Well, he thought as he headed down the corridor, I'll have to find a way to deal with that. Commanders do, and Rodgers loved being a commander. He loved overseeing Striker and he loved running Op-Center when Hood was away. He loved the process of making things happen for America. Being even a small cog in that great machine filled him with indescribable pride.
And part of being that cog is dealing with other cogs, he told himself. Including politicians.
He stopped short as he passed Martha Mackall's office.
The door was open and Senator Fox was sitting inside. He saw from the Senator's grim expression that he had struck out, even before he'd stepped to the plate.
He looked at his watch. It was 8:32. "Sorry," he said.
"Come in, General Rodgers," she said. Her voice was tight, clipped. "Ms. Mackall has been telling me about her father. My daughter was a tremendous fan of his music." Rodgers entered. "We all liked Mack's stuff," he said as he shut the door. "Back in 'Nam, we called him the Soul of Saigon." Martha was wearing her serious professional face.
Rodgers knew it well. Martha had a habit of adopting the attitudes of people who could advance her career. And if Senator Fox was down on Rodgers, then Martha would be too. Even more so than usual.
Rodgers sat on the edge of Martha's desk. Since Senator Fox wanted the home court advantage, she was going to have to look up at him.
"Unfortunately," Senator Fox said, "I didn't come here to discuss music, General Rodgers. I came to discuss your budget. I was disappointed when Director Hood's assistant telephoned yesterday to say that Mr. Hood had a more pressing engagement— spending money he won't have. But I decided to come here anyway." "Paul and I worked closely together preparing the budget," Rodgers said. "I can answer any questions you have." "I have only one question," the Senator said. "When did the Government Printing Office begin publishing fiction?" Rodgers's stomach began to burn. McCaskey was right: Paul should have handled this.
Senator Fox placed the briefcase in her lap and popped the latches. "You asked for an increase of eighteen percent at a time when government agencies are making across-theboard cuts." She handed Rodgers his own three-hundredpage document. "This is the budget I will present to the finance committee. It contains my blue-pencil reductions totaling thirty-two percent." Rodgers's eyes snapped from the budget to the Senator. "Reductions?" "We can talk about how the remaining seventy percent is to be apportioned," Fox continued, "but the cut will be made." Rodgers wanted to throw the budget back at the Senator. He waited a moment until the urge had passed. He turned and placed it on Martha's desk. "You've got nerve, Senator." "So do you, General," Fox said, unfazed.
"I know," he replied. "I've tested it against North Vietnamese, Iraqis, and North Koreans." "We've all of us seen your medals," she replied politely.
"This is not a mandate on courage." "No, it's not," Rodgers quietly agreed. "It's a death sentence. We have a top-flight organization and we still lost Bass Moore in Korea and Charlie Squires in Russia. If you cut us back, I won't be able to give my people the support they need." "For what?" the Senator said. "More adventures overseas?" "No," he said. "Our government's entire intelligence focus has been on ELINT. Electronic intelligence. Spy satellites. Eavesdropping. Photo reconnaissance. Computers.
These are tools but they aren't enough. Thirty, forty years ago we had a human presence around the world. HUMINT— human intelligence. People who infiltrated foreign governments and spy organizations and terrorist groups and used judgment, initiative, creativity, and courage to get us information. The best camera in the world can't pull blueprints from a drawer. Only a human operator can break into a computer which isn't on-line. A spy satellite can't look into a terrorist's eyes and tell you if he or she is really committed or if he can be turned. We need to rebuild those assets." "A pretty speech," said the Senator, "but you do not have my support. We do not need this HUMINT to protect American interests. Striker stopped a Korean lunatic from bombing Tokyo. They saved the administration of a Russian President who has not yet proven that he is our ally. Why should American taxpayers underwrite an international police force?" "Because they're the only ones who can," Rodgers said.
