Cathy basked in the glow of resjH-cl from her colleagues. “You get a nice
little copy of a Greek statue, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, I think, the
Goddess Nike. Some money, too. But mainly what you get is the knowledge
that you really made a difference. She’s a great doc.”
“Well, the timing is pretty good. I have to get her home and changed,”
Price confided.
“What for?”
“Dinner in the White House,” the agent replied with a wink. “Her hus-
band did a pretty good job, too.” Just how good was a secret from nearly
everyone, but not from the Service, from whom nothing was secret.
“Ambassador Whiting, I wish to apologize to you, to your government, and
to your people for what has happened. I pledge to you that it will not happen
again. I also pledge to you that the people responsible will answer to our
law,” Koga said with great if somewhat stiff dignity.
“Prime Minister, your word is sufficient to me and to my government.
We will do the utmost to restore our relationship,” the Ambassador prom-
ised, deeply moved by the sincerity of his host, and wishing, as many had,
that America had not cut his legs out only six weeks earlier. “I will commu-
nicate your wishes to my government immediately. I believe that you will
find our response to your position is highly favorable.”
“I need your help,” Yamata said urgently.
“What help is that?” Tracking down Zhang Han San had taken most of
the day, and now the man’s voice was as cold as his name.
“I can get my jet here, and from here I can fly directly to-”
“That could be viewed as an unfriendly act against two countries. No, I
regret that my government cannot allow that.” Fool, he didn’t add. Don’t
you know the price for this sort of failure?
“But you-we are allies!”
“Allies in what?” Zhang inquired. “You are a businessman. I am a gov-
ernment official.”
The conversation might have gone on with little point, but then the door to
Yamata’s office opened and General Tokikichi Arima came in, accompa-
nied by two other officers. They hadn’t troubled themselves to talk with the
secretary in the anteroom.
“I need to speak with you, Yamata-san,” the General said formally.
“I’ll get back to you,” the industrialist said into the phone. He hung up.
He couldn’t know that at the other end the official instructed his staff not to
put the calls through. It would not have mattered in any case.
“Yes-what is it?” Yamata demanded. The reply was equally cold.
“I am ordered to place you under arrest.”
“By whom?”
“By Prime Minister Koga himself.”
“The charge?”
“Treason.”
Yamata blinked hard. He looked around the room at the other men, now
flunk intt ihe General. There was no sympathy in their eyes. So there it was.
Ilirtr mindless automatons had outers, hut not the wit to understand them.
Hul peihups they still had honor.
“With youi permission, I would like a few moments alone.” The mean-
ing nl Ihr iri|iiesl was clear.
“My iinlciv” Arima said, “are to return you toTokyo alive.”
“Hul ”
“I am sotiy, Yumaia san, hut you are not to avail yourself of that form of
escape.” With thai the General motioned to the junior pfficer, who took
three steps and handcuffed the businessman. The coldness of the steel star-
tled the induNlriulisi
“Tokikichi, you can’I
“I must,” It pinned the (icneral not to allow his … friend? No, they’d not
been friends, not really. !• ven so it pained him not to allow Yamata to end his
life by wiiy ol atonement, but the orders from the Prime Minister had been
explicit on that score, and with that, he led the man from the building, off to
the police station adjacent to his soon-to-be-vacated official quarters, where
two men would keep an eye on him to prevent any attempt at suicide.
When the phone rang, it surprised everyone that it was the phone, and not
Burroughs’ satellite instrument. Isabel Ore/,a got it, expecting a call from
work or something. Then she turned and called, “Mr. Clark?”
“Thank you.” He look it. “Yes?”
“John. Mary Pal. Your mission is over. Come on home.”
“Maintain cover?”
“Affirmative, (iood job. John. Tell Ding the same thing.” The line went
dead. ‘I”he DIM) had already violated security in a major way, but the call
had taken only ;i lew seconds, and using the civilian line made it even more
official than the covert sort could.
“What gives?” Porlagee asked,
“We’ve just been ordered home.”
