Deep Black

9

William Rubens shifted on the ornate seat in the White House Map Room, doing his best not to glance once more at his Rolex. This was the reason he hated meeting the president, especially here; overbooked, Jeffrey Marcke ran perpetually behind schedule.

He had been summoned without explanation, though Rubens suspected it was for an update on the mission to check the Wave Three plane’s wreckage. Two senators had made a polite though terse request to the CIA for information on the Russian laser system that had been Wave Three’s target; the request had undoubtedly been kicked over to the White House, where the president himself would make the final call on what to tell the legislators.

A mountain of projects awaited Rubens back in Crypto City; Third Wave was the most prominent but hardly the only one. To have to kill a half hour sitting across from ancient but nonetheless tacky furniture and shellacked maps did more than waste Rubens’ time — it offended his sense of aesthetic balance.

George Hadash entered the room, sweating so badly that he wiped his brow with a handkerchief. “Decided to hold a press conference on the new Energy Bill,” said the National Security Director. “What a nightmare. Come on.”

Hadash led Rubens around and out to the south lawn, past a cordon of aides and Secret Service agents, and down to the horseshoe pit, which was not far from the tennis court. The president had doffed his coat and tie but was otherwise still dressed in his standard work clothes: well-tailored suit and broadcloth shirt with sturdy-soled, rather plain black shoes. The pit dated back several presidencies, though it hadn’t gotten much publicity until Marcke remarked in a Time interview soon after taking office that tossing the iron around was as therapeutic as “punching a wall.”

Which apparently he regarded as a special pleasure.

“Naturally,” said Marcke as his last horseshoe fell away from the post. “How are you, Billy?”

“Fine, Mr. President.”

“Better than me, I suspect.” Marcke smiled wanly, then retrieved his horseshoes. He pitched all four — he played without an opponent — before speaking again as he walked back to the other end of the pit. “We’re waiting for Bob Freeman.”

“Oh,” said Rubens nonchalantly.

Freeman was the head of the FBI. Meeting with him could mean any of a number of things — most deliciously, that the Bureau was trying to track a double agent in the CIA and needed technical assistance.

Of course, it could also mean that a member of his own agency had gone bad, but Rubens dismissed the far-fetched notion out of hand.

Marcke let the horseshoe fly, nailing a ringer. “Have we recovered Wave Three yet?” asked the president, sizing up another toss.

“Still working on it, sir.” He didn’t bother correcting the president’s misstatement — the mission was not to recover the Wave Three plane but merely to make sure it was sterile.

The president’s shot sailed high, bouncing at the end of the box.

“Here’s Mr. Freeman,” said Hadash, pointing back toward the lawn.

“Very good.” The president continued to pitch his shoes.

Rubens was surprised to see that accompanying Freeman was his own boss, Admiral Brown. Brown had just returned from South America. Rubens wasn’t sure whether he had been summoned to the meeting as well or was just stopping by to report on the trip.

Probably the former, Rubens decided. Undoubtedly Freeman had gone to him first, not realizing the way things truly worked.

“Mr. Freeman, hello,” said the president as the horseshoe clanked against the metal pole. “Admiral Brown — you’re back from your trip.”

“This morning,” said Brown. He nodded to Rubens.

“Did you catch the press conference, Bobby?” asked the president.

Freeman said something about how remarkably well it had gone.

“Very nice of you to lie,” said Marcke. He tossed another ringer. “It went over like a fart in church. They’re going to hammer me on the Energy Bill. Not a doubt about it. Bob, you know Billy Rubens, right?”

Rubens grimaced — the president’s use of “Billy” would now make Freeman feel as if he were entitled to use it as well.

“Mr. Rubens.” Freeman stuck out his hand.

“Mr. Freeman.”

“I’m a great admirer of the NSA,” said Freeman.

“The FBI does a fine job as well,” said Rubens.

The president retrieved his horseshoes. “Now that that’s established — Mr. Hadash?”

“There have been some questions raised about Congressman Greene’s demise,” said Hadash, starting in an unusually roundabout way. He paused to add a few qualifiers, then said something about Congressman Greene’s contributions to the country.

Rubens folded his arms across his chest, utterly surprised by the topic, though naturally he endeavored not to reveal anything except boredom. He listened with half of his brain and turned the other half to self-examination: How could he have allowed himself to be blindsided?

Obviously because the matter was absurd. The accidental death of a congressman, even from the president’s own party, was hardly a ripple on the ocean compared to the weighty matters the administration faced.

But surely that was one of the earliest lessons he had learned — Washington ran on absurdity. He should have anticipated this.

