All is fair in politics...

[Mark Crassis]

Onderon
Sarlacc's Den Cantina

Ater Notechis. Crassis hadn't heard that name in close to a decade. Crassis was on the wane at the time, his career in intelligence winding down toward the inevitability of a desk job. Ater was a young women, struggling with the recent loss of her mother. But even in the midst of that grief, Crassis had sensed in her a controlled calm.

Like the eye of a violent storm.

"The usual Mr. Crassis." Asked the young man standing behind the bar.

"Yes, thank you." Crassis said nodding to him and making his way toward the private booth in the back. Within a few moments he was followed by the man who set two tumblers down on the table and a bottle of Menkooro Whiskey. Crassis nodding his thanks and handed the man a hefty tip before opening the bottle and pouring the red liquid into his glass and sitting back. Taking a sip from the burning liquid his mind wandered off to several years back.

Ater had begun digging into things that Crassis had had a hand in and he had been forced to begin watching her to see what it was about. As she dug, so did he. Soon he'd discovered that she was after the murder of her mother and her investigation was getting dangerously close to uncovering a small cell of operatives that Crassis had been cultivating for some time. It had culminated in a meeting between the two and Crassis had left unsure of where the girls path would go.

To find her a Senator of the Republic now, like him, was surprising to say the least. Finishing half of his glass, Crassis sat the glass down and opened the dossier before him. While he waited he might as well get to know the reason he was here a little better.

​

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Mark Crassis. Her file on him was in two distinct parts. There was the modern one she’d been compiling, Senator Crassis, GRIM, a fondness for Menkooro Whiskey. The debate as to his relationship with the Prime Minister’s secretary. The last one was rumour and Ater believed no more than that. He wanted her in his pocket. He didn’t want to get her into bed.

And then there was the old file. Crassis the intelligence chief. Less detailed and with a lot more theory and supposition than fact.

But it was inevitable they’d meet. No doubt he was reviewing a file on her as she arrived in her cab and got out. She paid the correct fare and didn’t even blink when the driver held-out for a tip. Instead she simply walked into the bar. She was dressed casually, there was no value in sticking out like a sore thumb in a place like this. A hide jacket, slacks and a simple white top. With her hair pulled back and no make-up she was pretty without being beautiful. Men would notice her…but not remember her. She simply had one of those faces.

As she made her way to the table, she took in every patron. She noted the ones with guns, those likely to be dealing drugs and the ones most likely to be Crassis’ men. Why did she think he had some there? Because she did…that’s why.

So she reached the table and took a seat. “You called. I came. Let’s get down to business, there’s an opera I’m going to be late for. And I have to change yet.”

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

Crassus raised his eyes off of the file as he saw her enter into the cantina. Time had been far nicer to her than it had been to him. Crassis's raised a hand and adjusted the thick framed glasses and smiled politely as she approached. Brisk as always. It seemed her appearance wasn't the only thing that hadn't changed much.

"Senator Notechis." Crassis said flipping over the empty tumbler and pouring her a glass of the red bourbon. He couldn't remember if the young woman drank or not.....something about her imperial air told him she didn't, but he would offer none-the-less. Sitting the glass in front of her, Crassis smiled and took a healthy sip of his own drink before continuing.

"Opera." Crassis said shaking his head. "I never could stand it, but then again, I'm a bit less culture than you I suppose." The older Senator said sitting down his glass and straightening his vest and tie. Tossing the file he was viewing down on the table alongside the drink he'd offered, Crassis smiled with half of his face and lifted his cane into the air, tapping it back down on the floor.

"Tell me, Ater," Crassis asked, testing the waters by using her first name, "what do you know of Senator Cade Lee of Bal'demnic?" Lifting the bottle, Crassis refreshed his drink as he awaiting an answer.

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Ater nodded at his recognition of her and said nothing when he poured the drink. Nor did she touch it. To her it was a vice. And she didn’t do vices. Unless you included power of course – and to that she was a self-confessed addict.

“Opera is an acquired taste. Like bourbon, I suppose.”

