Ignite by Tracy Lawson

Author:Tracy Lawson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bublish, Inc.
Published: 2015-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

12:09 PM

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President. Sir.” They shook hands, and Kevin gulped. All of a sudden, the expensive new necktie seemed to be cutting off his airway.

President Wright gestured Madalyn and Kevin to the sofa across from him and Senator Renald. Kevin wondered if the casual seating was supposed to relax them or catch them off guard. Renald wants my job; so does that guy Severson. But it’s mine. I’ve got to prove I deserve it.

Mitch’s voice came over the earpiece. “You can’t measure the success of any program by its intent alone. You also have to consider the unintended results.”

He paused periodically to allow Kevin to deliver the message at an unhurried pace.

“For example, take the Travel Restriction. Keeping people close to home was intended to make it easier for the QM to monitor the residents of their quadrants and recognize strangers, thereby preventing more terrorist attacks. But what about the unintended consequences?”

Madalyn was slowly shaking her head. He swallowed hard and pressed on. It was too late to stop now.

“How much did that Restriction cost the nation? How many tourism dollars were lost? How many auto workers lost jobs when the number of people allowed to own cars suddenly dropped by seventy-five percent?

“All but two of the major airlines and all the midsize carriers went bankrupt. Only one foreign airline has regular flights in and out of the United States. That’s got to be a direct result of the Restriction that bans air travel by civilians for pleasure.”

The president looked at him like he had two heads. Kevin shrugged.

“It seems like no one considered what the travel Restriction would do to our economy. I don’t know why it didn’t get attention from the national press.”

“Daddy!” Jaycee’s shrill voice blasted through Kevin’s earpiece and he winced before he could stop himself. Renald didn’t even try to conceal his curiosity as he stared at Kevin.

“You don’t get to ignore me just because I’ve decided to leave.”

“Hush!” Mitch’s voice boomed in his ear. “I’m with Kevin.”

Kevin’s eyes bugged out in his efforts to ignore the voices inside his head. What if the others can hear them, too? With effort, he focused on Madalyn, the president, and Renald, who were all staring at him.

“The what? I’m sorry …”

Madalyn gave him a straighten-up-right-now look. “I said just think of all the terrorist attacks that were prevented!”

Kevin heard Mitch chuckle, but he kept his own expression earnest. “None. Not a single one. I’ve checked with Analysis and Integration, the Chief QM’s reports, and the airport screening reports. There is no evidence that forbidding people to travel out of their home quadrant by car or take pleasure trips by air has prevented a single terrorist attack.”

“But that’s because the air passenger screening program is highly effective.” Madalyn’s voice was tight.

“No. Again, the airport screening isn’t monitored as closely as it was fifteen or twenty years ago, because so few people take domestic flights these days. Even so, statistics show airport

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