Pressure Read Online Free PDF Page A

there?”
    Smiling, Carrie shook her head. “I have drinks on the way.”
    As if on cue, the bartender returned with their drinks. The balding man slipped out of his chair and walked over to retrieve them. He nodded at Carrie.
    â€œHi, I’m Hank. I’m their producer. And I’d just like to say that we’re all glad you’re okay. That’s what’s important. And I’m sorry about what happened to your colleague.”
    â€œThank you, Hank.”
    â€œYes, Hank.” Jessamine scowled. “Thank you. Why don’t you take Julio his drink? We’ll be over in a bit.”
    â€œDon’t get mad at me, Jessamine,” he muttered under his breath.
    Jessamine waited until he had departed, and then she tried smiling again. Carrie could see that beyond the surface bravado, the reporter was flustered.
    Good, she thought. Let’s see if I can tweak her some more.
    â€œCould you tell us what happened to you down there?” Jessamine asked.
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDo you have any idea what might have caused the critical breakdown your equipment suffered?”
    â€œNo,” Carrie lied.
    â€œAnd you don’t remember what happened to cause the accident?”
    â€œI think what I said was that I wasn’t going to tell you what happened down there, not that I don’t remember. I don’t want to talk about it. A man died, after all.”
    â€œYes. Noted researcher Peter Scofield, who is presumed dead.”
    â€œHe’s not presumed dead.” Carrie took another sip of beer. “He is dead.”
    â€œSo, you’re then confirming that—”
    â€œI’m not confirming or denying anything.”
    â€œYou just said he was dead,” Jessamine protested. “I have a responsibility to—”
    â€œYour responsibility begins and ends with your bosses, and their responsibility is to their shareholders and advertisers. I don’t care which network you’re with. They’re all the same. The only thing that matters to them are their earnings. They pretend to appeal to one particular group or another, but in the end, it’s all bullshit. The only thing they care about are dollar signs—big corporate interests that stand in the way of good science being done.”
    â€œYour research is funded by Alpinus Biofutures,” Jessamine shot back. “They hardly qualify as a small company.”
    â€œBut Alpinus wants results,” Carrie argued. “Your bosses just want ratings.”
    â€œWhat, then, are your thoughts now that the United Nations has officially removed Alpinus Biofutures from the site and turned over further exploration in the area to the NOAA instead?”
    â€œWhat?”
    Carrie regretted the question the second she voiced it. She knew how to play politics. This wasn’t her first time jousting with the press. She was something of a public relations expert when it came to her scientific interests. She knew how to handle investors, government officials, and members of the press. But so far, she had anticipated where Jessamine wanted to lead her, and had instead successfully steered the conversation in the direction she wanted to go—namely, away from Peter and what had really happened during their dive. Although now, it occurred to Carrie that it had been she who had brought Peter up. Why was she being so hot-headed all of a sudden, rather than her politically savvy self? Was she just tired? Off her game? This new, unexpected revelation regarding the United Nations and Alpinus surprised her, giving Jessamine the advantage.
    â€œThat’s correct,” Jessamine replied. “The U.N. removed Alpinus yesterday. In their report, they cited the constant equipment malfunctions, the lack of progress, and the fact that, so far, the scientific results are inconclusive, amongst other things.”
    â€œYou can’t rush science,” Carrie said.
    â€œNo,” Jessamine agreed,