“What George is getting at,” said the president, cutting him off, “is that some people don’t think Greene’s death was an accident.”

“Nonsense,” said Rubens.

“You were there, Mr. Rubens?” asked Freeman.

It was obvious that he already knew Rubens had been there, and the obsequious note in his voice undoubtedly registered with the others as totally bogus. There was therefore no need to underline it.

“Greta’s my cousin,” said Rubens. “It was her daughter’s communion. I saw the guitarist jump into the pool,” he added, cutting to the inevitable chase. “It was an accident. Bizarre, freakish, unfortunate — but definitely an accident.”

“You weren’t there when the police arrived,” said Freeman.

“Really, do you think I should have stayed?” Rubens let his contempt peek out, ever so slightly. “There were plenty of other witnesses.”

The president’s horseshoes clunked against each other. He’d scored four ringers in a row.

“There are some legitimate questions,” said Freeman. “Reporters have theories. You know what happens.”

“Why don’t you spell them out?” said Brown.

Freeman told him that there were rumors that Greene had been preparing to use his influence to have Greta fired as committee counsel.

“So she picked up the guitarist and threw him into the pool?” asked Brown.

Freeman held up his hands.

Rubens looked through the trees toward the south fountain, its white water furled into a rectangular mist by the wind. It was counterproductive to say anything; his boss had actually done an admirable job defending him.

Perhaps that was intended as a blind, though. Perhaps Brown had put Freeman up to this.

Paranoia. Rubens realized he was overreacting because he had been taken by surprise. It was important not to overcompensate.

“Congress is concerned about the circumstances of Congressman Greene’s death,” said Freeman. “And there’s likely to be a call for an independent investigation.”

“I’m sure it will prove to be a freak accident,” said Rubens.

“One of my pathology experts says there should have been no electrocution,” said Freeman.

“Then I suppose it was poisoning that he died of,” said Rubens dryly. “Just like the media to get it wrong.”

“My point is, maybe the guitar or pool was tampered with,” said Freeman.

“By whom?” asked Brown.

Freeman shrugged. Rubens knew that as ridiculous as this all was, it could not be summarily dismissed. During the Clinton administration, the media and antagonistic congressmen had made quite a hash of Vince Foster’s suicide, basically accusing the president of pulling the trigger. At the time, Rubens was a young buck in the collection operations area, but he remembered the controversy well. If such a controversy tainted him, he would undoubtedly be asked to resign. The NSA depended on its image.

A thought occurred to him: This must all be the work of Collins, the CIA DDO, trying to make a power play for Desk Three. She had all sorts of media and congressional contacts, and she wanted his job. It was even conceivable that she had set the whole thing up. She’d murder her mother to move ahead.

More paranoia. But not necessarily misplaced.

Marcke threw his last horseshoe — another ringer — and then walked a few steps up the hill. He held out his hands and a member of the White House staff ran down with his suit jacket.

“Our problem here is crazy rumors,” said the president. “We all know that this was an accidental death. But in Washington, the more bizarre something is, the more plausible it becomes in the public mind.”

“There were rumors that Congressman Greene pressed for information about NSA operations and was denied,” said Freeman.

“Baloney,” said Brown.

“Actually, if you recall the hearings, he did make a bit of a fuss,” said the president, pulling on his coat. He looked directly at Rubens.

Surely the president did not believe that Rubens would assassinate a congressional opponent rather than let him join the Intelligence Committee.

However tempting that might be. Besides, Greene was hardly an opponent.

Now, someone like Senator Katherine Hilton…

“Anything else, Mr. Freeman?” Marcke asked the FBI director.

“We would like to interview Mr. Rubens informally.”

“Not a problem,” said Rubens. “If I can help the Bureau in any way, I’d be glad to.”

It was an immense lie, as most lies in Washington were, and Freeman accepted it with a smile twice as phony. “Very good.”

“Next appointment?” the president asked the man who had helped him with the coat.

“Education secretary for lunch.”

“I’d like him roasted and turned on a spit, with maybe a light gravy on the side,” said Marcke, starting back toward the White House. Freeman, walking beside him, gave a forced laugh.

“Take this seriously, Billy,” hissed Hadash, who had taken hold of his jacket to hold him back.

“It’s absurd and obnoxious,” said Rubens.

“Agreed. But if the press finds out you were at the scene of a crime and then left, there will be fallout.”

“Please,” said Rubens, though he knew Hadash was in fact correct. Still, it would have been bad to be there when they arrived.

Rubens turned back to find Admiral Brown frowning at him.

“Make this go away,” said the admiral, starting toward the front.