protest that the plebiscite is unfair in any way.”
You clever bastard, Adler thought. It made such good sense, too. All the
soldiers there could now vote, and the move would look just ducky to inter-
national observers. The Deputy Secretary of State nodded as though sur-
prised, then made a note on his pad. Across the table, the Ambassador made
a mental note that he’d just scored a point of his own. It had taken |onj>
enough.
“It’s real simple,” the National Security Advisor said. “Will you help us?”
The rules of the meeting were not calculated to make anyone happy It had
begun with an explanation from a Justice Department lawyer of how the lis
pionage Act, Title 18 United States Code, Section 79.}!’!. applied lo all
American cili/cns, and how the freedoms of speech and the press did not
extend to violation of that statute.
“You’re asking us to help you lie,” one of the senior journalists said.
“Exactly right,” Ryan responded.
“We have a professional obligation-”
“You’re American citizens,” Jack reminded them. “So are the people on
those islands. My job is not to exercise the rights you’re thinking about now.
My job is to guarantee those rights to you and everyone else in this country.
Either you help us or you don’t. If you do, then we can do our job more
easily, cheaply, and with less bloodshed. If you don’t, then some additional
people are probably going to get hurt.”
“I doubt that Madison and the rest ever intended the American press to
help an enemy in time of war,” the lady from Justice said.
“We would never do that,” the man from NEC protested. “But to take
action in the other direction-”
‘ ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I do not have time for a discourse on constitu-
tional law. This is quite literally a matter of life and death. Your government
is asking for your help. If you do not give that help, you will sooner or later
have to explain to the American people why you did not.” Jack wondered if
anyone had ever threatened them in this way. Turnabout, he supposed, was
fair play, though he didn’t expect they would see things quite the same way.
It was time for the olive branch. ‘ ‘I will take the heat on this. If you help us
out, no one will ever hear it from me.”
“Don’t give me that. It’ll get out,” CNN protested.
‘ ‘Then you will have to explain to the American people that you acted as
patriotic citizens.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, Dr. Ryan!”
“I did,” Jack said with a smile. “Think about it. How will it hurt you?
Besides, how will it get out? Who else is going to report it?”
The journalists were cynical enough-it was almost a professional re-
quirement-to see the humor, but it was Ryan’s earlier statement that had
scored. They were in a profound professional quandary, and the natural re-
sult was to evade it by thinking in other terms. In this case, business. Failure
to act in support of their country, however much they might proclaim princi-
ple and professional ethics-well, the people who watched their TV were
not as impressed with those high-flying standards as they ought to be. And
besides, Ryan wasn’t asking all that much. Just one thing, and if they were
clever about it, maybe nobody really would notice.
The news executives would have preferred to leave the room and discuss
the request in privacy, but no one offered that opportunity, and none of them
had the nerve to ask. So they looked at one another, and all five nodded.
You II pay for this one someday, their eyes told Ryan. It was something he
was willing to deal with, he thought.
“Thank you.” When I hey made their way out. Ryan walked toward the
Oval Office.
“We got it,” he told the President.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t back you up on that.”
“It’s an election year,” Jack acknowledged. The Iowa caucuses were two
weeks away, then New Hampshire, and though Durling had no opposition in
his party, he would on the whole have preferred to be elsewhere. He could
also not afford offending the media. But that’s why he had a National Secu-
rity Advisor. Appointed officials were always expendable.
“When this is all over …”
” Back to golfing? I need the practice.”
That was another thing he liked about him, Durling told himself. Ryan
didn’t mind telling a joke once in a while, though the circles under his eyes
duplicated his own. It was one more reason to thank Bob Fowler for his con-
trarian advice, and perhaps a reason to lament Ryan’s choice of political af-
filiation.
“He wants to help,” Kimura said.
“The best way for him to do that,” Clark replied, “is to act normally.
He’s an honorable man. Your country needs a voice of moderation.” It
wasn’t exactly the instructions he’d expected, and he found himself hoping
that Washington knew what the hell it was doing. The orders were coming
through Ryan’s office, which was some consolation but not all that much. At
least his agent-in-place was relieved.
“Thank you. I do not wish to put his life at risk.”
“He’s too valuable for that. Perhaps America and Japan can reach a diplo-
matic solution.” Clark didn’t believe it, but saying such things always made
diplomats happy. “In that case, Goto’s government will fall, and perhaps
Koga-san will regain his former place.”
“But from what I hear, Goto will not back down.”
“It is also what I hear, but things can change. In any case, that is our
request for Koga. Further contact between us is dangerous,” “Klerk” went
on. “Thank you for your assistance. If we need you again, we will contact
you through normal channels.”
In gratitude, Kimura paid the bill before leaving.
“That’s all, eh?” Ding asked.
“Somebody thinks it’s enough, and we have other things to do.”
Back in the saddle again, Chavez thought to himself. But at least they had
orders, incomprehensible though they might be. It was ten in the morning,
local time, and they split up after hitting the street, and spent the next several
hours buying cellular phones, three each of a new digital model, before
meeting again. The units were compact and fit into a shirt pocket, liven the
packing boxes were small, and neither oliicer had the least problem conceal-
ing them.
Chet Nomuri had already done llic same, giving his address as an apartment
in Hanamatsu, a preselected cover complete with credit cards and driver’s
license. Whatever was going on, he had less than thirty days in-country to
accomplish it. His next job was lo return to the bathhouse one last time
before disappearing from the lace of the earth.
“One question,” Ryan said quietly. The look in his eyes made Trent and
Fellows uneasy.
“Are you going to make us wait for it?” Sam asked.
“You know the limitations we face in the Pacific.”
Trent stirred in his seat. ‘ ‘If you mean that we don’t have the horses to-”
“It depends on which horses we use,” Jack said. Both insiders considered
that for a moment.
” Gloves off?” Al Trent asked.
Ryan nodded. “All the way off. Will you hassle us about it?”
“Depends on what you mean by that. Tell us,” Fellows ordered. Ryan
did.
“You’re really willing to stick it out that far?” Trent asked.
“We don’t have a choice. I suppose it would be nice to fight it out with
cavalry charges on the field of honor and all that stuff, but we don’t have the
horses, remember? The President needs to know if Congress will back him
up. Only you people will know the black part. If you support us, then the rest
of the people on the Hill will fall in line.”
“If it doesn’t work?” Fellows wondered.
“Then there’s a hanging party for all hands. Including you,” Ryan added.
“We’ll keep the committee in line,” Trent promised. “You’re playing a
high-risk game, my friend.”
“True enough,” Jack agreed, thinking of the lives at risk. He knew that
Al Trent was talking about the political side, too, but Ryan had commanded
himself to set those thoughts aside. He couldn’t say so, of course. Trent
would have considered it a weakness. It was remarkable how many things
they could disagree on. But the important thing was that Trent’s word was
good.
” Keep us informed?”
“In accordance with the law,” the National Security Advisor replied with
a smile. The law required that Congress be notified after ‘ ‘black” operations
were carried out.
“What about the Executive Order?” An Order dating back to the Ford
.iilministrution prohibited the country’s intelligence agencies from conduct-
ing assassinations.
“We have a Finding,” Ryan replied. “It doesn’t apply in time of hostili-
ties.” A Finding was essentially a Presidential decree that the law meant
what the President thought it meant. In short, everything that Ryan had pro-