«Sir Henry!» said Sylvester, touching the great man’s sleeve. «Have you really retired?»
«Semiretirement, dear boy. I do occasional stints for the locals, y’know, keeps the juices flowing. As it happens, I have a rather well-off son here in Boston from one of my marriages—can’t remember which—who simply insisted I take one of the hundreds of condominiums he’s built. He damn well should, of course; in the halcyon days I sent him through several universities for all those letters after his name. Sweet child, I must say, but never an actor! Damn disappointment, really.»
«How about the army? You could be our director! They’d probably make you a general right off!»
«Ah, but remember, my young cohort, what Napoleon said: ‘Give me enough medals and I’ll win you any war.’ But for actors to get ahead, it’s the billing, your name! Progressively larger until it equals the size of the play’s title. Now, as you perform in secrecy, how could the army do that?»
«Oh, shit,» whispered Cyrus to Roman Z. «Let’s get the hell out of here!»
They left, and no one in the suite noticed.
23
«It’s all here!» cried Jennifer, listening to the tape and looking at the enlarged photographs on the coffee table in the summer house on the beach in Swampscott. «It is a conspiracy, a screwed-up conspiracy, but obviously involving the highest levels of the government!»
«There’s no question about it,» agreed Aaron Pinkus from his chair, «but whom do we go after? The need-to-know basis cuts off the trail.»
«What about this Brokemichael?» said Devereaux. «He’s the son of a bitch I caught in the Golden Triangle—»
«And got his first name mixed up with his cousin,» interjected Jennifer. «Ass.»
«Hey, look, how many times do you run into first names like Ethelred and Heseltine? They’re both so weird it’s hard not to get confused.»
«Not for an observant attorney—»
«Come on, Pocahontas, you couldn’t differentiate between harsh cross-examination and extreme provocation!»
«Will you two stop it,» said an exasperated Pinkus.
«I only meant he could be after me,» explained Sam. «Jesus, if he saw my name in the Hawk’s file, his nostrils would outshoot two flamethrowers.»
«Since you’re formally listed as the Wopotami attorney-of-record, I suppose that’s entirely possible.» Aaron paused, frowning, his head tilted. «On the other hand, Brokemichael couldn’t order his rather unique unit into action by himself, and he certainly wouldn’t have access to Air Force Two—»
«Which means he was ordered by someone who had both the authority and the access,» completed Redwing.
«Exactly, my dear, and therein lies our conundrum. This Brokemichael wouldn’t reveal his superior, even if he could, and to paraphrase General Hawkins, the chain of command will be so convoluted as to be untraceable. At least within the time frame available to us—eighty-some hours and counting, as I understand it, but not actually.»
«We’ve got the evidence,» said Devereaux. «The photographs, the tape in which the entire operation is outlined by two participants—perpetrators, if you like. We could go public—why not?»
«The stress has addled your normal perceptions, Sam,» answered Pinkus gently. «Deniability is built into this whole operation. Just as our friend Cyrus, who is now on the beach with Roman Z, no doubt consuming several quarts of vodka, put it—‘they’re all lunatics.’ … That’s the deniability. Lunacy, irrationality—crazy people. Actors.»
«Hold it, Aaron. They can’t deny Air Force Two, that’s too damned heavy.»
«He’s got a point, Mr. Pinkus. Clearance for the use of that plane has to come from on high.»
«Thank you, Princess.»
«I give when it’s deserved.»
«Wow, what a prelude!»
«Oh, shut up.»
«My word, I called you addled, but I’m far worse. You have a glaringly obvious point—»
«No, he doesn’t,» came the guttural voice of MacKenzie Hawkins from the darkened, partially opened door to the kitchen. It was pulled back and the figure of the Hawk emerged, clothed only in green and black camouflage skivvies and T-shirt. «Pardon my appearance, little … Miss Redbird—»
«That’s Redwing.»
«Sorry again, but when I hear voices on bivouac at three o’clock in the morning, my natural instinct is to prowl fast, not dress for the occasion of a dance at the officers’ club.»
«You dance, Mac?»
«Check my fillies, son. I taught all of ’em everything from the mazurka to the true Viennese. Soldiers were always the best dancers; they have to make their moves on the ladies in quick fashion—leaves are short.»
«Please, Sam, the general’s observation, if you will,» said Aaron, looking at the Hawk. «Why is my learned employee wrong about the Vice-President’s plane? It’s the second-ranking aircraft in the country.»
«Because Air Force Two can be manipulated by a dozen agencies and departments for cosmetic reasons. Regardless of who it is, a Veep’s staff jumps at every opportunity to bring its unnoticed merchandise out of the shadows, whether it’s him or his benevolently provided equipment… Hell, boy, remember when I landed at Travis from Beijing by way of the Philippines after the Chink trial, and gave that puke-inducing speech about ‘old, tired soldiers’? I had to include that I was eternally grateful to the Vice-President for sending his personal plane.»
«I remember, Mac.»
«You know where that Vice-President was, Sam?»
«No, I don’t,» said Devereaux.
«He was holed up with one of my wives who wouldn’t let him get to second base in L.A., drunk as a flea in a bottle of bourbon and just about as equal to the task of his desires.»
«How do you know that?»
«’Cause I smelled the whole China trial scam and wanted to know how high up it went in D.C. I sent my girl to work to see if she could find out.»
«Did she?» asked an incredulous Pinkus.
«Sure as hell did, Commander. That tongue-twisting orator fell flat on his face with his trousers around his ankles, asking good old Ginny who I was! Then I knew just how tall the dirty dog was in Washington who had me by the tail, doing nasty things to this old soldier… That’s when I really made up my mind to pursue a different life and recruited you, Sam.»
«I’d rather you didn’t remind me… Ginny seduced the Vice-President?»
«You weren’t listening, son. That girl’s got taste, and his neutered, fat face wasn’t up to it.»
«Reminiscences aside,» broke in Aaron, shaking his head as if to erase forbidden images. «What exactly are you saying, General?»
«I’m saying we’ve now got a direct counter for this counterthrust strategy, Commander. It’ll be a little tricky but we can manage it.»
«Speak English, Mac.»
«Hell, boy, it’s worked from the Normandy coast to Saipan! From Pinchon to the Mekong—when the goddamned back-boiler brass didn’t blow it with their big mouths.»
«I repeat, English.»
«Disinformation, Sam, within the holier-than-thou chain of command.»
«I mentioned that a moment ago,» interrupted Pinkus. «The chain of command, I mean.»