Chapter 64: Special Assistant For Aerospace Affairs To The President
“Lin, you have to understand, with the title of interfering with China’s nuclear test process, a certain IA will definitely be very happy to provide a large number of academic journals to China.
Not only all types, but also the latest academic journals.
They will make this matter seamless.
This is a top-level open scheme.
Now it was Lin Ran’s turn to fall into a doubt similar to John’s, and he began to suspect the other’s true identity.
Being able to push a certain IA to do this job is not something any ordinary person can do.
If the other party is indirectly working for the IA, then it is only natural that they would not be affected.
He didn’t doubt why the other party knew China was conducting nuclear tests; America’s U2 flies in the sky every day, and last year American newspapers reported that U2 detected China’s nuclear test.
Fortunately, he has always said that he is only providing academic journals to hopefully improve the living conditions of Chinese citizens, which is still within the acceptable range.
But who can guarantee this isn’t a test?
Because if Lin Ran chooses the third option, and he clearly knows that the data related to nuclear tests in the academic journals America provides to China might have problems.
Once the Chinese side finds out that America knows the Chinese side knows their plan, Lin Ran will be the first to be exposed.
So Lin Ran doesn’t dare to bet, nor does he want to bet.
“Professor, I still think we should go with the second option; routing through Hong Kong is pretty good.
For the third option, the main consideration is still China’s environment; if they discover problems with the data, all the academic journals provided by America will become untrustworthy.
The collapse of trust will cause all our efforts to be ruined.
And I am certain that China’s scientists will definitely discover it; it’s just a matter of time.
You’ve worked with Chinese students; you know the academic achievements of Chinese people.”
John George didn’t say anything more, but nodded: “Good, I agree. I’ll send it to Zhao then; he is my friend.”
After Lin Ran got home, he broke out in a cold sweat; he really wanted to know what role John George played in history to propose such a unique plan three.
After carefully checking the information in 2020, Lin Ran knew that Project Mockingbird wasn’t exposed by American reporter Carl Bernstein until 1977, and for John George, as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, to be so familiar with this plan was obviously abnormal.
Lin Ran even started to feel a bit uneasy, doubting whether rashly approaching John was the right choice.
The other’s hidden identity was buried in the fog of history; on the surface, he was friendly to China, but whether that was true in reality, or whether his friendliness to China had other purposes, Lin Ran felt he had been a bit too careless, too trusting in the so-called information gap built by time.
Because America’s winter break wasn’t over yet, he saw John Morgan, who had rushed back to New York all dusty from his ancestral home in Hartford, Connecticut.
“Randolph, I think our cooperation can’t continue.”
John Morgan’s first sentence scared him; this time the shock was a bit much, and Lin Ran hadn’t figured out the situation.
“Why? Didn’t our proposal pass NASA’s preliminary review and enter the next round?” Lin Ran asked.
John Morgan looked at Lin Ran: “Randolph, you don’t know yet?”
Lin Ran thought his identity had been exposed, but he wasn’t afraid; worst case, he could escape through the gate, and with his great mathematician identity, he could at least buy some breathing time.
“Know what?” Lin Ran asked calmly without changing expression.
John Morgan said: “Congratulations on becoming the Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs; you will be stationed in the White House West Wing Office in the future.
Kennedy has already decided; for this kind of position, he doesn’t need Congress’s approval to make the appointment, just one round of review at most. As long as you accept this position, you can officially start.”
The information gap is certainly very useful in the technology field, but in matters involving people, it may not play the role you think.
Just like in history, Horkheimer was just an ordinary philosophy professor; well, as the founder of critical theory and the Frankfurt School, he wasn’t that ordinary.
But Lin Ran absolutely couldn’t have imagined that the other’s influence in Washington was so great.
John Morgan’s words made Lin Ran subconsciously think this was the result of Professor Horkheimer exerting his influence, single-handedly pushing him to the position of Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs.
“No one notified me.” Lin Ran shook his head.
John Morgan explained: “Someone will contact you after the holiday ends. If you become the Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs, you won’t be able to continue serving as a consultant at General Aerospace.”
Half doubting, half inquiring, Lin Ran said: “So you hope I don’t take this position?”
John Morgan shook his head: “No, no, no, of course I hope you go; if you take this position, you can play a bigger role.
Although I’m not sure yet how much authority Kennedy will give you, becoming the Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs will undoubtedly be a huge help to General Aerospace.
I’m giving you the 10% shares in advance; this is the shareholding agreement. Once you sign it, 10% of General Aerospace’s shares will be yours.
After you leave the White House, you can come back anytime.”
John Morgan took a document from his briefcase and handed it to Lin Ran. Lin Ran glanced at it and marveled at how smoothly America played the revolving door between politics and business.
The matter was urgent. After John Morgan left, Lin Ran called Professor Horkheimer and told him about it. From the other end of the phone came Horkheimer’s voice:
“It wasn’t me who pushed it; I don’t have a way to directly contact the White House.
Also, what I had in mind was for you to start as an NASA engineer, at most giving you a senior engineer position and a specific project to lead.
This is quite a gap from Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs. Don’t worry; wait until I return to New York and we’ll discuss it.”
Beep beep beep. The transoceanic phone signal was bad to begin with, and after listening to the intermittent voice, Lin Ran sat stunned on the sofa, the successive accidents giving him the illusion that things were slipping out of control.
Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs sounds great, but what power it has, what Kennedy hopes he will do—all unknowns.
Lin Ran felt that at this time, he needed to consult Sister Xiao Man’s opinion.
In 2020 New York, the sunshine was great; 1960 had passed a full year, but only a little over 6 days had passed here.
“Sister Xiao Man, I’ve been looking at Apollo Moon Landing related materials recently and want to ask: in the background environment at that time, was it possible for Chinese people to hold relatively important positions in the Apollo Program?”
It’s 3 AM, woo woo woo, give chase reads and monthly tickets to Crow!
