"No, sir," Hall replied, and then added, "It's here, Charley. Fernando is in the hangar where we'll… hold the ceremony."
"Okay, then," the President said. "Anything else you need right now? Equipment, people?"
"It's a long list, sir."
The President signaled him to continue.
"I'd like to stop at Fort Bragg and pick up a Gray Fox satellite radio, and an operator, and take that with us. And I'd like another installed at the Nebraska Avenue complex, and a third to be sent to the embassy in Argentina with an operator."
"That will pose no problem, will it, General Naylor?" the President asked.
"None, sir. I'll get right on the horn to General McNab."
"Anything else, Charley?"
"Yes, sir. I'd like to borrow one of Colonel Torine's pilots, one with over-the-ocean experience. I've never flown across an ocean by myself."
"Shouldn't be a problem, should it, Colonel?"
"Unfortunately it is, sir," Torine said. "Until this moment, Mr. President, I had no idea Major Castillo was not entirely satisfied with my flying skills. I am crushed and humiliated beyond words."
"You mean you want to fly his airplane?" the President asked, smiling.
"Very much, sir."
"So ordered," the President said.
"Thanks," Castillo said to Torine.
The President looked at his watch.
"Well, we're out of time. I've got to change my shirt. While I'm doing that, you can finish your shopping list."
He walked out of the conference room.
Castillo felt Montvale's cold eyes on him.
"So what else can we do for you, Major?" he asked, with emphasis on the "Major."
Castillo looked at the secretary of state.
"I'm going to need some help with my passports, ma'am."
"Passports, plural?" Montvale asked.
"I went to Argentina on my German passport-"
"I beg your pardon?" Montvale interrupted.
"Major Castillo has dual citizenship, Mr. Ambassador," General Naylor said, suddenly and pointedly. "Sometimes, he uses his German nationality-very effectively-when he's on a covert assignment."
Did he come to my aid as loving Uncle Allan?
Or because Montvale's attitude toward me got under his skin?
Maybe, probably both. In one of his many lectures before I went to West Point, he told me to never forget that being given rank does not carry with it the right to jump on those of junior rank, especially in the presence of others.
Which of course I did when I gave that Old Guard lieutenant hell with Corporal Lester Bradley, USMC, standing there with both ears open.