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when did you start to investigate the contamination? Or was that all handled as skillfully as the rest?" |
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Vincent Kellner intervened. "We are asking for your absolute silence, Mrs. Neville, until this issue is resolved. After a suitable interval, you will be free to say or do whatever you think best." |
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"I'm to exonerate the United States Navy?" Anna demanded. "After what I've been told, and if it is true, of course I must make a statement, but I should do it right away" |
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"Stop there, Mrs. Neville," Kellner said. One of his hovering aides slipped a paper into his hand as he spoke. "The situation is so delicate now that no one can issue any statements. We must await resolution of the situation." |
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Anna felt a sudden rush of anger and outrage that overwhelmed any discretion she had been feeling in this powerful company. "Dr. Kellner," she said in a voice that quavered with fury, "do you mean that war with Russia is a proper resolution of 'the situation,' as you put it, and that anything I might say will precipitate it? That's the most offensive suggestion I have yet received." Her blue eyes were brilliant with unshed tears, and she dashed them away. "I made the accusations, now I must tell the truth.'' |
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"If it's that offensive to you, Mrs. Neville," Kellner said coldly, "I don't know whether to congratulate you or pity you. You don't seem to realize that none of us know exactly what your famous 'truth' is right now. You seem to be thinking only of your own image in the eyes of your advocates. What of the consequences to the public, the panic it could cause?" |
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Anna pushed her hair back from her forehead, her mind whirling. "But what about President Cherny? Does he know? Surely he can't be responsible." |
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President Caidin had long since lost his patience with her. He began pacing up and down, glaring at Anna. "For God's sake" he began. |
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Vincent Kellner stepped in. "I think anyone who is a member in good standing of the Canadian Committee for Nuclear |
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