Rodgers smiled. “I’ll think about it. I’ve got a lot to think about. A few hours ago I wanted to drop out of this whole damned race. I had people running to my rescue, not letting me get out of the trouble I created or face the music myself.”
“Which is what you’ve always done,” Hood said.
“That’s right,” Rodgers said. “And proudly so.” He fell quiet for a long moment as he sat staring into space. “But then this very old teammate of mine reminded me that even though you run the race alone, it doesn’t mean you are alone.”
“He was right,” Hood said. “Didn’t Benjamin Franklin have something to say about that?”
“He told the Continental Congress, ‘We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.’ ”
“Right,” Hood said. “Who are you to argue with Benjamin Franklin? Besides, didn’t he and John Adams and the Sons of Liberty do something not unlike what we’re talking about?” He was still holding out the envelope. “I don’t want to pressure you, but my arm’s getting tired and I don’t want to lose you. What do you say? Do we hang together?”
Rodgers looked at the envelope. With a suddenness which surprised Hood, he snatched it back and put it in his pocket. “All right,” Rodgers agreed. “Together.”
“Good,” Hood said. “Now let’s see if we can help find a way to save our friend Viens from the vultures.”
Hood called Herbert back in, and they sat down to work with a level of enthusiasm and cooperation he’d never before encountered in his group. Hood was not about to thank the PKK for that. However, as they waited for Chief Financial Officer Ed Colahan to arrive with his data, words from a different time and a different enemy flashed through Hood’s mind. They were the words of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. After having led the attack on Pearl Harbor, an attack which was supposed to crush American resistance in the Pacific, Yamamoto was moved to comment, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a steeping giant and fill him with a temple resolve.”
After authorizing Rodgers to discuss his idea with Herbert, Hood could not remember a time when any of them were more awake… or more resolved.