I shouldn't have lied that day!

- The PODS satellite launch process went smoothly. - He started. - The satellite flies in an orbit around the polar region, just as planned.

So boring. Gabrielle Ashe already knew that.

- Continue talking.

- Then the problem arose. We began studying the permafrost zone to find locations of unusual density. And the density detection software on the satellite didn't work.

- Yes, I knew that.

That software should have been able to look at thousands of hectares of area and detect areas with densities different from the density of snow and ice. First of all, it is necessary to find areas that are softer than normal - evidence of global warming - but if objects with unusual density are discovered, it must also be reported. That was also part of the plan. The main purpose is for PODS to scan the North Pole within a few weeks to detect unusual signs to assess the extent of global warming.

- But because the software doesn't work, - Gabrielle continued, PODS can't do anything. NASA could have carefully studied every square centimeter of the North Pole to detect abnormalities.

Harper nodded, remembering the horrible feelings after his blunder.

- It took several decades to overcome, the situation at that time was extremely bad. Because of my mistake in programming, PODS became completely useless. It was right during the campaign period and Senator Sexton attacked NASA. - He sighed.

- Your mistake was extremely harmful to NASA and the President.

- That's a sensitive time. The director was furious. I promised him I would fix the problem in the next satellite launch - it was simply a matter of replacing a few chips in the computer. But it's too late. He gave me annual leave, but actually fired me. That was a month ago.

But two weeks ago, he appeared on TV and announced that he had fixed that mistake.

Harper collapsed into the chair.

- That was a terrible mistake. That day, I received a call from the Director. He said that something important had just happened, and there was a way to get rid of my crime. I went straight to his office to see him. And received an order to hold a press conference to announce that the error in PODS's software will be fixed within a few weeks. And he even said he would explain later

- And you agreed?

- Are not. I decline! But an hour later, the Director came to my office, along with the President's advisor!

- What? - Gabrielle was shocked.

She's scary. Harper thought to himself, nodding. She and the Director sat me down, and said that because of me, both NASA and the President were pushed to the edge of the abyss. Tench told me that the Senator intends to privatize NASA if elected. And for that I owe both NASA and the President: Then she explained everything.

Gabrielle leaned forward:

- Continue talking.

- She explained that it was due to random luck. The White House overheard reports that a meteorite was buried in the Milne Ice Sheet. Largest meteorite ever seen. And such a large meteorite will certainly be considered an important discovery by NASA.

Gabrielle was surprised.

- Wait a minute, are you saying that people knew about the presence of the meteorite before PODS found it?

- That's right, PODS has nothing to do with this discovery. The director knew in advance about the meteorite's existence. He told me the coordinates, and told me to position PODS at that exact location to pretend that our satellite had found it.

- Are you joking?

- I also reacted the same way when they asked me to participate in that plot. They refused to say how they found the meteorite. Tench just kept repeating that it didn't matter, that this was my chance to fix my mistakes. If I pretended that it was PODS who found that rock, NASA would release information widely to propagate NASA's victory, so that the President's election campaign could take off.

Gabrielle was horrified.

- And of course, if PODS has not yet announced that it has fixed the software error, it cannot say that it has found the meteorite.

Harper nodded.

- So it was a false press conference. I was forced to do that. Both Mrs. Tench and the Director behaved