Divide and conquer - Tom Clancy [83]
Seeing it then gave Hood the flash of courage he needed.
"I'm sorry to intrude, Mr. President, gentlemen," Hood announced.
"This couldn't wait."
"Things never can wait with you, can they?" Fenwick asked. He glanced back at the green folder in his lap.
A preemptive strike. Hood thought. The bastard was good. Hood turned and looked at the NSA chief. The short, slender man had deep-set eyes beneath a head of thick, curly white hair. The whiteness of his hair emphasized the darkness of his eyes.
"Your team has a history of rushing blindly into evolving crises, Mr.
Hood. North Korea, the Bekaa Valley, the United Nations. You're a lighted match waiting for the wrong tinderbox."
"We haven't blown one yet," Hood pointed out.
"Yet," Fenwick agreed. He looked at Lawrence.
"Mr. President, we need to finish reviewing our data so that you can make a decision about the Caspian situation."
"What does Maurice Charles have to do with the Caspian situation?" Hood demanded. He was still looking at Fenwick. He was not going to let the man wriggle away.
"Charles? The terrorist?" Fenwick asked.
"That's right," Hood said. Hood said nothing else. He wanted to see where this went. The president looked at Fenwick.
"Did the NSA know that Charles was involved with this?"
"Yes, Mr. President, we did," Fenwick admitted.
"But we don't know what his involvement was. We've been looking into that."
"Maybe I can point you in the right direction, Mr. Fenwick," Hood said.
"Maurice Charles was in touch with the NSA both before and after the attack on the Iranian oil rig."
"That's bullshit!" Fenwick charged.
"You seem sure of that," Hood said.
"I am!" Fenwick said.
"No one in my organization would have anything to do with that man!"
Hood had expected Fenwick to 3D the charge: disavow, deny, and delay.
But neither the vice president nor Gable had jumped in to defend him.
Perhaps because they knew it was true? Hood turned to the president.
"Sir, we have every reason to believe that Charles, the Harpooner, was involved in the destruction of that rig."
"Evidence from whom?" Fenwick demanded.
"Unimpeachable sources," Hood replied.
"Who?" Vice President Cotten asked. Hood faced him. The vice president was a calm and reasonable man. Hood was going to have to bite the bullet on this one.
"General Sergei Orlov, commander of the Russian Op-Center." Gable shook his head. Fenwick rolled his eyes.
"The Russians," the vice president said dismissively.
"They may have been the ones who sent Cherkassov into the region to attack the rig. His body was found in the water nearby."
"Moscow has every reason not to want us involved in the region," Gable said.
"If Azerbaijan is chased out of the Caspian, Moscow can lay claim to more of the oil reserves. Mr. President, I suggest we table this side of the problem until we've dealt with the larger issue of the Iranian mobilization."
"We've reviewed the data Orlov provided, and we believe it's accurate,"
Hood stated.
"I'd like to see that data," Fenwick said.
"You will," Hood promised.
"You wouldn't also have given General Orlov any secure codes to help him listen in on alleged NSA conversations, would you?" Hood ignored that.
"Mr. President, the Harpooner is an expert at creating and executing complex cover stories. If he's involved in this operation, we have to look carefully at any evidence that comes in. We should also inform Teheran that this action may have nothing to do with Baku."
"Nothing?" Fenwick said.
"For all we know, they may have hired the Harpooner."
"You may be right," Hood said.
"What I'm saying is that we have no evidence of anything except the fact that the Harpooner is in the region and was probably involved in the attack."
"Secondhand evidence," Fenwick said.
"Besides, I spent a day trying to open a dialogue with Teheran about an intelligence exchange.