"So, what happened at the door?" the President asked.

"We identified ourselves, and asked if we could come in. Yung said not without a search warrant. He also said that if they did let us in, it would const.i.tute a waiver of the owner's rights against unlawful search, and they weren't going to do that."

"It has to be Yung," the attorney general thought aloud. "An FBI agent, lawyer or not, would know about that decision of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals."

"So you didn't get in. Then what?" the President said.

"We got in, sir," Andrews said. "After I promised that I understood we were being admitted only as a compa.s.sionate gesture on the part of Mrs. Darby to get us out of the snow and the cold, and that she had not waived any of her rights vis-a-vis unlawful search and seizure. And they filmed us acknowledging that, sir."

"They filmed filmed you?" the President asked incredulously. you?" the President asked incredulously.

"Yes, sir. There was another man there with what looked to me like a professional movie camera."

"And then then ? Jesus Christ, cut to the G.o.dd.a.m.ned chase!" ? Jesus Christ, cut to the G.o.dd.a.m.ned chase!"

"Mr. Darby was in the kitchen, sir," Andrews said.

"And did you ask him if he knew where Colonel Castillo and the two Russians are, and if you did, what did he say?"

"He was evasive, sir. And the lawyer said that if Mr. Darby found himself being interrogated by a federal officer, he would advise him, as his lawyer, not to answer any questions the answers to which might tend to either incriminate him, or cause him to violate the CIA secrecy laws which forbid him to ever disclose anything he learned while he was an officer of the Clandestine Service."

"Mr. President, I'm afraid we're not going to learn much from Mr. Darby," the attorney general said.

"I was beginning to suspect that," the President said, thickly sarcastic.

"There is one thing we can do, Mr. President," Andrews said.

"What's that?"

"We can squeeze Mrs. Darby. When she told McGuire her husband was in Ushuaia with his girlfriend, information on which Amba.s.sador Montvale based his decision to go to Ushuaia, she had invited McGuire into her home. She had waived her rights when she did so. Giving false information to a federal officer is a felony."

The President considered that a long moment.

Then he picked up his telephone and said, "Come in here."

A secretary and a Secret Service agent appeared almost immediately.

"Are we in touch with Amba.s.sador Montvale?"

"Yes, sir," the Secret Service agent said. "He's in Ushuaia, Argentina. There's a communications radio in his Gulfstream III."

"Send the amba.s.sador a message, please," the President said. "'Mr. Darby is in Alexandria, Virginia. You can come home now, repeat, now.'"

"Yes, sir," the secretary said. "Is that all of it, Mr. President?"

"That's all of it. Get that right out, please."

"Yes, Mr. President," the Secret Service agent said.

When they had left, closing the door behind them, the President turned to Mason Andrews.

"You heard that, Andrews?"

"Yes, sir."

"If you think, when the amba.s.sador gets back here, that Wolf News is going to take a picture of him in a courtroom, with his hand on a Bible, swearing before G.o.d and the world that he-my director of National Intelligence-went halfway around the world on director of National Intelligence-went halfway around the world on my orders my orders as commander in chief on the word of a housewife having her little joke at our expense, you're even more incredibly stupid than you showed you were this morning, Andrews. as commander in chief on the word of a housewife having her little joke at our expense, you're even more incredibly stupid than you showed you were this morning, Andrews.

"Now get the f.u.c.k out of the G.o.dd.a.m.ned Oval Office and never come back!"

[TWO].

1155 9 February 2007

Word had quickly spread among the inner circle of White House functionaries that President Clendennen's current rage was one that would go down in history. So it was with a certain trepidation that White House Press Secretary John David "Jack" Parker stood at the door of the President's study and waited for permission to enter.

It was almost a minute in coming, but finally President Clendennen signaled with his fingers for Parker to enter.

"And what bad news are you bringing, Porky?" Clendennen asked.

"I'm afraid it's not good news, Mr. President."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Clendennen asked rhetorically. "Are you aware of what happened in here this morning?"

"No, sir. I understand the attorney general and a.s.sistant Secretary Andrews asked for an appointment, but-"

"You know where Amba.s.sador Montvale is?"

"In Argentina."

