Patriot games - Tom Clancy [48]
"Yes, I noticed that," Charleston said. "Didn't read like a CIA document at all. More like one of ours. We use people to write our reports, you see, not computers. Do go on."
"Each summary paragraph has six different versions, and the mixture of those paragraphs is unique to each numbered copy of the paper. There are over a thousand possible permutations, but only ninety-six numbered copies of the actual document. The reason the summary paragraphs are so-well, lurid, I guess-is to entice a reporter to quote them verbatim in the public media. If he quotes something from two or three of those paragraphs, we know which copy he saw and, therefore, who leaked it. They've got an even more refined version of the trap working now. You can do it by computer. You use a thesaurus program to shuffle through synonyms, and you can make every copy of the document totally unique."
"Did they tell you if it worked?" Holmes asked.
"No, sir. I had nothing to do with the security side of the Agency." And thank God for that.
"Oh, it worked." Sir Basil paused for a moment. "That idea is bloody simple-and bloody brilliant! Then there was the substantive aspect of the paper. Did they tell you that your report agreed in nearly every detail with an investigation we ran last year?"
"No, sir, they didn't. So far as I know, all the documents I worked with came from our own people."
"Then you came up with it entirely on your own? Marvelous."
"Did I goof up on anything?" Ryan asked the Admiral.
"You should have paid a bit more attention to that South African chap. That is more our patch, of course, and perhaps you didn't have enough information to fiddle with. We're giving him a very close look at the moment."
Ryan finished off his glass and thought about that. There had been a good deal of information on Mr. Martens What did I miss? He couldn't ask that, not now. Bad form. But he could ask-
"Aren't the South African people-"
"I'm afraid the cooperation they give us isn't quite as good now as it once was, and Erik Martens is quite a valuable chap for them. One can hardly blame them, you know. He does have a way of procuring what their military need, and that rather limits the pressure his government are willing to put on him," Holmes pointed out. "There is also the Israeli connection to be considered. They occasionally stray from the path, but we-SIS and CIA-have too many common interests to rock the boat severely." Ryan nodded. The Israeli defense establishment had orders to generate as much income as possible, and this occasionally ran contrary to the wishes of Israel 's allies. I remember Martens' connections, but I must have missed something important what?
"Please don't take this as criticism," Charleston said. "For a first attempt your report was excellent. The CIA must have you back. It's one of the few Agency reports that didn't threaten to put me to sleep. If nothing else, perhaps you might teach their analysts how to write. Surely they asked if you wanted to stay on?"
"They asked, sir. I didn't think it was a very good idea for me."
"Think again," Sir Basil suggested gently. "This Junior Varsity idea was a good one, like the Team-B program back in the seventies. We do it also-get some outside academics into the shop-to take a new look at all the data that cascades in the front door. Judge Moore, your new DCI, is a genuine breath of fresh air. Splendid chap. Knows the trade quite well, but he's been away from it long enough to have some new ideas. You are one of them, Doctor Ryan. You belong in the business, lad."
"I'm not so sure about that, sir. My degree's history and-"
"So is mine," Bill Holmes said. "One's degree doesn't matter. In the intelligence trade we look for the right sort of mind. You appear to have it. Ah, well, we can't recruit you, can we? I would be rather disappointed if Arthur and James don't try again. Do think about it."
I have, Ryan didn't say. He nodded thoughtfully, mulling over his own thoughts. But I like teaching history.
"The hero