“No shit?” Ding asked Clark handed the phone over.
“Call the airport. Tell Ihem dial we’re accredited newsies and we might
just get a priority.” Clark turned “Poriagee, could you do me a favor and
forget you ever saw me?”
The signal was welcome though surprising. Tennessee immediately turned
due east and increased speed to fifteen knots for the moment, staying deep.
In the wardroom, the gathered officers were still joshing their Army guest,
as was also happening with the enlisted men.
“We need a broom,” the engineering officer said after some deep
thought.
“Do we have one aboard?” Lieutenant Shaw asked.
“Every submarine is issued a broom, Mr. Shaw. You’ve been around long
enough to know that,” Commander Claggett observed with a wink.
“What are you guys talking about?” the Army officer asked. Were they
jerking him around again?
“We took two shots and both were kills,” the engineer explained.
“That’s a clean sweep, and that means when we enter Pearl, we have a
broom tied to the number-one periscope. Tradition.”
“You squids do the weirdest things,” the lone man in green fatigues ob-
served.
“Do we claim the helos?” Shaw asked his CO.
“We shot them down,” the ground-pounder objected.
‘ ‘But they flew off our deck!” the Lieutenant pointed out.
“Jesus!” All this over breakfast. What would the squids do for lunch?
The dinner was informal, up on the bedroom level of the White House, with
what passed for a light buffet, albeit one cooked by a staff good enough to
upgrade the rating of any restaurant in America.
“I understand congratulations are in order,” Roger Durling said.
“Huh?” The National Security Advisor hadn’t heard yet.
“Jack, I, uh, got the Lasker,” Cathy said from her seat across the table.
“Well, that’s two in your family who’re the best around,” Al Trent ob-
served, saluting with his wineglass.
“And this one’s for you. Jack,” the President said, lifting his glass.
“After all the grief I’ve gotten on foreign affairs, you’ve saved me, and
you’ve saved a lot of other things. Well done, Mister Dr. Ryan.”
Jack nodded at the toast, but this time he knew. He’d been around Wash-
ington long enough, finally, to hear the falling sandbag. The trouble was that
he didn’t know exactly why it was falling toward his head.
“Mr. President, the satisfaction comes from-well, from service, I guess.
Thanks for trusting me. and thanks for putting up with me when I-”
“Jack, people like you, well, where would our country be?” Durling
turned. “Cathy, do you know everything Jack has done over the years?”
“Jack? Tell me secrets?” She had a good laugh at that.
“Al?”
“Well, Cathy, it’s time you learned,” Trent observed, much to Jack’s dis-
comfort.
“There is one thing I’ve always wondered about,” she said at once. “I
mean, you two are so friendly, but the first time you two met several years
ago, I-”
“The dinner, the one before Jack flew off to Moscow?” Trent took a sip
of the California chardomiay. “That was when he set up the defection of the
head of the old KGB.”
“Whnl'”
“Tell Ihr Nlory, Al, we have lots ol nine,” Durling urged. His wife, Anne,
leaned in in lienr lint one, loo Trent ended up speaking for twenty minutes,
telling more than one old tale in the process despite the look on Jack’s face.
“Thai’s the sort ol husband you have, Dr. Ryan,” the President said when
the stories were ended.
Jack looked over at Trent now, a rather intense stare. What was at the end
of this?
“Jack, your country needs you for one last thing, and then we’ll let you
go,” the Congressman said.
“What’s that?” Please, not an ambassadorship, he thought, the usual
kiss-off for a senior official.
Durling set his glass down. “Jack, my main job for the next nine months
is to get reelected. It might be a tough campaign, and it’s going to absorb a
lot of my time under the best of circumstances. I need you on the team.”
“Sir, I already am-”
“I want you to be my Vice President,” Durling said calmly. The room got
very quiet then. “The post is vacant as of today, as you know. I’m not sure
yet who I want for my second term, and I am not suggesting that you fill the
post for more than-what? Not even eleven months. Like Rockefeller did