“Dammit,” said Torrent, “I’m trying to find out if you’d be interested in a covert assignment to help hold this country together and prevent its collapse into pure chaos.”
“And its passage into empire.”
“If there were some way you could help in an effort to prevent civil war, to preserve the republic, such as it is, how far would you be willing to go?”
“I’m a major in the United States Army, sir. I will never do anything contrary to my oath.”
“Yes,” said Torrent. “Yes, that’s what I’m counting on. You’re a superb student, you know that. The best I’ve had in years. And I know people, within and outside the government, who are involved in quiet efforts to prevent civil war. You have my solemn oath that anyone who contacts you in my name will never ask you to do anything that would violate yours.”
“I’ll listen. That’s all I promise.”
“Then listen to this. The first test is whether or not you tell your wife.”
“I tell Cessy everything that isn’t classified. If you don’t like that, count me out.”
“What if the knowledge might get her killed?”
“Then I’d be sure to tell her. Because if somebody thinks I might have told her, they’ll kill her whether I really did or not. So she might as well understand the risk.”
“Glad to hear it,” said Torrent.
“You are?”
“That was the test. If you’d betray your wife and do something like this behind her back, you’d betray anybody.” With a grin, Torrent picked up his now-stuffed briefcase and left the room.
Reuben headed for his next class, hopelessly late, with his mind racing. He just recruited me. I don’t even know what the conspiracy is, and he recruited me just by appealing to my intelligence, my loyalties, my desire to be in on the action.
The trouble was, this did appeal to him in all those ways and more besides.
He’s got me pegged, Reuben realized. The only question remaining was: Is Torrent a good guy? If I join whatever clandestine work he’s got going, will I be on the right side?
THREE
NEW BOY
Heroic love is to do what is best for the loved one, disregarding desire, trust, and cost. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know what is best for anyone.
Captain Coleman—Cole, to his friends—still wasn’t sure whether getting assigned to Major Malich was the opportunity of a lifetime or the dead end of his military career.
On the one hand, as soon as Cole got the Pentagon assignment, high-ranking people started dropping hints that Malich was regarded as more than merely promising—war hero in Special Ops, brilliant in strategic and tactical thinking, with the only real question being whether he would end up his career commanding in the field or from the Pentagon. “You just got your wagon hitched to the right horse, Cole,” said one general that dropped by his new office apparently just to tell him that.
On the other hand, he’d been in his new position for three days and he hadn’t met Malich and couldn’t find out from anybody where he was.
“He goes out, he comes back,” said the division secretary.
“Goes where, does what?”
“Goes away” she said with a tight smile, “and eventually returns.”
“Are you not telling me because you don’t know, or because you don’t trust me yet?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t trust you yet,” she said.
“So what do I do while I wait for him to come back?”
“Is this your first time in the Pentagon?”
“Yes.”