by Gen LaGreca
He sat on a sofa next to Darcy, facing the president.
"Our new internal polling just came in," Martin said grimly, handing Zack a report.
"The polls have us trailing," said Darcy. "They show an eight-point decline in Ken's ratings in just one week."
Zack glanced through the report.
"The polls show me losing the election by a wide margin," said Martin.
Zack's smug look vanish. A hint of panic replaced it.
"It's Laura Taninger," said Darcy.
"You may have wounded her," the president said to Zack, "but she's back on her feet. She started a media blitz eight days ago on the local level, and now she's gaining momentum."
Zack shrugged and said, "She has no audience of any size. People think she's full of hot air."
"Really? Have you seen the new public polling just released this morning?" asked Darcy.
"Not yet," Zack replied.
"It confirms what our internals are showing," said Martin.
Darcy handed him a news clipping. He read it.
"How the hell can she have this much traction?" Zack said in disbelief. "I thought I flattened her!"
"The polls ask if voters believe her story," Martin commented. "And sixty percent say yes!"
"I've seen some of her interviews, and I have to tell you, she's very compelling," Darcy observed.
"She's the underdog," Ken said, sneering. "She won't quit, damn her. People find that appealing."
"And she continues to press her Public Disclosure Request, so she's still in the ballgame," Darcy said, looking at Zack reproachfully. "With four days left till Election Day, she's still causing trouble."
The grave tone of their comments stunned Zack. His mouth formed its familiar O-shape, and his eyes gaped with a deer-in-the-headlights look.
"If Ken is trailing by a wide margin going into the election, his victory will add credence to Laura's charge that the election was fixed," Darcy noted. "If Ken wins, but our party loses substantial seats in Congress, that, too, will add weight to Laura's charges. After all, only the presidential election is managed through SafeVote. The other elections are still on the old voting system. If they tell a very different story, and there's no reason to doubt their accuracy, that calls into question whether SafeVote is above board."
Ken added, "And even if my win avoids suspicion about SafeVote, the party could still lose enough seats in Congress to render my entire second term ineffective!" He rose from his seat and paced nervously. "This bitch is trying to incite the people against me. She's got a vendetta to take me down. She's poisoning my people. I need to smash her," thundered the man who wielded the police power of the state against the words of a private citizen. "I won't let her get away with this. The people will believe what I tell them to believe---not what she tells them!"
His rage swelled. His anger was mixed with fear, a fear whose object seemed greater than Laura or the election. What weapons could Laura—unarmed, unemployed, and stripped of her national platform—wield against Ken Martin? He controlled the full arsenal of the state, while she had only a pepper spray to spread the truth. The president seemed to sense and fear that weapon, not in any words he uttered, but by the hatred in his voice and the panic on his face.
"We need something more on Laura Taninger," Darcy pronounced. "The techniques we've tried haven't dissuaded her. She's obsessed with her fanatical drive to destroy us."
"Going after her and her family professionally didn't do it," added Ken. "Questioning her mental health and temperament didn't work. We need something else."
Darcy and Ken looked pointedly at Zack. His initial frozen stare upon hearing the news of Laura's gaining ground had now tempered, and a calculating look replaced it.
"I have just the thing," Zack said, his confidence recovered.
"What?" Ken said skeptically.
"I have something that always works."
"Oh?" Darcy mused skeptically.
"A sex scandal," declared Zack.
"Oh, please," said Darcy. "Not Reed again."
"No," Zack said. "This is an ace I've been saving just for such an occasion."
"What's up your sleeve?" asked Ken, his rage giving way to hope.
Zack squared his shoulders and resumed his role of teaching the others how to mastermind a successful sabotage.
He said, "I know what we need. A juicy, salacious, personal attack. What we used wasn't scandalous enough. We haven't tried this yet, but it's just the thing we need." He stroked his chin as he formulated a plan. "How about an attack on Laura that also attacks somebody else we'd like to put a leash on?"
"What do you mean?" A calmer Ken Martin returned to his seat, waiting to learn of a new plot twist in an ongoing saga.
"I mean, Senator Bret Taylor and Laura Taninger," Zack said.
"Go on," said Darcy, her interest aroused.
Ken leaned forward, listening attentively.
Zack crossed his legs, more relaxed, back in their good graces.
"I've been, well, sort of, spying on Senator Bret Taylor." He looked at Darcy and Martin tentatively, wondering if he had overstepped his bounds, but neither one seemed disturbed by his declaration. "There's a key aide on his staff who's a great supporter of SafeVote, and this aide wasn't happy when Senator Taylor opposed it. The more vocal the senator got about his reservations, the more upset this aide became. After all, the senator should back his party and its signature program, right? That's what the aide told me one night when I took him out for drinks.
"So I befriended this aide and hinted at a possible position in the People's Manor in your second administration, seeing as there certainly would be some changeover of personnel after the election."
"Very clever!" said Ken.
"One day, the aide alerted me that the senator was going to meet Laura Taninger for a drink in a bar."
"Really?" Darcy's eyebrows raised in anticipation of new possibilities.