Ater listened to the question. It could have been one of many Senators he was going to ask about. She did not expect she knew anything he did not. Her expectation was it would be the one in bed with a Sith Lord as a co-owner of his company, along with a Jedi Master it seemed. Public records. There was a reason they were called public. And private records? They might as well have been public. With intelligence-grade bots scouring the ether, nothing was sacred. What she had for breakfast could be ascertained by a second-grader and a datapad, let alone a hacker.

But the subject he’d chosen was full of anomalies. Facial recognition software was a very useful tool. As was a simple programme that tracked verified appearances. Cross-referencing them to say…One-Sith known activity was something interns could manage, let alone the former Director of the Empire’s ISB. Proof, no. But enough to warrant an investigation? If she were Crassis, certainly.

In truth she liked duplicity. It gave you leverage. If every Senator were squeaky clean, there would be no way of ensuring votes went your way when you needed them to. Sharing what she knew meant losing a potential asset. But then if Crassis wanted access to what she held on her database, he could probably take it anyway. She no longer had the resources of an Empire to call upon.

“He seems to like wearing his glasses in public,” she offered. It was a fact, pure and simple. But Crassis would understand its implications, or else she wouldn’t be here, would she?

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

"Yes, well don't we all." Crassis said adjusting his glasses and smiling wryly at the younger woman in front of him. Crassis hadn't seen her in so long, and as much as he would like to avoid it, his mind wouldn't stay in the present. It kept drifting back to a time, many years ago, when her calm, regal expression seemed more like the calm of a storm, with a rage and emotion bubbling just beneath the surface. She'd lost her mother, and Crassis was old enough to know the pain of losing his parents. What was worse was the slight twinge of guilt he felt in relation to her mothers death.

"I think we've been in this business a little too long." Crassis said chuckling and downing the remainder of his glass. Grabbing the bottle he poured another half a glass and sat back, swirling the red liquor around.

"We're not in the field anymore." Crassis said leaning forward on the table. "We can talk plainly." Crassis said smiling weakly.

"I need information, you might have that information." Crassis said, leaning back again his voice suddenly took on a slightly more steely tone, "So, what is it you want?"

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Everyone had strengths and weaknesses. Sadly for most, the latter outweighed the former, but for all of his world-weary display, Crassis had a sharp mind and got to the point. She liked that.

She ignored him pouring himself more alcohol and focused on his body language rather than his words. Everyone had tells, even as rigid and controlled as she attempted to be, so did she. Of course, hers were as subtle as could be – she’d spent a long time being coached out of them – but she knew in times of stress they would leak out. It was inevitable.

Crassis, she could tell, knew more than he was saying. But the ‘what’ remained a mystery for now.

So she approached this conversation as he’d requested, with plain talking.

“I need information, you might have that information. So, what is it you want?”

She picked up the glass of bourbon and downed it in one. It delayed her need to respond and also had a certain shock factor – given she was not known to drink.

Setting the glass down and avoiding the fact that the burning liquid tasted foul, she smiled slowly at her fellow Ambassador.

“Plain talking? OK. I want to know why you’re feeling guilty.”

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

To say the question took him by surprise was not an understatement. Crassis sat back for a moment and he was sure the surprise showed upon his face. Guilt? Was he feeling guilt at the moment? Taking a moment to reflect upon it, Crassis ran a hand over the raven carved into the end of his walking stick as he considered her question.

He was definitely feeling guilty.

Crassis had a card he was holding on to. A card he didn't want to play but that he figured he might have to in order to get Senator Notechis to play ball. Crassis liked the girl, and unbeknownst to her, he had been keeping tabs on her periodically throughout the last few years....perhaps that was about guilt as well.

But what Crassis was truly feeling guilty about was what he was about to say to the younger woman. Crassis was not a "spy." He was not the sort of man who one thought of when they thought of intelligence operatives. He didn't break into buildings and kill enemy leaders with hidden poison, tablets. Crassis was the reality of what intelligence work was really about. Currying favors and manipulation. Crassis had a gift at knowing the one thing a target valued and exploiting it to the fullest. As a younger man Crassis had done it without much thought for the aftermath.....but in his old age Crassis now felt more regret about doing it.

But do it he would.

