“That wasn’t likely to slip my mind,” Frade said.
“Really? I’ve noticed that you haven’t used the word ‘sir’ very much—as a matter of fact, not once.”
“You’re giving the orders and I’m obeying them, but if you’re waiting for me to stand at attention and salute, don’t hold your breath.” He paused, chuckled, then added, “Sir.”
Dulles laughed.
Graham, after a pregnant pause, said, “Under the circumstances, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Okay, now that I’m here, now what?” Frade asked. “I think it’s time you finally tell me what the hell this is all about.”
“You haven’t guessed?” Dulles asked.
“I spent eight or nine hours just now watching the needles on the fuel gauges drop and guessing. The only answer I came up with is that it’s about time somebody told me.”
“That’s all?” Graham asked.
“When I saw the both of you, I guessed it was important. How did you get here, anyway?”
“Howard flew me to Sidi Slimane—an Air Force base in Morocco—in a Constellation.”
“Howard’s here?”
“He’s in Sidi Slimane. We brought some Lockheed people with us. Howard’s passing on some techniques to extend the range of the P-38 he got from Colonel Lindbergh. And we brought some Collins people with us to maintain the radio-direction-finding equipment.”
“Why is the U.S. government being so helpful to South American Airways? I seem to remember you telling me SAA wasn’t going to be connected with the OSS.”
“Maybe I should have said ‘directly connected,’ ” Graham said.
“I want to know what’s going on, Colonel,” Frade said. “That’s a statement, not a question.”
“Two things, Major Frade,” Graham said. “One, you’re not in a position to make statements; and, two, you don’t have the Need to Know.”
“Oh, hell,” Allen Dulles said. “Tell him, Alex.”
“Excuse me?” Graham asked icily.
“He does have the Need to Know, and you know it,” Dulles said.
“I don’t think so,” Graham said. “He already knows far more than he should.”
“That’s why, in my judgment, he has the Need to Know about what’s going on here.”
“I disagree,” Graham said.
“If you don’t tell him, I will,” Dulles said softly.
“The hell you will!” Graham exploded. “I forbid it!”
“It would be better if you told him,” Dulles said. “But if you don’t, I will. If I have to say this, I’m not subject to your orders.”
“Leave us alone for a moment, please, Major Frade,” Graham said.
“It would save time, Major Frade, if you stayed where you are,” Dulles said. “Because there is nothing Colonel Graham can say to me in private that would keep me from telling you what’s happening—and your role in it—when you came back.”
Graham’s face went white.
“Goddamn you, Allen!” he said.