"And he arranged to have a photo taken of them together," Zack continued.
"What do you mean together?" asked Ken.
"Well, they look pretty tight in the photo. It could be construed as . . . well . . . "
"Are they having an affair?" asked Darcy hopefully.
"Who knows or cares?" Zack replied. "I mean, in the picture, they look like they could be. That's all I need. I can create a whole scenario around that. I can leak the photo and attribute some comments to anonymous sources to embellish it, and the press will run with that."
"So what's the scenario?" asked Ken.
"It's shocking, headline news. Senator Bret Taylor, a married man with five children, is having an affair with Laura Taninger. They're both plotting to undermine the new voting system by turning the people against it. The senator is a vocal critic of SafeVote. But he finds that his position doesn't play with our party's base. We've painted that position as anti-minority, racist, anti-poor, you name it.
"Then, he joins forces with his lover, Laura Taninger, who's also against SafeVote. Together, they try to defeat the program and help him win reelection. If he can get enough votes from our party, which is pro-SafeVote, and steal some additional votes from the opposition, where Laura's anti-SafeVote message resonates, then he can win. That's their scheme. Lust and power are what drives them."
"So Laura Taninger has a lover, and that's been her motive in smearing SafeVote?" Ken Martin weighed the scheme. "To bolster her lover's reelection bid she reinforces his reservations about SafeVote with her own bogus criticisms? Who's gonna buy that?"
"Even if the public doesn't buy that they conspired in a scheme to derail SafeVote, we still have the affair to discredit them with. That should be enough to take the wind out of Laura's sails right before Election Day."
"That just might play," said Darcy. "But what about Bret Taylor? He could lose enough votes from our party that his opponent will unseat him, thanks to us, if we smear him with this affair. Bret's not always drinking from the same trough, but he is in our party. We'd much
rather have him in that Senate seat than his opponent."
Martin dismissed Darcy's concern, saying, "I don't really care if Bret loses his Senate seat on Tuesday. What's one casualty? In future elections, we'll include the Senate in Operation Topcoat, so we'll gain the seat back handily and then some."
Zack shot up from his seat, galvanized. "I'll get everything in place. I'll be sure our favorite reporters are briefed. The story will break tomorrow and get heavy media coverage through the weekend. There's still time to change the final polls before the election next Tuesday and turn public opinion against Laura Taninger and in your favor!"
"Go for it!" Ken exclaimed.
"Agreed," said Darcy.
Admiration for Zack had returned to their faces.
Zack gave them a thumbs-up and left to take care of the business he did so well, the business of creation, just as it was depicted in the painting he found so appealing.
Chapter 24
"Yes, Your Honor, Integrated Foxworth Technologies did work for our agency throughout the month of October." The Bureau of Elections' director of technology, Ted Burns, stood before Judge Garrett Davidson's bench. Alongside him were his agency's attorney, Emmett Wallace, and the plaintiff's, Sam Quinn. Laura observed the proceeding from the visitors' bench.
"And what work did they do?" asked the judge.
"More of the same jobs they had been tasked with earlier, Judge."
"Then, why weren't those documents handed over to the plaintiff?" the judge asked sharply. "Why are we still arguing this on the day before the election? And where are they now?"
Burns and Wallace pleaded with the judge that it was an oversight, that Laura Taninger would receive the remaining documents as surely as the sun will shine, that they just needed a tiny bit more time, just a few days . . . or a week or two at the most. But on this day—of all days!—the Bureau of Elections could not possibly gather the missing documents and review them for security issues before releasing them. The agency's entire technical staff was either in the field, working hand-in-hand with state voting officials across the country, or manning phone banks to answer last-minute questions from voters and state administrators. Everyone was working overtime to fix the remaining glitches in SafeVote's interface with the states. Ted Burns insisted that he had to get back to his job right then. There wasn't a moment to spare.
Counselor Emmett Wallace added, "With all due respect, Your Honor, because Laura Taninger lost her job and is not employed by any media organization at the moment, she's no longer primarily engaged in disseminating information to the public, thereby diluting her need for the petitioned information. Besides, the time she would need to process a stack of new documents before Election Day has now essentially run out. I hope the court will weigh these facts along with our agency's urgent need to concentrate on the SafeVote rollout."
Sam Quinn argued strenuously that Laura, as a freelance journalist, was every bit as engaged as she ever had been in disseminating information to the public and that it was egregious to give Elections any more time to flout the law. "Ms. Taninger's interviews have created a public outcry, and confidence in SafeVote is at an all-time low. In order to restore public confidence, her questions need to be answered immediately."
The judge weighed the matter and rendered his decision. "I hereby reprimand the Bureau of Elections for its tardiness and cavalier disregard of the public disclosure laws," he said. "Nevertheless, in view of the new national election system being rolled out tomorrow, I will give the agency a final two-week delay. But there will be no further delays under any circumstances. Do you understand that, Mr. Wallace?'
"Yes, Your Honor," said Wallace.
"Laura Taninger will still receive the information and be free to disseminate it to the public, albeit after Election Day," said Judge Davidson.