"There are a great many reasons for me to feel guilty." Crassis said grabbing the bottle and refreshing Ater's glass. "It is impossible to do what we've done, for as long as we've done it and not carry a great deal of guilt around with us." Crassis said chuckling sadly.

"But I suppose," Crassis said sipping from his glass, "What I feel guilty about at this particular moment is the offer I'm about to make you." Crassis said, removing his glasses and locking his golden yellow eyes on the woman.

"I need you to help me find out what Senator Cade Lee is hiding." Crassis said, his voice low but audible. "In return I can help you by giving you information about the death of your mother." Crassis said, and while his voice was steady and his features calm, he felt more nervous than he had in some time.

"How long has it been, Ater?" Crassis asked, "How long has it been since the trail went cold? I can guarantee you information pertaining to at least one person who is linked to the death of your mother."

As those words left his mouth, it wasn't guilt that Crassis was feeling.....it was self-loathing.

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Bullseye – she was sure she’d seen the tell and played a hunch. And now his face told her she’d scored a critical hit.

Of course he started with a smokescreen.

“There are a great many reasons for me to feel guilty. It is impossible to do what we've done, for as long as we've done it and not carry a great deal of guilt around with us.”

But then he disappointed her.

“But I suppose, what I feel guilty about at this particular moment is the offer I'm about to make you.”

But she was a poker player and she kept the cards she had and saw how the hand played out.

“I need you to help me find out what Senator Cade Lee is hiding. In return I can help you by giving you information about the death of your mother.”

Now he had her attention. Her parent’s deaths were linked and if she could find out about one, she could certainly resolve the other.

But any talk of protecting hidden thoughts went out of the window. He could quite literally have said anything else and she wouldn’t have batted an eyelid. She was trained to beat lie detectors after all. So she sat in stunned silence, suddenly aware her mouth was gaping. She picked up the glass and downed the second shot. “Frak the opera,” she said. “Full of idiots stuck up their own backsides anyway.”

She stared him in the eyes. “For that information, I’ll give you my entire dossier on the Senator. Nothing is proof in and of itself, but it’s more than enough to provoke a formal hearing – or an informal chat with some Jedi perhaps?”

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

Crassis wanted to smile at the sudden agreement that had been reached between the two of them, but for some reason his face just didn't seem to want to work with him on this one. Instead, Crassis put the full weight on his cane as he, rather unsteadily, rose to his feat. As serene as he tried to keep his impression, a grimace of pain would momentarily flash across his face. The damn damp weather played hell on his old injury.

"We can't have you missing the Opera!" Crassis said, settling on his feet and finally cracking a smile.

"Go," Crassis said, "enjoy it. I have to put a few things in Order before we proceed." Crassis hated doing it to her. He was dangling before her vital information that she dearly wanted and telling her she'd have to wait for it. But there were things that needed doing. People who needed some warning before Crassis went ahead and leaked the information. He doubted it would help against someone like Ater, but he owed them that much.

"Tomorrow, noon." Crassis said stepping around the table and place a hand on the woman's shoulder. It was a fatherly....or perhaps grandfatherly....gesture and one that Crassis felt unnatural. He didn't have a family.

"You bring the dossier, I'll tell the story." Crassis said and dropped a small piece of flimsy on the table. On it was the name of a park that wasn't far from the senate building. Crassis would be waiting there fore her.

________​

​

A single sparkle of fading white danced upon the still waters of the lake before him and the wrustling of the leaves above made him daydream about being anywhere but the capital of the Galactic Republic.

Crassis's head hurt. He'd gone home from their meeting and drank himself into a coma. Control was something that Crassis valued, but there were nights when losing control was the only way to succumb to the darkness of his unconscious mind....everyone needed sleep. Pulling a small piece of bread apart, Crassis threw it out into the water and watched as fish and birds alike assailed it.

As he watched the animals hungrily attack the bread, he couldn't help but think it looked rather like a Senate meeting.

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

She looked at his face for a glimmer of…well something. When nothing came she was surprised and finally when he stood and smiled she was confused. He wanted something, she wanted something and they could work together on this. So why the reticence?

