The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [93]
“I’ll tell you when they’ll be suspicious: when you fail the test.”
“I won’t fail the test,” Ben insisted. “Those tests are beatable. That’s why they’re not admissible in court. They’re not foolproof. At this point, I may’ve done something wrong, but I didn’t do anything maliciously against the Court. If I keep a cool head, I bet I can pass it.”
“If you say so,” Lisa said, shaking her head. “But, I still think—”
“You know what? I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“But—”
“I said drop it,” Ben demanded, refusing to look at his co-clerk. “I’ll deal with it.”
Later that evening, Ben returned home covered in the first snow of the year. Wiping frozen clumps of hair from his eyes, he searched for the key to his front door and unlocked it.
“Put your stuff down, we’re going out!” Ober shouted as he threw on his coat. Getting no reaction from Ben, Ober stopped and searched Ben’s face. “What’s wrong with you? You look like crap.”
“Thanks.” Ben dropped his briefcase on the floor and let his jacket slide from his arm.
“Tough day on the job, dear?”
“Terrible day,” Ben said, undoing his tie and unbuttoning his collar. “The decision we’re working on still isn’t done. The Marshals Office is making me take a lie detector test. Rick’s on the loose. I can’t trust Lisa. My life is a mess.”
“They’re making you take a lie detector test?” Nathan asked. “They can’t do that.”
“I know they can’t, but they’ll tell Hollis if I don’t.”
“No offense, but are you coming with us or not?” Ober asked. “Nathan got promoted today and all we’re doing is moping around here.”
“You got the S/P job?” Ben asked. Nathan smiled. Ben gave him a bear hug. “Congratulations!”
“You are now looking at the newest member of the secretary of state’s policy planning staff,” Ober explained. “Whatever that is.”
“From now on, I get to muck with all the major policy work that comes through our department,” Nathan said.
“That is unbelievable!” Ben said. “I knew you’d get it. I hope you got a bigger office.”
“Bigger office, bigger computer, slightly bigger salary.”
“What more can you ask for?” Ben said. “And now I feel like a schmuck—here I was complaining when you had good news that you were waiting to tell me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nathan said.
“Enough of this friendship crap,” Ober said. “Let’s go out and celebrate!”
Ben ran to his room and changed into jeans and a chocolate-brown Henley. “Where are we going?” he asked as he walked downstairs.
“Guess,” Ober said.
“Are we really going there?”
“Hey, it’s my promotion,” Nathan said. “Now, c’mon, it closes at eight.”
When the three friends arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, they stepped through the large plate-glass doors and into the heart of the building. Within a minute, they were all gazing up at the Milestones of Flight exhibit. Among the collection of aerodynamic marvels suspended from the roof were the Wright brothers’ original flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, and Nathan’s favorite, Glamorous Glennis, the first airplane to fly faster than the speed of sound.
“How many flights did the Wright brothers take that first day?” Ben asked, reading a short exhibit card about the Wright brothers’ first flight.
“Four,” Nathan said.
“What was the day?”
“December seventeenth, 1903.”
“Who flew first?”
“Orville flew first for twelve seconds,” Nathan said, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling. “But Wilbur flew the longest with fifty-nine seconds.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re so into this stuff,” Ben said, looking at a replica of Sputnik I. “You have no science background, your father isn’t in the military, your—”
“Can’t you simply appreciate the wonders of technology?” Nathan asked. “Can your legal mind even comprehend such a thought? We’re in the midst of science’s greatest feat—escaping the bounds of our existence.”
Ober walked over to an authentic moon rock brought back by the Apollo 17 crew and rubbed the pale gray object. “This rock is so fake. It isn’t from the moon.”
“And you base this hypothesis on what?” Nathan asked. “Your vast knowledge of