He knew better than to expect his job to get any easier once the end of the war was declared. There would always be some sort of scandal or policy dispute and it was his job to do damage control. Right now there was a lot of damage to control.

Without wasting any time, he greeted the assembled correspondents, saying, "Thank you all for coming. Let's get right down to business. As you know, MCN has been kicking up a lot of dust the past few days and we would like to address that. Please hold all questions to the end."

In all truth, Fairbanks had no idea whether the stories MCN had been putting up had any veracity to them or not. All he knew was the party line and delivering it to a crowd of skeptical if not outright hostile journalists without flinching was part and parcel of the job.

"On behalf of the Chairwoman, I would like to categorically repudiate the following claims. There is no basis in fact whatsoever regarding the allegations of misconduct by former Chairman Richthofen. Tabitha Harold is not the mother of Dieter Richthofen and Dieter Richthofen is most certainly not Colonel Matthias Harold.

"The claims of man-machine hybrids produced by the Iota Series synthetics have no scientific basis whatsoever. This was definitively disproven twenty-five years ago and the findings stand to this day. The Redbloods have been known for their hyperbolic propaganda since their inception and far more skepticism should have been observed regarding their claims.

"Next, the so-called Einherjar Project does not exist. While there were a number of classified training programs designed to optimize the warfighting capacity of our servicemembers, this Einherjar Project as portrayed is total fantasy. There is certainly no connection between any real-life program and the shooter involved in the Camp Chisholm Incident, which was simply a case of workplace violence brought on by pre-traumatic stress disorder.

"The so-called Ticonderoga Nine is another fiction. That decorated and distinguished servicemembers—two Heroes of the Union among them—would be counted as traitors tried by a secret tribunal is patently absurd. No one has been charged with treason since the Lunar Revolt and it is shameful to see the good names of our fighting men and women dragged through the mud for a cheap ratings ploy.

"Lastly, regarding today's report, which I trust this press conference is interrupting, it beggars all belief that this fiasco would be topped off with something so ludicrous as to claim that Sheolites were actually the product of this government. I have run across a number of crazy conspiracy theories in my day, but this really takes the cake. Hell, it takes the whole damn patisserie."

He chuckled nervously at his joke, but if anyone in the crowd thought it was clever, they were keeping it to themselves.

Clearing his throat, Fairbanks continued, "This is no joking matter, though. The courts will be deciding the criminal liability when the Ministry of Justice presents its case in the coming weeks, but on a moral and ethical level, I strongly encourage the decision-makers at MCN to reevaluate their priorities and do the right thing. MCN is a network with a devoted following numbering in the millions and should really be displaying a little more conscience than what we've seen in recent days."

He pause for a moment to let his words sink in before saying, "Okay. Let's open the floor to some questions." Immediately the hands went up and Fairbanks picked one. "Marwan?"

Marwan Hussein of An-Nahrain stood up and said, "The government is substantially denying the entirety of MCN's recent series."

Karel Sudek of the Osteu Daily stood up and asked, "Are you going so far as to say that Piers Berg faked all his sources?"

The next one up was Celestine Landrieu of VTBS. It was an underhanded move on the part of her network to assign her to the press corps. They knew she and Fairbanks had been coworkers when she was at GNS—more than just coworkers, actually—and they no doubt thought they could use that as leverage against him. He had to walk a tricky tightrope, showing neither favoritism for her nor discrimination against her. Either one could be used to sink him, but he had managed to avoid any serious accusations thus far.

Though they parted on more or less amicable terms, Celes was always cold as ice and hard as a rock when she was on the clock. There would be no soft pitches from her and Fairbanks knew what he was getting himself into when he called on her.

Going for the low blows as always. She did not address the substance of the reports or the government's rebuttal, but this meta layer was sure to be the buzz of all the opinion columns. This would be a good chance to head them off at the pass.

That would give the editorialists something to write about. Time to move on.

Idris Nguma of the Zanj Times glowered at him a bit. He seemed to take Fairbanks' nickname of him as a deliberate insult, but he needed to have thicker skin if her was going to work in the media biz.

"And that'll do it for today's conference. As always, forward any additional questions to my office and we'll respond as we can. Thank you."

Fairbanks stepped away from the podium and once he was out of view of the press corps, he allowed himself the luxury of breathing a sigh of relief. It never got any easier.

He knew he was nothing more than a mouthpiece for the government and was never trusted with anything beyond the official talking points he had to deliver to the press. He knew the information he delivered wasn't always true, but he believed it was necessary for the Union's security. Even so, he shuddered to think if even fraction of the things he just denied were in fact true. This sort of thing plagued him from time to time and he wondered if he'd make it to the end of Chairwoman Liu's term or not. There was a nice bonus in it for him if he did, but was that enough to keep him going? He didn't know.

It wasn't even noon yet, but he needed a drink. The flood of questions that was inevitably pouring into his office could wait.