He dismissed her. It was polite and it was gentle, but she was sent away. But she’d waited all these years, what difference would a few hours make? She was always calculating and would always take her time if need be. Now she had to exercise her inordinate amount of patience.

So she smiled politely and allowed him to say his good-bye and leave. She reviewed the flimsi and then walked over to the bar. Grabbing a book of matches, she burned it. Old habits and all that…

#​

She made her way to the park. The opera had been poor. Two understudies on the same performance never boded well. So she’d left at the first interval – it was one of those six hour affairs – and had an early night.

Which meant she rose early and went for a run around this very park before returning in a simply suit and blouse combination and wished she’d worn a coat to combat the breeze that had sprung up.

She saw him feeding the birds. Or the fish. Or both. He looked almost vulnerable – and wondered what he would have been like twenty years ago. He had so much to teach her if he had the inclination – but she’d given that life up for one of politics. Unless something amazing happened in the Senate, she couldn’t think of anything that would bring her out of professional retirement. For as an amateur, she’d never left the profession.

“A credit chip for them?”

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

"They are like the Senate." Crassis found himself saying without turning to acknowledge the arrival of Ater. "Only so many scraps of resource," He said and shredded the last bit of bread symbolically before tossing it into the water. "And they all want it, they all vie for it."

"They'd kill each other just for that little bit of food....or power...or wealth...or....anything." Crassis said leaning back.

"I've killed Senator Notechis...." Crassis admitted and was surprised that the words came out so easily. "I've personally done it and I've stood on the end of a comm and given the order to take the shot." Crassis said sliding over on the bench so that she could join him. "I've held life in my hands....a precious thing ....and thrown it away and I've done it because it was what was best for the Republic." Crassis said, his eyes glossy and distant as he watched the birds and fish devour the bread with a ravenous greed.

"It changes you." Crassis said finally turning to look at the young woman and wondering if in her work with the Imperial Remnant she had had to do it as well.

Remembering why he was here and who he was speaking too, Crassis smiled warmly and motioned for her to sit.

"If you have a dossier.....I have a story to tell." Crassis said chuckling a bit.

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

She listened to the man’s words. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, that would be her eventually. This business did it to people. Made them jaundiced…bitter…unforgiving…manipulative. She already had these traits and it was one of the reasons she got out of the role.

But retirement wasn’t for her and neither, it seemed, was a life of politics. She was a woman of action. Patient, yes, but there had to be an end game.

“Seems to me the Senate would argue over it and by the time they decided who would get to eat it, they’d have forgotten it was bread they were squabbling over and there would be something new to fight over.”

“Utterly pointless…” Whether that was the Senate or her current existence, she was unsure.

She listened again. As someone who oversaw operations to have cells eliminated and Force User’s lives ended to ensure law and order, she could relate to his words. And before that she’d been an active officer and actually seen the whites of the eyes of those she’d killed. All for the greater good – although that was always linked to your own perception of what was right of course. But her efforts were primarily internal, so in truth she’d broken no laws. And a lawful death was entirely justified in her mind – she lost no sleep over it.

She fished into her pocket and pulled out a data card and a flimsi. The encrypted file was thorough, the written word a summary of what the data contained.

She sat down and looked at him. “I always liked a good story. Especially one where I can ensure a happy ending.”

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

A smile crossed across Crassis's face at her words, but it was only half-hearted. A happy ending? When was the last time Crassis had considered anything in their line of business to have a happy ending. Still, he supposed she was glad to be finally given a lead in the death of her mother....oh how that happiness might end in a few moments when the truth came out.

"Your going to want to ask questions," Crassis said smiling and leaning back against the wood and sitting his wooden cane across his lap. "But let me get it all out first." Crassis said, knowing that once he started he wouldn't be able to stop. Reaching into his pocket he took a swig from the dark flask in his pocket before returning it to his vest pocket.

"It took 3 years to get someone deep enough into the Imperial Remnant to actually get decent intel." Crassis said looking away from her and toward the shimmering water. "But once we had them the information that was coming in was pure gold." Crassis said smiling and nodding along with his words as he reminisced about the quality of the intelligence on that operation. It had been one of Crassis's most successful operations and it was likely one of the reasons he had risen up through the intelligence ranks. "A single mole, with high enough clearance and the willingness to share.....for a price that was." Crassis said but didn't bother divulging just what they'd paid the man.

