Patriot games - Tom Clancy [171]
"Yes," a voice answered.
"Admiral, Jack Ryan."
"I understand that your girl's going to be all right," James Greer said. "I'm glad to hear that, son."
"Thank you, sir. Is the Agency involved in this?"
"This is an unsecure line, Jack," the Admiral replied.
"I want in," Ryan said.
"Be here tomorrow morning."
Ryan hung up and went looking for his briefcase. He opened it and took out the Browning automatic pistol. After setting it on the kitchen table, he got out his shotgun and cleaning kit. He spent the next hour cleaning and oiling first the pistol, then the shotgun. When he was satisfied, he loaded both.
He left for Langley at five the next morning. Ryan had managed to get four more hours of sleep before rising and going through the usual morning ritual of coffee and breakfast. His early departure allowed him to miss the worst of the traffic, though the George Washington Parkway was never really free of the government workers heading to and from the agencies that were always more or less awake. After getting into the CIA building, he reflected that he had never called here and found Admiral Greer absent. Well, he told himself, that's one thing in this world that I can depend on. A security officer escorted him to the seventh floor.
"Good morning, sir," Jack said on entering the room.
"You look better than I expected," the DDI observed.
"It's an illusion mostly, but I can't solve my problem by hiding in a corner, can I? Can we talk about what's going on?"
"Your Irish friends have gotten a lot of attention. The President himself wants action on this. We've never had international terrorists play games in our country-at least, not things that ever made the press," Greer said cryptically. "It is now a high-priority case. It's getting a lot of resources."
"I want to be one of them," Ryan said simply.
"If you think that you can be part of an operation-"
"I know better than that, Admiral."
Greer smiled at the younger man. "That's good to see, son. I thought you were smart. So what do you want to do for us?"
"We both know that the bad guys are part of the network. The data you let me look at was pretty limited. Obviously you're going to be trying to collate data on all the groups, searching for leads on the ULA. Maybe I can help."
"What about your teaching?"
"I can be here when I'm not teaching. There isn't much to hold me at home at the moment, sir."
"It isn't good practice to use people who are personally involved in the investigation," Greer pointed out.
"This isn't the FBI, sir. I'm not going out into the field. You just told me that. I know you want me back here on a permanent basis, Admiral. If you really want me, let me start off doing something that's important to both of us." Jack paused, searching for another point. "If I'm good enough, let's find out now."
"Some people aren't going to like it."
"There's things happening to me that I don't like very much, sir, and I have to live with it. If I can't fight back somehow, I might as well stay at home. You're the only chance I have to do something to protect my family, sir."
Greer turned to refill his coffee cup from the drip machine behind his desk. He'd liked Jack almost from the first moment he'd met him. This was a young man accustomed to having his way, though he was not arrogant about it. That was a point in his favor: Ryan knew what he wanted, but wasn't overly pushy. He wasn't a person driven by ambition, another point in his favor. Finally, he had a lot of raw talent to be shaped and trained and directed. Greer was always looking for talent. The Admiral turned back.
"Okay, you're