"When I was in the Congo and saw the cadavers of animals and humans who had died of this infestation, I told the President-our late President-that the Fish Farm, should there be an accident, had the potential of becoming a greater risk to mankind than the nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl had posed."
"That's pretty strong, isn't it, Colonel?" the President asked.
"Now that I have some idea of the danger, Mr. President," Hamilton said, "that was a massive understatement."
"Is there a way to kill this material?" Naylor asked.
"I've had some success with incineration at temperatures over one thousand degrees centigrade," Hamilton said, looked at the President, and added: "That's about two thousand degrees Fahrenheit, Mr. President."
"I seem to recall the secretary of Defense telling me that the attack produced that kind of heat," the President said.
"Then where did the two separate packages of Congo-X come from?" Secretary of State Natalie Cohen asked.
"There're only two possibilities," Ambassador Montvale said. "The attack was not successful; everything was not incinerated and someone-I suspect the Russians-went in there and picked up what was missed. Or, the Russians all along had a stock of this stuff in Russia and that's what they're sending us."
"Why? What do they want?" Cohen asked.
"We're not even sure it's the Russians, are we?" Mark Schmidt, the director of the FBI, asked.
"Are we, Mr. Director of National Intelligence?" the President asked. "Are we sure who's been sending us the Congo-X?"
"Not at this time, Mr. President," Montvale replied.
"Have we the capability of sending someone into the Congo?" Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Mason Andrew asked. "To do, in the greatest secrecy-what do they call it?-'damage assessment'?"
"Not anymore," Natalie Cohen said.
There was a long silence.
"Madam Secretary," the President asked finally, icily, "would I be wrong to think that you had a certain Colonel Costello in mind when you said that?"
She met his eyes.
"I had Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Castillo in mind, yes, sir," she said. "I was thinking that since he managed to successfully infiltrate Colonel Hamilton into the Congo and, more importantly, exfiltrate him-"
"Weren't you listening, Madam Secretary, when I said that in this administration there will be no private bands of special operators? I thought I had made that perfectly clear. Castillo and his men have been dispersed. He was ordered by my predecessor to-the phrase he used was 'fall off the face of the earth, never to be seen again.' I never want to hear his name mentioned again, much less to see him. Is everybody clear on that, absolutely clear?"
"Yes, Mr. President," Secretary Cohen said.
There was a murmur as everyone responded at once: "Yes, sir." "Yes, Mr. President." "Absolutely clear, Mr. President."
"Mr. President, there may be a problem in that area," Porky Parker said.
The President looked at him in surprise, perhaps even shock. The President thought he had made it absolutely clear to Parker that the spokesman's role in meetings like this was to listen, period.
"What did you say, Jack?" the President asked softly.
"Mr. President, Roscoe Danton of The Washington Times-Post is looking for Colonel Castillo."
"How do you know that?"
"He came to me, sir."
"And what did you tell him?"
"I told him I had no idea where he was," Parker said.
"Charles?"
"Sir?" Montvale replied.
"Where is Castillo?"
"I don't know, Mr. President."
"I told you the next time I asked that question, I would expect an answer."
"I'm working on it, Mr. President, but so far without any results."
"Wonderful! It's so nice to know that whenever I want to know something, all I have to do is ask my director of National Intelligence!"
There was another thirty-second silence, and then the President went on: "Far be it from me to try to tell the director of National Intelligence how to do his job, but I have just had this probably useless thought: If Roscoe Danton is looking for Colonel Castillo, perhaps he has an idea where he is. Has anyone thought of that? Where's Danton?"
There was no reply.
"Find out for me, Charles, will you, please?"
"I'll get right on it, Mr. President," Montvale said. [FOUR] The Office of the Director of National Intelligence Eisenhower Executive Office Building 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 1805 5 February 2007 "I can't think of anything else to do, can you?" Ambassador Montvale asked Truman C. Ellsworth, his executive assistant.
When Ellsworth had called The Washington Times-Post for Roscoe J. Danton, they refused to tell him where he was. They said they would contact Danton and tell him Ambassador Montvale wanted to speak with him. Ellsworth finally called the publisher, Bradley Benjamin III, and told him what had happened, and asked for his help. Mr. Benjamin told him that what he had already been offered was all he was going to get, and please give Ambassador Montvale his best regards.
Since both Truman C. Ellsworth and Charles M. Montvale would swear-because they believed it-that they were incapable of letting anger, or a bruised ego, interfere in the slightest with their judgment, or the execution of their offices, what happened next was attributed to the fervor with which they chose to meet the President's request to locate Mr. Roscoe J. Danton.
The National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, was directed as the highest priority to acquire and relay to the ambassador's office any traffic by telephone, or over the Internet, containing Mr. Danton's name.
The Department of Homeland Security was directed to search the flight manifests of every passenger airliner taking off from either Reagan International Airport or Dulles International Airport during the past forty-eight hours for the name of Roscoe J. Danton, and if found to immediately report his destination and time of arrival thereat.
The Secret Service was ordered to obtain the residential address of Mr. Roscoe J. Danton and to place such premises under around-the-clock surveillance and to immediately report any sighting of Mr. Danton. They were further ordered to send agents to the National Press Club to see if any clue to his whereabouts could be obtained.
The cooperation of the FBI was sought and obtained to put out an immediate "locate but do not detain" bulletin on Mr. Danton.
"I just had an idea," Mr. Ellsworth said when asked if he could think of anything else that could be done.
He told the White House operator get The Washington Times-Post for him again, this time the Corporate Travel department.
Montvale's eyebrows rose, but he didn't comment.
"Hello, Corporate Travel?" Ellsworth then said. "Yes, hi. Brad Benjamin just told me you would know where I can find Roscoe Danton."
Not sixty seconds after that, he said, "Got it. Thank you," hung up the phone, and turned to Ambassador Montvale and reported, "Danton went to Buenos Aires. They made a reservation for him at the Marriott Plaza."
"The Marriott Plaza?" Montvale replied, obviously surprised.
"That's what they told me. You want me to put in a call to our ambassador?"
"I wouldn't believe that sonofabitch if he told me what day it is."
"The CIA station chief, then?"
"Get me John Powell. I'll have the DCI call the station chief and tell him I'll be calling."
Ellsworth told the White House operator to connect the director of National Intelligence with the director of Central Intelligence on a secure line and then pushed the LOUDSPEAKER button and handed the receiver to Montvale. "Jack, Charles M. Montvale. I want you to give me the name of the station chief in Buenos Aires, and something about him, and then call him and tell him I'll be calling on an errand for the President."
"Hang on a second, Charles," Powell replied.
He came back on the line ninety seconds later.