"The stupid sonofab.i.t.c.h! Director of National Intelligence, my a.s.s. His t.i.tle should be Director of National Stupidity. He'd d.a.m.ned well better be on his way back here."

"I'm afraid, Mr. President, that I don't understand."

The President related what had transpired earlier in his office, ending his narration with a question: "How would you describe, Porky, Amba.s.sador Stupid standing up in court, with Wolf News filming him, and swearing on a Bible that he went to some G.o.dd.a.m.n place I can't p.r.o.nounce in Argentina on my orders looking for a man who was just across the Potomac in Alexandria?"

Parker took a deep breath before replying.

"Sir, I would describe that as a public relations disaster."

"You're G.o.dd.a.m.n right it would be. But what could be worse than that?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"How about some press sonofab.i.t.c.h-C. Harry Whelan, Jr., for example-asking Amba.s.sador Stupid why he was looking for this Darby guy in the first place. That would be worse, Porky. And Amba.s.sador Stupid would be stupid enough to tell him."

"Speaking of Mr. Whelan, sir ..."

"Dare I hope he's been run over by a truck?"

"Mr. Whelan came to see me just now, sir."

"Close your mouth and put your hand on your wallet, Porky. I'm afraid to ask why."

"Sir, Mr. Whelan said he was about to publish this, and wanted to give us a chance to correct any errors he might have made before he did."

Parker handed the President a sheet of paper.

Clendennen s.n.a.t.c.hed it, and read: BY C. HARRY WHELAN, JR.COPYRIGHT 2007WORLDWIDE RIGHTS RESERVED.

SLUG: WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHED STRIKE ON IRANIAN BIOLOGICAL WARFARE FACTORY IN CONGO BASED ON INFORMATION FROM RUSSIAN DEFECTORS IN HANDS OF SECRET, POSSIBLY ILLEGAL, "PRIVATE CIA" CONTROLLED BY PRESIDENT

WASHINGTON-(INSERT DATE) THIS REPORTER HAS LEARNED THAT THE STRIKE ON THE ALLEGED IRANIAN BIOLOGICAL WARFARE LABORATORY IN THE CONGO WAS BASED SOLELY ON INFORMATION GATHERED BY A SUPER-SECRET INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORTING DIRECTLY TO THE PRESIDENT.

THE ORGANIZATION, HIDDEN INSIDE THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND CALLED THE OFFICE OF ORGANIZATIONAL a.n.a.lYSIS, WAS HEADED BY A LEGENDARY ARMY SPECIAL FORCES OFFICER, LIEUTENANT COLONEL C. G. CASTILLO, AND STAFFED WITH PERSONNEL, SOME DESCRIBED BY INTELLIGENCE INSIDERS AS "UNSAVORY," FROM THE CIA, THE FBI, AND THE ARMED FORCES.

THE ORGANIZATION APPARENTLY OPERATED WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT, DID NOT ANSWER TO THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, NOR MAINTAIN LIAISON WITH OTHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, AND WAS APPARENTLY FUNDED BY THE PRESIDENT'S "CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS."

WHEN IT APPEARED TO THE OOA THAT THE CIA WAS ABOUT TO BUNGLE THEIR ATTEMPT TO CAUSE THE DEFECTION OF TWO VERY SENIOR RUSSIAN SVR OFFICERS IN AUSTRIA, THE OOA s.n.a.t.c.hED THE RUSSIANS FROM THE CIA IN VIENNA AND TOOK THEM TO AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

PRESIDENT CLENDENNEN---BREAK MORE TO FOLLOW "Sonofab.i.t.c.h!" the President said. He'd said it twice while reading the story, and a third time now that he'd finished.

Jack Parker announced: "He says, Mr. President, that he will give us seventy-two hours to respond."

"Sonofab.i.t.c.h!" the President said again. "Porky, the way this G.o.dd.a.m.n thing is written, it sounds as if I'm responsible. It doesn't even mention my predecessor, G.o.dd.a.m.n him to h.e.l.l."

Parker, who wondered if the President was calling the wrath of the Almighty upon the head of his predecessor, or on that of Mr. Whelan, did not reply.

The President said nothing for sixty seconds, during which time the contortions of his face and the somewhat angry tapping of his fingers on his desk suggested he was deep in thought.

