‘I worked for some good ones, sir.’
‘So it appears, and three of them tried to get you into OCS, but Dutch asked you about that. I also want to know why you didn’t take the college scholarship.’
‘I was tired of schools.. And the scholarship was for swimming. Admiral.’
‘That’s a big deal at Indiana, I know, but your marks were plenty good enough to get an academic scholarship. You attended a pretty nice prep school -‘
‘That was a scholarship, too.’ Kelly shrugged. ‘Nobody in my family ever went to college. Dad served a hitch in the Navy during the war. I guess it just seemed like something to do.’ That it had been a major disappointment to his father was something he’d never told anyone.
Greer pondered that. It still didn’t answer things. ‘The last ship I commanded was a submarine, Daniel Webster. My chief of the boat, senior chief sonarman, the guy had a doctorate in physics. Good man, knew his job better then I knew mine, but not a leader, shied away from it some. You didn’t, Kelly. You tried to, but you didn’t.’
‘Look, sir, when you’re out there and things happen, somebody has to get it done.’
‘Not everybody sees things that way. Kelly, there’s two kinds of people in the world, the ones who need to be told and the ones who figure it out all by themselves,’ Greer pronounced.
The highway sign said something that Kelly didn’t catch, but it wasn’t anything about CIA. He didn’t tumble to it until he saw the oversized guardhouse.
‘Did you ever interact with Agency people while you were over there?’
Kelly nodded. ‘Some. We were – well, you know about it, Project PHOENIX, right? We were part of that, a small part.’
‘What did you think of them?’
‘Two or three of them were pretty good. The rest – you want it straight?’
‘That’s exactly what I want,’ Greer assured him.
‘The rest are probably real good mixing martinis, shaken not stirred,’ Kelly said evenly. That earned him a rueful laugh.
‘Yeah, people here do like to watch the movies!’ Greer found his parking place and popped his door open. ‘Come with me, Chief.’ The out-of-uniform admiral led Kelly in the front door and got him a special visitor’s pass, the kind that required an escort.
For his part, Kelly felt like a tourist in a strange and foreign land. The very normality of the building gave it a sinister edge. Though an ordinary, and rather new, government office building, CIA headquarters had some sort of aura. It wasn’t like the real world somehow. Greer caught the look and chuckled, leading Kelly to an elevator, then to his sixth-floor office. Only when they were behind the closed wooden door did he speak.
‘How’s your schedule for the next week?’
‘Flexible. I don’t have anything tying me down,’ Kelly answered cautiously.
James Greer nodded soberly. ‘Dutch told me about that, too. I’m very sorry, Chief, but my job right now concerns twenty good men who probably won’t see their families again unless we do something.’ He reached into his desk drawer.
‘Sir, I’m real confused right now.’
‘Well, we can do it hard or easy. The hard way is that Dutch makes a phone call and you get recalled to active duty,’ Greer said sternly. The easy way is, you come to work for me as a civilian consultant. We pay you a per-diem that’s a whole lot more than chief’s pay.’
‘Doing what?’
‘You fly down to Eglin Air Force Base, via New Orleans and Avis, I suppose. This’ – Greer tossed a billfold-like ID in Kelly’s lap – ‘gives you access to their records. I want you to go over the operations plans as a model for what we want to do.’ Kelly looked at the photo-?. It even had his old Navy photograph, which showed only his head, as in a passport.
‘Wait a minute, sir. I am not qualified -‘
‘As a matter of fact I think you are, but from the outside it will look like you’re not. No, you’re just a very junior consultant gathering information for a low-level report that nobody important will ever read. Half the money we spend in this damned agency goes out the door that way, in case nobody ever told you,’ Greer said, his irritation with the Agency giving flight to mild exaggeration. That’s how routine and pointless we want it to look.’
‘Are you really serious about this?’
‘Chief, Dutch Maxwell is willing to sacrifice his career for those men. So am I. If there’s a way to get them out-‘
‘What about the peace talks?’
How do I explain that to this kid? Greer asked himself. ‘Colonel Zacharias is officially dead. The other side said so, even published a photo of a body. Somebody went to visit his wife, along with the base chaplain and another Air Force wife to make things easier. Then they gave her a week to vacate the official quarters, just to make things official,’ Greer added. ‘He’s officially dead. I’ve had some very careful talks with some people, and we’ – this part came very hard – ‘our country will not screw up the peace talks over something like this. The photo we have, enhancement and all, isn’t good enough for a court of law, and that’s the standard that is being used. That’s a standard of proof that we can’t possibly meet, and the people who made the decision know it. They don’t want the peace talks sidetracked, and if the lives of twenty more men are necessary to end the goddamned war, then that’s what it takes. Those men are being written off.’
It was almost too much for Kelly to believe. How many people did America write off every year? And not all were in uniform, were they? Some were right at home, in American cities.
‘It’s really that bad?’
The fatigue on Greer’s face was unmistakable. ‘You know why I took this job? I was ready to retire. I’ve served my time, commanded my ships, done my work. I’m ready for a nice house and playing golf twice a week and doing a little consulting on the side, okay? Chief, too many people come to places like this, and reality to them is a memo. They focus in on “process” and forget that there’s a human being at the far end of the paper chain. That’s why I re-upped. Somebody has to try and put a little reality back into the process. We’re handling this as a “black” project. Do you know what that means?’
‘No, sir, I don’t.’
‘It’s a new term that’s cropped up. That means it doesn’t exist. It’s crazy. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. Are you on the team or not?’
New Orleans … Kelly’s eyes narrowed for a moment that lingered into fifteen seconds and a slow nod. ‘If you think I can help, sir, then I will. How much time do I have?’
Greer managed a smile and tossed a ticket folder into Kelly’s lap. ‘Your ID is in the name of John Clark; should be easy to remember. You fly down tomorrow afternoon. The return ticket is open, but I want to see you next Friday. I expect good work out of you. My card and private line are in there. Get packed, son.’
‘Aye aye, sir.’
Greer rose and walked Kelly to the door. ‘And get receipts for everything. When you work for Uncle Sam yon have to make sure everyone gets paid off properly.’
‘I will do that, sir.’ Kelly smiled.
‘You can catch the blue bus back to the Pentagon outside.’ Greer went back to work as Kelly left the office.
The blue shuttle bus arrived moments after he walked up to the covered pickup point. It was a curious ride. About half the people who boarded were uniformed, and the other half civilians. Nobody talked to anyone, as though merely exchanging a pleasantry or a comment on the Washington Senators’ continuing residency at the bottom of the American League would violate security. He smiled and shook his head until he reflected on his own secrets and intentions. And yet – Greer had given him an opportunity that he’d not considered. Kelly leaned back in his seat and looked out the window while the other passengers on the bus stared fixedly forward.
‘They’re real happy,’ Piaggi said.
‘I told you all along, man. It helps to have the best product on the street.’
‘Not everybody’s happy. Some people are sitting on a couple hundred keys of French stuff, and we’ve knocked the price down with our special introductory offer.’
Tucker allowed himself a good laugh. The ‘old guard’ had been overcharging for years. That was monopoly pricing for you. Anyone would have taken the two of them for businessmen, or perhaps lawyers, since there were lots of both in this restaurant two blocks from the new Garmatz courthouse. Piaggi was somewhat better dressed, in Italian silk, and he made a mental note to introduce Henry to his tailor. At least the guy had learned how to groom himself. Next he had to learn not to dress too flashy: Respectable was the word. Just enough that people treated you with deference. The flashy ones, like the pimps, were playing a dangerous game that they were too dumb to understand.