Child, Lee – The Enemy

She had a fresh pot brewed. I guessed she had clicked the

switch at about eleven fifty-three, so it had finished perking

at midnight exactly. I guessed the Chief of Staff’s suite was

that sort of place. She gave me a saucer and a cup made of

transparent bone china. I was afraid of crushing it like an

eggshell. She was wearing civilian clothes. A dark suit so severe

it was more formal than a uniform.

‘This way,’ the Chief of Staff said.

He led me into his office. My cup rattled on its saucer. His

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office was surprisingly plain. It had the same painted concrete

walls as the rest of the building. The same type of steel desk I

had seen in the Fort Bird pathologist’s office.

‘Take a seat,’ he said. ‘If you don’t mind, we’ll make this

quick. It’s late.’

I said nothing. He watched me.

‘I got your message,’ he said. ‘Received and understood.’

I said nothing. He tried an ice-breaker.

‘Noriega’s top guys are still out there,’ he said. ‘Why do you

suppose that is?’

‘Thirty thousand square miles,’ I said. ‘A lot of space for

people to hide in.’

‘Will we get them all?’

‘No question,’ I said. ‘Someone will sell them out.’

‘You’re a cynic.’

‘A realist,’ I said.

‘What have you got to tell me, major?’

I sipped my coffee. The lights were low. I was suddenly aware

that I was deep inside one of the world’s most secure buildings,

late at night, face to face with the nation’s most powerful

soldier. And I was about to make a serious accusation. And only

one other person knew I was there, and maybe she was already

in a cell somewhere.

‘I was in Panama two weeks ago,’ I said. ‘Then I was transferred

out.’

‘Why do you think that was?’

I took a breath. ‘I think the Vice-Chief wanted particular

individuals on the ground in particular locations because he

was worried about trouble.’

‘What kind of trouble?’

‘An internal coup by your old buddies in Armored Branch.’

He paused for a long moment.

‘Would that have been a realistic worry?’ he asked.

I nodded. ‘There was a conference at Irwin scheduled for

New Year’s Day. I believe the agenda was certainly con

troversial, probably illegal, maybe treasonous.’

The Chief of Staff said nothing.

‘But it misfired,’ I said. ‘Because General Kramer died. But

there were potential problems from the fallout. So you personally

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intervened by moving Colonel Garber out of the 110th and

replacing him with an incompetent.’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘So that nature would take its course and the investigation

would misfire too.’

He sat still for another long moment. Then he smiled.

‘Good analysis,’ he said. ‘The collapse of Soviet communism

was bound to lead to stresses inside the U.S. military. Those

stresses were bound to manifest themselves with all kinds

of internal plotting and planning. The internal plotting and

planning was bound to be anticipated and steps were bound to

be taken to nip potential trouble in the bud. And as you say,

there were bound to be tensions at the very top that led to

moves and countermoves.’

I said nothing.

‘Like a game of chess,’ he said. ‘The Vice-Chief moves, and I

countermove. An inevitable conclusion, I suppose, because you

were looking for a pair of senior individuals in which one

outranks the other.’

I looked straight at him.

‘Am I wrong?’ I said.

‘Only in two particulars,’ he said. ‘Obviously you’re right in

that there are huge changes coming. CIA was a little slow to

spot Ivan’s imminent demise, so we’ve had less than a year

to think things through. But believe me, we’ve thought them

through. We’re in a unique situation now. We’re like a heavyweight

boxer who’s trained for years for a shot at the world

title, and then we wake up one morning and find our intended

opponent has dropped dead. It’s a very bewildering sensation.

But we’ve done our homework.’

He leaned down and opened a drawer and struggled out with

an enormous loose-leaf file. It was at least three inches thick. It

thumped down on his desktop. It had a green jacket with a long

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