"Deny it, Porky," he said finally. "Tell the sonofab.i.t.c.h to publish anything he wants. We'll just deny everything. I didn't know a G.o.dd.a.m.n thing about the OOA or Castillo until Amba.s.sador Stupid walked into the Oval Office the day after my predecessor, that sonofab.i.t.c.h, dropped dead. Just deny any knowledge. What's he going to do, ask Castillo, for Christ's sake?"

"Mr. President, I don't think that will work," Parker said.

"Why not?"

Parker handed him another sheet of paper.

"Mr. Whelan said he thought you might ... What he said, sir, was that our trying to stonewall wouldn't bother him at all; that it was always a better story when you can prove the White House lied. He said it was only because of his admiration for you that he was giving you the chance to see what he's going to write, so it wouldn't come as a sucker punch. And so far as asking Colonel Castillo is concerned, Mr. Whelan says the only way to keep him from publishing would be for Colonel Castillo, personally, to convince him he had his facts wrong. I had the impression, sir, that he thinks we have Colonel Castillo and are hiding him someplace where the press can't get to him."

As Clendennen looked at the sheet, Parker added, "Then he gave me that, which he says he will publish if we deny any of the facts in the first story."

"Sonofab.i.t.c.h!" Clendennen said again as he read: BY C. HARRY WHELAN, JR.COPYRIGHT 2007WORLDWIDE RIGHTS RESERVED.

SLUG: FORMER CIA STATION CHIEF IN VIENNA CONFIRMS "PRESIDENTIAL CIA" STOLE TWO VIP RUSSIAN DEFECTORS FROM HER; SAYS IT COST HER HER JOB

WASHINGTON-(INSERT DATE) ELEANOR DILLWORTH, A TWENTY-NINE-YEAR VETERAN OF THE CIA'S CLANDESTINE SERVICE, HAS TOLD THIS REPORTER THAT THE OFFICE OF ORGANIZATIONAL a.n.a.lYSIS-THE SUPER-SECRET, POSSIBLY ILLEGAL INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION OPERATING OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND ANSWERING ONLY TO THE PRESIDENT-DID IN FACT MAKE OFF WITH TWO VERY SENIOR RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS AND TOOK THEM TO AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION "HOURS BEFORE" THEY WERE TO BOARD A CIA AIRCRAFT SENT TO VIENNA, AUSTRIA, TO FLY THEM TO THE UNITED STATES.

DILLWORTH TOLD THIS REPORTER----BREAK MORE TO FOLLOW "Can't we shut this Dillworth broad up?" the President asked. "Why is she determined to embarra.s.s my administration?"

"Sir, I believe she thinks she was unfairly treated after Castillo stole the Russians from under her nose. She was relieved of her duties in Vienna and brought back to Langley."

"Jesus Christ, didn't it occur to her that if she allowed Castillo to steal the Russians from her that that's proof she wasn't doing her f.u.c.king job?"

The President reached for the red telephone on his desk.

"Get me Jack Powell," he ordered, then slammed the handset back in the cradle.

The protocol dealing with telephone calls between the President and those on the priority list-of whom John Powell, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, was one-required the person called to "be available"-in other words, be on the line-within sixty seconds.

Thirty-two seconds after the President had slammed the handset into its cradle, a blue light-emitting diode on the cradle began to flash.

The President grabbed the handset and began the conversation by asking, "Why the h.e.l.l did you fire this Dillworth woman?"

Then he pushed the LOUDSPEAKER b.u.t.ton on the cradle, so that Parker could hear the conversation.

"You're speaking of Eleanor Dillworth, Mr. President?" the DCI asked.

"The one with twenty-nine years in the Clandestine Service. Used to be our head spy in Vienna. That one."

"She wasn't fired, Mr. President."

"That's not what she told C. Harry Whelan, Jr. She also told him that our friend Castillo stole the Russians from under her nose. Unless I can somehow talk him out of it, Whelan's going to publish that in I don't know how G.o.dd.a.m.n many hundred newspapers and chat about it on Wolf News. That's going to make her and the CIA look pretty foolish, wouldn't you say?"

"Mr. President, Miss Dillworth has not been fired. What happened was that it was decided-after they found the dead Russian in a taxicab outside our emba.s.sy ..."