"We're fighting a cancer, Senator. You've got to treat it wherever it shows up." Martha said from behind him, "I agree with Senator Fox. There are other forums in which the United States can address international concerns. The United Nations and the World Court are chartered and funded for that purpose. And there's NATO." Rodgers said without turning, "So where were they, Martha?" "Pardon me?" "Where was the U.N. when that Nodong missile took off from North Korea? We were the surgeons who kept the Japanese from catching a fever of roughly eighteen million degrees Fahrenheit." "Again," said Senator Fox, "that was a job well done.
But it was a job you needn't have shouldered. The United States survived while the Soviet Union and Afghanistan battled one other, while Iran and Iraq were at war. We will survive other such conflicts." "Tell that to the American families of terrorist victims," Rodgers said. "We're not asking for toys or luxuries here, Senator. I'm asking for security for American citizens." "In a perfect world we would be able to safeguard every building, every airplane, every life," the Senator said.
She closed the briefcase. "But it is not a perfect world and the budget will be cut, as I've indicated. There will be no debate and no hearing." "Fine," Rodgers said. "When Paul gets back, you can start by cutting my salary." Senator Fox shut her eyes. "Please, General. We can do very nicely without the grandstanding." "I'm not trying to be dramatic," Rodgers said. He stood and tugged the hem of his jacket. "I just don't believe in doing anything half-assed. You're an isolationist, Senator.
You have been since the tragedy in France." "This has nothing to do with that—" "Of course it does. And I understand how you feel. The French did not find your daughter's killer, didn't seem to care very much, so why help them? But you've let that get in the way of the larger picture, of our national interests." Martha said, "General, I didn't lose anyone abroad and I agree with the Senator. Op-Center was created to help other agencies, not to help other nations. We've lost sight of that." Rodgers turned and looked down at Martha. "Your father sang a song called 'The Boy Who Killed the Lights,' about a white kid who shut the lights in a club so a black singer could sing there—" "Don't quote my dad to me," Martha snapped, "and don't tell me that I'm lucky to be in'this club, General.
Nobody helped me get this gig—" "If you'll let me finish," Rodgers said, "that wasn't the point I was making." Rodgers remained calm. He didn't raise his voice to women. That wasn't how Mrs. Rodgers had raised her son. "What I was trying to say before is that what Goschen called 'splendid isolation' simply doesn't exist anymore. Not in the music world and not in the political world. If Russia breaks down, it affects China, the Baltic republics, and Europe. If Japan suffers—" "I learned all about the domino theory in elementary school," Martha said.
"Yes we all did, General Rodgers," Senator Fox said.
"Do you really believe that General Michael Rodgers and Op- Center are the tent poles which hold the infrastructure up?" "We do our part," Rodgers said. "We need to do more." "And I say we already do too much!" Senator Fox shot back. "When I was still new to the Senate, U.S. warplanes were not permitted to fly over France en route to bomb Tripoli and Benghazi. The French are supposed to be our allies! At the time, I said on the floor of the Senate that we bombed the wrong capital. I meant it. More recently, Russian terrorists blew up a tunnel in New York. Was the Russian Ministry of Security hot on the trail of these murderers? Did your new best friends at the Russian Op- Center warn us? Even today, are their operatives hunting for Russian gangsters on our shores? No, General, they are not." "Paul went to Russia to establish a relationship with their Op-Center," Rodgers, said. "We believe we'll get their cooperation." "I know," the Senator said. "I read his report. And do you know when we'll get their cooperation? After we've spent tens of millions of dollars making the Russian Op- Center as sophisticated as our own. But that's when General Orlov will be retired, someone hostile to the U.S. will take his place, and we'll be left, again, with an enemy whom we've helped to make stronger." "American history is full of chances taken and losses incurred," Rodgers said. "But it's also full of relationships which have been built and sustained. We can't give up optimism and hope." The Senator rose. She handed her briefcase to one of her aides and smoothed her black skirt.