The sum of all fears - Tom Clancy [168]
The Presidential Scholar made a dismissive gesture. "Come on, it's a different thing altogether."
"That's right. In a car, it's just your ass." Ryan stopped the sermon. "Okay, Director, I'm off for the rest of the day."
"Your objections and recommendations are noted, Jack. I will bring them up at my first opportunity - oh, before you leave, about NIITAKA "
Ryan stopped in his tracks and stared down at Cabot. "Sir, Mr Goodley is not cleared for that word, much less that file."
"We are not discussing the substance of the case. When will the people downstairs"- Ryan was grateful he didn't say MERCURY -"be ready for the, uh, modified operations? I want to improve data-transfer."
"Six weeks. Until then we have to use the other methods we discussed."
The Director of Central Intelligence nodded. "Very well. The White House is very interested in that, Jack. Good job to all concerned."
"Glad to hear that, sir. See you tomorrow." Jack walked out.
"NIITAKA?" Goodley asked after the door closed. "Sounds Japanese."
"Sorry, Goodley. You can forget that word at your earliest opportunity." Cabot had only spoken it to remind Ryan of his place, and the honorable part of the man already regretted having done so.
"Yes, sir. May I ask an unrelated question?"
"Sure."
"Is Ryan as good as people say?"
Cabot stubbed out the remains of his cigar, to the relief of his visitor. "He's got quite a record."
"Really? I've heard that. You know, that's the whole reason I'm here, to examine the personality types that really make a difference. I mean, how does someone grow into the job? Ryan's skyrocketed up the ladder here. I'd be very interested in seeing how he managed to do that."
"He's done it by being right a lot more often than he's wrong, by making some tough calls, and with some field jobs that even I can hardly believe," Cabot said, after a moment's consideration. "And you can never, ever reveal that to anyone, Dr Goodley."
"I understand, sir. Could I see his record, his personnel file?"
The DCI's eyebrows arched. "Everything you see in there is classified. Anything you try to write about it -"
"Excuse me, but I know that, sir. Everything I write is subject to security review. I signed off on that. It's important that I learn how a person really fits in here, and Ryan would seem to be an ideal case study for examining how that process happens. I mean, that's why the White House sent me over here." Goodley pointed out. I'm supposed to report to them on what I find."
Cabot was silent for a moment. "I suppose that's okay, then."
Ryan's car arrived at the Pentagon's River entrance. He was met by an Air Force one-star and conducted inside, bypassing the metal detector. Two minutes later, he was in one of many subterranean rooms that lie under and around this ugliest of official buildings.
"Hello, Jack," Dennis Bunker called from the far end of the room.
"Mr Secretary." Jack nodded as he took his National Security Advisor's chair. The game started immediately. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Aside from the fact that Liz Elliot has decided not to grace us with her presence?" The Secretary of Defense chuckled, then went serious. "There has been an attack on one of our cruisers in the Eastern Med. The information is still sketchy, but the ship has been severely damaged and may be sinking. We presume heavy casualties."
"What do we know?" Jack asked, settling into the game. He put on a color-coded nametag that identified which part he was playing. A card hanging from the ceiling over his chair had the same purpose.
"Not much." Bunker looked up as a Navy lieutenant entered the room.
"Sir, USS Kidd reports that Valley Forge exploded and sank five minutes ago as a result of the initial damage.
"There are no more than twenty survivors, and rescue operations are underway."
"What is the cause of the loss?" Ryan asked.
"Unknown, sir. Kidd was thirty miles from Valley Forge at the time of the incident. Her helo is