Luppas sipped his drink and waited. He glanced across the trids Fishbein had open to her, wondering what the woman was covering. President Kyle Haeffner, looking tired but trustworthy, stood in the White House’s oval-shaped Blue Room in front of huge paned windows overlooking the flowering gardens. A PRC-44b Yellowjacket helicopter with military markings hovered in the blue sky over the UCAS president’s right shoulder and black armband. The message wasn’t exactly subliminal.