Clear and present danger - Tom Clancy [296]
"Mr. Clark to see Mr. Ritter," he said.
"Do you have an appointment?" the secretary asked.
"No, I don't, but I think he wants to see me," Clark said politely. There was no sense in abusing her. Besides, Clark had been raised to show deference to women. She lifted her phone and passed the message. "You can go right in, Mr. Clark."
"Thank you." He closed the door behind him. The door, of course, was heavy and soundproof. That was just as well.
"What the hell are you doing here?" the DDO demanded.
"You're going to have to shut SHOWBOAT down," Clark said without preamble. "It's coming apart. The bad guys are hunting those kids down and -"
"I know. I heard late last night. Look, I never figured this would be a no-loss operation. One of the teams got clobbered pretty good thirty-six hours ago, but based on intercepts, looks like they gave better than they took, and then they got even with some others who -"
"That was me," Clark said.
"What?" Ritter asked in surprise. ''
"Larson and I took a little drive about this time yesterday, and I found three of those - whatevers. They were just finished loading up the bodies into the back of a truck. I didn't see any point in letting them live," Mr. Clark said in a normal tone of voice. It had been a very long time since anyone at CIA had said something like that.
"Christ, John!" Ritter was even too surprised to blast Clark for violating his own security by stepping into a separate operation.
"I recognized one of the bodies," Clark went on. "Captain Emilio Rojas, United States Army. He was a hell of a nice kid, by the way."
"I'm sorry about that. Nobody ever said this was safe."
"I'm sure his family, if any, will appreciate that. This operation is blown. It's time to cut our losses. What are we doing to get them out?" Clark asked.
"I'm looking at that. I have to coordinate with somebody. I'm not sure that he'll agree."
"In that case, sir," Clark told his boss, "I suggest that you make your case rather forcefully."
"Are you threatening me?" Ritter asked quietly.
"No, sir, I would prefer not to have you read me that way. I am telling you, on the basis of my experience, that this operation must be terminated ASAP. It is your job to make that necessity plain to the people who authorized the operation. Failing to get such permission, I would advise you to terminate the operation anyway."
"I could lose my job for that," the DDO pointed out.
"After I identified the body of Captain Rojas, I set fire to the truck. Couple reasons. I wanted to divert the enemy somewhat, and, of course, I also wanted to render the bodies unrecognizable. I've never burned the body of a friendly before. I did not like doing that. Larson still doesn't know why I did it. He's too young to understand. You're not, sir. You sent those people into the field and you are responsible for them. If you are telling me that your job is more important than that, I am here to tell you that you are wrong, sir." Clark hadn't yet raised his voice above the level of a reasonable man discussing ordinary business, but for the first time in a very long time, Bob Ritter feared for his personal safety.
"Your diversion attempt was successful, by the way. The opposition has forty people looking in the wrong place now."
"Good. That will make the extraction effort all the easier to accomplish."
"John, you can't give me orders like this."
"Sir, I am not giving you orders. I am telling you what has. to be done. You told me that the operation was mine to run."
"That was RECIPROCITY, not SHOWBOAT."
"This is not a time for semantics, sir. If you do not pull those