"For months we cautiously compiled our reports, we made our recommendations, and we used the information without being obvious about it......but the brass got greedy." Crassis said, a grimace forming on his face. "They ignored my recommendations and moved too obviously, intercepting cargo they should never have known about." It had been a costly mistake on the Republic's part, and Crassis remembered being so angry at them for making it.

"It gave away the mole.....not his identity mind you." Crassis said, indicating the gender of the informant, "but the fact that he existed. Before then they had no idea." A small amount of pride shown in Crassis eyes at that statement. This operation hadn't been a big one. Just Crassis and a small number of burnable assets and yet it had paid out so well for so long.

"Once they knew, the witch hunt began." Crassis said, remembering that time of terror for his mole. The man was spooked as he should have been. The Imperial Remnant was not one to treat traitors well. "I was left with few options." Crassis said finally looking back at Ater.

"I could let my man be burned, or I could misdirect the hunt." Crassis said, his voice taking on a harder, more serious edge. "I wasn't going to leave my man behind....the information he was providing was just too good to pass up, so I leaked information, cautiously." Crassis said, "Nothing important, mind you, just enough innuendo and whispers to move the hunt in a slightly different direction."

"But our mole, not realizing what I was doing, panicked when he saw the information linked to your mother's platoon." Crassis said, feeling a knot forming in his throat. "A few weeks later, they were all dead." Crassis said shaking his head. "He'd believed that the Republic intel we had leaked was solid and thought that his identity could be blown by someone in your mother's platoon."

Crassis stopped talking for a moment and allowed the silence between the two of them to build. He could stop there, but there was something pushing Crassis to speak further....to try and explain the fact that he was just as guilty as the mole. Crassis had learned long in his career to push guilt aside, but this had stuck with him all these years.

"Understand, that when I said I could reveal to you someone involved in your mother's murder.....I was referring to myself." Crassis said turning so that he was facing her. "I knew that there could be consequences of leaking that information. I didn't know that your mother would die, but I knew someone could. Someone's mother, or father, or daughter or son....." Crassis said shrugging half-heartedly. "I was aware that someone could get hurt....that someone could die...."

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Patience was one of her virtues. And a temper that was kept so carefully under lock and key, you would expect nothing would have ever riled her.

So she listened and gave no reaction. Yesterday she’d been caught out. Today she was prepared. Or at least, she thought she was.

The story was familiar in their line of work. The placing of moles was common practice and what kept both sides on their toes was not knowing if your man had been compromised and was, in fact, being fed bogus information.

In truth there was no fire to keep under control. Inside she was as cold as ice. She was calculating. Both as a verb and a noun.

He’d been indirectly associated with her mother’s death. For the first time she had a name, someone to blame. Except…he made no mention of her father. Clearly whoever killed one killed the other, and the second hit he hadn’t sanctioned.

Her world was in turmoil. The lie she’d lived with about the Republic was found out and she’d spent so many years believing they were the now the innocent party only for that to be turned on its head again.

“I grew up hating the Republic. I believed the propaganda. When my mother died, they were the obvious ones to blame. Then, after my father died, I was led to believe it was an IR inside-job. I felt foolish for hating the Republic. Now? Now I don’t know any more.”

“The man you mention? I wish to kill him.” Her voice was still level. It was as if she were reading from a menu. “I want his name and any information you have on him.”

“You?” She stared into his eyes for the first time. “I haven’t decided yet. A deal is a deal when it’s equitable. The man’s name for the file? We’re quits. But your involvement? That’s raised the stakes. You owe me. All that has to be decided is the price to be paid. For believe me, I will call it in. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow. But one day. Once I work out what the adequate compensation is. For rest assured, it’s a heavy price you’ll have to pay. Maybe the ultimate price?"

"I am aware that someone could get hurt....that someone could die...." She played his words back to him.

She resisted the urge to stand and leave. She wanted to see his reaction. She wanted…in fact she wasn’t sure what she wanted, so remaining here allowed her time to think.

