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you.” Smiling broadly, LaValle indicated a chair. “Please.”
Soraya saw no point in refusing the invitation. She didn’t know whether she was more
curious or alarmed by the abrupt summons. She did, however, glance around the room.
“Where is Secretary Halliday? General Kendall informed me that the invitation came
from him.”
“Oh, it did,” LaValle said. “Unfortunately, the secretary of defense was called into a
meeting in the Oval Office. He phoned me to convey to you his apologies and to insist
that we carry on without him.”
All of which meant, Soraya knew, that Halliday had never had any intention of
attending this little tкte-а-tкte. She doubted he even knew about it.
“Anyway,” LaValle said as Kendall sat in the third chair, “now that you’re here you
might as well enjoy yourself.” He raised his hand, and Willard appeared as if by
prestidigitation. “Something to drink, Director? I know as Muslim you’re forbidden
alcohol, but we have a full range of potions for you to choose from.”
“Tea, please,” she said directly to Willard. “Ceylon, if you have it.”
“Of course, ma’am. Milk? Sugar?”
“Neither, thank you.” She’d never formed the British habit.
Willard seemed to bow before he vanished without a sound.
Soraya redirected her attention to the two men. “Now, gentlemen, in what way can I
help you?”
“I rather think it’s the other way around,” General Kendall said.
Soraya cocked her head. “How d’you figure that?”
“Frankly, because of the turmoil at CI,” LaValle said, “we think Typhon is working
with one hand tied behind its back.”
Willard arrived with Soraya’s tea, the men’s whiskeys. He set the japa
with the cup, glasses, and tea service, then left.
LaValle waited until Soraya had poured her tea before he continued. “It seems to me
that Typhon would benefit immensely from taking advantage of all the resources at
NSA’s disposal. We could even help you expand beyond the scope of CI’s reach.”
Soraya lifted her cup to her lips, found the fragrant Ceylon tea exquisitely delicious. “It seems that you know more about Typhon than any of us at CI were aware.”
LaValle let go with a soft laugh. “Okay, let’s stop beating around the bush. We had a
mole inside CI. You know who it is now. He made a fatal mistake in going after Jason
Bourne and failing.”
Veronica Hart had relieved Rob Batt of his position that morning, a fact that must have
come to LaValle’s attention, especially since his replacement, Peter Marks, had been one
of Hart’s most vocal supporters from day one. Soraya knew Peter well, had suggested to
Hart that he deserved the promotion.
“Is Batt now working for NSA?”
“Mr. Batt has outlived his usefulness,” Kendall said rather stiffly.
Soraya turned her attention to the military man. “A glimpse of your own fate, don’t
you think, General?”
Kendall’s face closed up like a fist, but following an almost imperceptible shake of
LaValle’s head he bit back a rejoinder.
“While it’s certainly true that life in the intelligence services can be harsh, even
brutal,” LaValle interjected, “certain individuals within it are-shall we say-inoculated
against such unfortunate eventualities.”
Soraya kept her gaze on Kendall. “I suppose I could be one of those certain
individuals.”
“Yes, absolutely.” LaValle put one hand over the other on his knee. “Your knowledge
of Muslim thought and custom, your expertise as Martin Lindros’s right hand as he put
Typhon together are invaluable.”
“You see how it is, General,” Soraya said. “One day an invaluable asset like me is
bound to take over your position.”
LaValle cleared his throat. “Does that mean you’re on board?”
Smiling sweetly, Soraya put her teacup down. “I’ll say this for you, Mr. LaValle, you
certainly know how to make lemonade from lemons.”
LaValle returned her smile as if it were a te
you’ve hit upon one of my specialities.”
“What makes you think I’d abandon CI?”
LaValle put a forefinger beside his nose. “My reading of you is that you’re a pragmatic
woman. You know better than we do what kind of a mess CI is in. How long do you
think it’s going to take the new DCI to right the ship? What makes you think she even
can?” He raised his finger. “I’m exceedingly interested in your opinion, but before you
answer think about how little time we might have before this unknown terrorist group is
going to strike.”
Soraya felt as if she’d been rabbit-punched. How in the hell had NSA gotten wind of
the Typhon terrorist intercepts? At the moment, however, that was a moot point. The
important thing was how to respond to this breach of security.
Before she could formulate a counter, LaValle said, “I’m curious about one thing,
though. Why is it that Director Hart saw fit to keep this intel to herself, rather than
bringing in Homeland Security, FBI, and NSA?”
“That was my doing.” I’m in it now, Soraya thought. I might as well go all the way.
“Until the incident at the Freer, the intel was sketchy enough that I felt the involvement
of other intelligence agencies would only muddy the waters.”
“Meaning,” Kendall said, glad of the opportunity to get in a dig, “you didn’t want us
rooting around in your carrot patch.”
“This is a serious situation, Director,” LaValle said. “In matters of national security-”
“If this Muslim terrorist group-which we now know calls itself the Black Legion-gets
wind that we’ve intercepted their communications we’ll be sunk before we even start
trying to counter their attack.”
“I could have you shit-ca
“And lose my invaluable expertise?” Soraya shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“So what do we have?” Kendall snapped.
“Stalemate.” LaValle passed a hand across his brow. “Do you think it would be
possible for me to see the Typhon intercepts?” His tone had changed completely. He was
now in conciliatory mode. “Believe it or not, we’re not the Evil Empire. We actually
might be able to be of some assistance.”
Soraya considered. “I think that be can arranged.”
“Excellent.”
“It would have to be Eyes Only.”
LaValle agreed at once.
“And in a controlled, highly restricted environment,” Soraya added, following up her
advantage. “The Typhon offices at CI would be perfect.”
LaValle spread his hands. “Why not here?”
Soraya smiled. “I think not.”
“Under the current climate I think you can understand why I’d be reluctant to meet you
there.”
“I take your point.” Soraya thought for a moment. “If I did bring the intercepts here I’d
have to have someone with me.”
LaValle nodded vigorously. “Of course. Whatever makes you feel comfortable.” He
seemed far more pleased than Kendall, who looked at her as if he had caught sight of her
from a battlefield trench.
“Frankly,” Soraya said, “none of this makes me feel comfortable.” She glanced around
the room again.
“The building is swept three times a day for electronic bugs,” LaValle pointed out.
“Plus, we have all the most sophisticated surveillance systems, basically a computerized
monitoring system that keeps track of the two thousand closed-circuit video cameras
installed throughout the facility and grounds, compares them from second to second for
any anomalies whatsoever. The DARPA software compares any anomalies against a
database of more than a million images, makes real-time decisions in nanoseconds. For
instance, a bird in flight would be ignored, a ru