As the judge struck his gavel, Laura's head dropped. She would have no further information to give the voters before they cast their ballots the following day.
Nearby at the People's Manor, Sean Browne banged his fist on his desk and swore. Sprawled across his desk in print news stories and flashed across his computer screen were accounts of an alleged secret love affair between Laura Taninger and Senator Bret Taylor. Sean's face reddened in anger.
Laura Taninger Affair with Bret Taylor Unmasked.
Taninger-Taylor Sex Scandal and Conspiracy to Derail SafeVote Revealed.
Laura Taninger Sex Scandal Sheds Light on SafeVote Attacks.
The articles repeated the same talking points, using virtually identical words, as if they had all been cast from the same mold. One article read:
According to anonymous sources, controversial journalist and leading critic of SafeVote, Laura Taninger, was having an affair with Senator Bret Taylor, the SafeVote critic from the president's own political party. Through both the Senate Oversight Committee on Elections, which Bret Taylor heads, and Laura Taninger's repeated media attacks on the new voting system, the two lovers conspired to denigrate the signature achievement of President Martin's first term and help Senator Taylor win reelection by appealing to SafeVote skeptics across party lines.
As evidence of the wild allegations, the articles included a photograph of Laura Taninger and Brett Taylor together. They were having drinks in a booth of a bar. The senator was leaning across the table, gripping her arms to pull her close to him as he looked straight into her eyes. She was returning the intense look in what could have passed for a moment of passionate desire between them. One article's caption on the photo was typical of all the rest: "Laura Taninger and Bret Taylor spotted getting friendly in a bar. According to sources, they later left the bar together, and he spent the night at her row house."
Sean knew instantly where the picture had been taken and the context surrounding it, which the writers had failed to investigate. Is their false reporting due to laziness, incompetence, or malice? he wondered.
On his monitor, Sean pulled up the website Laura used for her postings. He saw that she had issued a statement on the matter, which all of the articles omitted:
I categorically deny having any personal relationship with Senator Bret Taylor. Not one so-called journalist called to interview me for my side of the story. The senator agreed to have a single, brief meeting with me on a current issue. The picture of us together was taken during that meeting in which we were having an intense discussion about a political subject in a public place. That is the extent of my contact with the senator. The rumors of an affair are nothing more than carefully orchestrated, anonymous claims of uncorroborated, defamatory information intended to smear the senator and me and to hurt his family. The aim of these slanderous lies is to discredit the president's critics, so they won't be taken seriously.
Sean slammed a fist of one hand into the open palm of the other, once, then again, and again. A knock at his half-open door stopped his outburst.
"Ready for the final press briefing before the election?" Without waiting to be invited in, Darcy entered with notes in hand, closed the door, and sat opposite Sean.
"Boy, am I ready! I'm ready to set the record straight!" Sean replied.
"It's very important to leave the voters with impactful final points to remember when they cast their ballots tomorrow," Darcy said.
"That's right, and one point they should know is we don't condone vicious lies."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the stories that just broke about Laura Taninger and Senator Taylor. That picture of them was taken at Annie's Alehouse, where Laura met the senator for a drink. I remember that night. I recognize the dress she wore, and I know the booths at Annie's. I know for sure where and when that picture was taken because I was parked outside of Annie's that very night! I was waiting for Laura's meeting with the senator to end, so I could take her out to dinner. I was with Laura that evening. She and I are old friends. After she met with the senator at Annie's, he went his way, and she and I went to dinner, then later that night I drove her home. I had occasion to remain par
ked outside of her row house that night. I was . . . er . . . checking my phone messages. I saw the lights go out in her home, which meant she was turning in for the night. No one came or left her row house. I know because I was outside of it on that particular evening. I can verify that nothing happened between Bret Taylor and Laura, so the stories about them being lovers and spending the night together are totally false. When I'm asked about it, as I will be, I intend to say that a highly reliable source refutes the reports."
"Oh, but we intend to confirm the reports," Darcy said. "I've written out your talking points." She read from her notes. "You'll say, 'We have reason to believe that the sources are credible, and the stories are true. It appears likely that Senator Taylor will be stripped of his committee chair.'"
"But, Darcy, I know the allegations are false. I can't smear Laura and the senator when they've done nothing wrong."
"Why not?"
Sean looked at her incredulously. He replied, choosing his words carefully, "I understand I speak for the president and not for myself. I understand I communicate his views and policies to the press. But this is different, Darcy. This is an outright lie that wrecks people's lives, and it has nothing to do with any policies."
Darcy shrugged her shoulders, untroubled by the matter. "Just say that a credible reporter has come forward with documentation of the affair that was made available only to that reporter from an unidentified person said to be a close aide to the senator."
"How can you expect me to go with that, Darcy? Where's the credibility? There's not a kernel of fact to hang on to!"
"After you give these talking points at your press conference, there will be at least a dozen major news outlets that will pick them up—"
"Without any independent verification!"
"Doesn't matter," Darcy said, shaking her head. "The scandal will be intoxicating. It'll give the media so many clicks and page views and print papers sold that they'll go with it. It'll spread through sheer shock value."