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

Crassis was expecting anger, perhaps even enough rage to need to react physically, but he found that her response was measured and cold....but he couldn't help but suspect it was simply a front. Ater had been in the game a long time. Reaching into his pocket Crassis pulled out a datachip and rising to his feet, handed it over. Leaning heavily on his cane, the pain in his leg made his face turn into a grimace, which oddly enough fit the situation.

"Everything you need is on that datachip. Identification information, aliases, known locations...." Crassis said smiling with half his face but the smile quickly vanished and Crassis's face took on a statue-like quality.

"As for you and me." Crassis said shrugging. "We will just have to see. If the favor you ask for is reasonable enough, I may comply." Crassis said, "But then again I may not." He said, and he found his voice a bit colder than even he thought he could make it.

"You seem to think I should owe you.....but I owe you nothing." Crassis said.

"I did what I had to do." Crassis said shaking his head. "And, knowing the circumstances and consequences.....I'd do it again. The intel I received after your mothers death continued to be valid and it aided the Republic in a great many ways."

"And if that means you want to come for me, so be it." Crassis said, that smile returning to his face. "I've been doing this a long, long time. The line of people who want me dead could circle this world and you certainly wouldn't be the first to try." Crassis said taking a step forward and leaning down.

"But if you come for me, you be damn sure you don't miss." Crassis said, and left it at that. He had hoped that she would be able to look past it, that she would be able to understand that he'd done the right thing for the Republic and wonder, sincerely, if she could claim to have not made any decisions such as this in her time among the Imperial Remnant. But they would have to get past this.....

...because Crassis had plans for Ater Notechis....

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Time. A great healer? Not in Ater’s eyes, she simply saw it as an irrelevance. It was as if her parent’s death had just happened.

Did she blame the man that was now looking to exert his authority over her? Perhaps not. But until she dealt with the name on the datachip, she couldn’t be sure how she’d feel.

So she listened. Impassively. Not one muscle moved, only her eyelids gave any indication she was not in fact dead.

A rash person would pull the gun she had holstered and blast the man she was next to. A rash person would be dead before her hand was out of the lapels of her jacket. There would be a sniper, maybe two. How did she know? Because she’d employed them too. And even the nod to have him killed would result in her own death immediately afterwards. And that was too steep a price to pay. At least for now.

So she let him speak and once he’d done she sat as unemotionally as she’d done throughout. “I wouldn’t,” she said and turned her gaze back to the ducks. As she predicted, they were now squabbling after something new. Politicians? Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

[member="Mark Crassis"]

 

[Mark Crassis]

"You don't have to like me, but you will have to live with me....at least until you decide to kill me." Crassis said, a dry smile spreading across his wrinkled face and a flash in eyes that shown with a youth long since gone. His hand loosened on the head of his cane, which when push came to shove, could be opened up to reveal a hidden dagger. Reaching, cautiously, into his pocket, Crassis also drew forth a small envelope and dropped it on the bench beside her.

"The powers that be are expanding the Galactic Republic Intelligence Ministry." Crassis said and shrugged. "Apparently I've burned enough bridges that they don't want me to run the whole damn thing."

"I'll be heading External Affairs....and word is they want you for Internal Affairs." Crassis said, his smile vanishing. He could only imagine what it woudl be like working alongside someone who wanted you dead.....only he didn't really need to imagine it. He'd done it for years and he thought that when he accepted the job at GRIM he'd be taking it easy.

....what a delusion that was.

[member="Ater Notechis"]​

 

[Ater Notechis]

Ater took the envelope and pocketed it. She didn't bother to open it, she'd been expecting it. She'd even been thinking of her resignation speech from the Senate. Crassis was OK, his focus was outside of the Republic, or at worst foreign nationals on domestic soil. She however would be looking at her fellow Republicans.

Some would be very close to home. And that would make her role in the Senate untenable. Plus she'd had enough watching ducks fight over scraps of bread.

"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other."

She stood and walked away. The stakes had been raised and she should now be very worried. Except she wasn't, she was exhilarated. This is what she was born to do. All she had to do was build an Internal Security Bureau from scratch. Perhaps she should secure funding before she went after the Senators on her list?

[member="Mark Crassis"]