The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

results?”
    Pettis ignored her query and directed his answer to the young man, speaking in a friendly, conversational tone. “We impacted a test target with a single burst from the MDA, using a power setting of only ten percent.”
    “Oh, I see,” Representative Wise said sarcastically, removing her glasses and leaning in a bit to put herself back into the conversation. “And what was actually accomplished with this ten percent test? Did you melt sand? Shatter a boulder? Incinerate a cactus?”
    Now Pettis turned on her, his dark eyes drilling holes in hers. Slowly, deliberately, he stepped to the table, placed his palms flat on it, and leaned over it to address her. She swallowed and sat up straight, gaining a few inches’ distance from Pettis’s glare. For a moment, Pettis said nothing.
    Holt looked at the man. They had met only yesterday, but today he seemed stronger, tougher, bolder. Leaning over the table in a threatening pose, he even looked taller. Holt turned his attention to the woman. She was visibly cowering now, and Pettis had not yet said a word.
    “Oh, no, ma’am,” Pettis said at last, his voice oozing calm menace. “Nothing so mundane as that. The target was a five-story building. The MDA dusted it.”
    “ Dusted? ” she asked haughtily.
    “Vaporized,” Pettis coldly clarified.
    “With only ten percent of the available power?” Mitchell’s eyes widened. “How could you do that with such a low setting? And what do you mean, vaporized?”
    “Yes,” Representative Wise snorted, trying to recover. “Vaporized? Come now, Major. I… I might accept demolished, or even destroyed—but vaporized? I hardly think a five-story building could actually be vaporized in any accurate sense of the word. Surely you exaggerate.”
    Pettis’s eyes narrowed further. “I never exaggerate. General Holt was present at the test and witnessed the results. Ask him what he saw.” Holt saw—and felt—everyone turn to face him. Everyone except Pettis, who continued to stare at Marjorie Wise.
    “Well, General?” Cardinale prompted. “Since you saw this supposedly amazing test, we’d appreciate your opinion. How would you characterize the condition of the target building after being struck by the MDA?”
    Holt looked away for a moment, considering how best to answer, looked at Pettis for only an instant, then back at Cardinale. He took a breath. “Dusted,” he said flatly, “about covers it.”
    The silence that followed became uncomfortably long. Cardinale and Mitchell nervously shifted in their seats. Wise and Pettis moved not a muscle, as if frozen in time, like a museum diorama of sabre-tooth and sloth, predator and prey, hunter and hunted.
    “Very well, then,” Cardinale finally said, “let’s wrap this up. Allow me to summarize.” He put on his glasses and consulted his notes.
    “We have heard from Major Pettis and General Holt that Project Molly Day has achieved considerable success since our last reports. However, there is still general disagreement among Committee members about the overall worth of the project. I believe it’s fair to say that, Major Pettis’s assurances notwithstanding, we still lack empirical evidence of sufficient progress.” He laid the notebook down, removed his glasses.
    “Gentlemen, as things stand now, it looks like a committee vote would not go in your favor. I must tell you that, although I’m impressed with what you’ve told us, we cannot advocate continuation of the project unless you can present hard facts to support your statements. I will, of course, entertain any suggestions you may have in that respect.”
    “When do you return to Washington?” Pettis asked.
    “We fly out Saturday morning, Major.”
    “Then you needn’t make a final decision until then, correct?”
    “I suppose not. What are you suggesting?”
    “That you attend a test of the MDA, which I will schedule for this Friday morning. I’m confident that if you witness a demonstration, you’ll have no doubts about the project’s worth.”
    “I don’t know,” Representative Wise hedged. “It would be irregular, at best. Committee members generally avoid direct examination of projects of this type. Besides, we probably don’t have the necessary security clearance.” Her eyes avoided Pettis’s. “I vote against such an excursion.”
    Intrigued, Mitchell spoke up. “Ms. Wise, I’m sure Major Pettis could arrange temporary clearance for us.”
    Again, Pettis addressed