Noble Vision: A Novel by LaGreca Gen

Author:LaGreca, Gen [LaGreca, Gen]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Winged Victory Press
Published: 2014-01-15T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19: Abraham and Isaac

Morning coffee awaited the secretary of medicine as he stepped into his limousine. Exposing a starched sleeve and gold cuff link beneath an exquisitely tailored suit jacket, Warren Lang waved absently to onlookers outside his Albany residence on that first Monday in August. With the turbulent events of the past week robbing his face of its perennial smile, he looked like a statesman with weighty concerns.

“Are we going to the office, Mr. Secretary?” asked the chauffeur.

“Yes, then in the afternoon I’ll be going to the governor’s mansion.”

Charges against the lieutenant governor had intensified after the explosion five days earlier in Manhattan. He and other officials were accused of accepting kickbacks from construction companies awarded government contracts, including the firm believed responsible for the accident injuring Nicole Hudson and others. The faulty gas piping apparently involved in that explosion had been installed as part of a government contract, rekindling the scandal in the headlines. Although the lieutenant governor maintained his innocence, he finally withdrew from the race amid mounting pressure.

Because he was the target of a time-consuming investigation, the beleaguered official announced, he had decided not to run in the upcoming election. Publicly, Governor Mack Burrow accepted the decision with regret and expressed confidence that his second in command would be cleared of all charges. Privately, however, it was Burrow who forced his running mate off the ticket.

In speeches given across the state, the governor distanced himself from the kickback scandal. “I will select a new running mate of the highest moral character who will serve the public good,” he promised.

Now Burrow had summoned Warren for a meeting that could only concern two topics, one that the secretary wanted passionately to discuss and the other that he wanted just as fervently to avoid: the first, his running for lieutenant governor; the second, his son.

Furrows appeared like fault lines on Warren’s ashen face, a sign that a quake could rock the stately countenance. Entering a large hall in the BOM’s Albany headquarters, he brushed his concerns aside. All eyes in the packed room turned to him as he began his weekly meetings with citizens.

“An official must be accessible, not sequestered in an ivory tower,” he often said. “It’s my duty to keep my finger on the pulse of the people.” Hence, one morning a week the secretary was available to anyone wishing to discuss a health issue with him, at five minutes per person. “This is our private chat,” he would tell those who came. In actuality, the “private” interviews were conducted before a gallery of waiting people, as well as aides directing traffic, keeping time, recording the proceedings, and processing papers.

The press hailed Warren’s chats. “We commend Secretary Lang’s open-door policy. He sets a new standard for caring government that is responsive to the people,” said an editorial in a leading newspaper. A photograph of Warren sympathetically patting the hand of a distraught citizen appeared on the cover of a national magazine, accompanied by a flattering story titled “New Directions for Medicine.

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