"Jim, I—"
"Don't try to apologize, Leo, because it's my own fault and none of yours that I'm where I am now. I'm simply asking you to exert some influence on behalf of a project I'm involved in."
It was a naked attempt at lobbying. Harker hoped Winstead's unconscious guilt-feelings would lead him to support the Beller people.
"What sort of project is it, Jim?"
"It's—it's a sort of revolutionary breakthrough in science, Leo. A process to reanimate people who have been dead less than twenty-four hours."
Winstead sat up. "Are you serious?"
"Dead serious. I'm going down to Washington next week to see Thurman. This thing really works—and I want to get it legally approved."
"And exactly where do I come in?"
"You're a powerful official, Leo. If you came out in praise of this new development—"
"Dangerous business, Jim. The Church—"