Island Warriors

ELEVEN

Brad intercepted Wexler in the passageway outside her office. She took one look at his face, then followed him down the hallway, waiting until he judged they were in a secure position. Then he turned back to her. “Hemingway’s back.”

“More bugs?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Naval operations. JIC is in an uproar. It’s like a feeding frenzy. There’s still no hard evidence, but all the area experts are saying it’s about to come down to a confrontation.”

“When will the carrier be in the area?” she asked.

“Another two weeks. According to Hemingway, they’re setting a new speed record for transiting the Pacific.”

“Not soon enough, I suppose?”

“No. Hemingway needs to talk to you… but under the circumstances…” He stopped, knowing she understood what he meant.

“I suppose it’s time,” she said heavily. She felt obligations and bindings descending on her at the thought of what she was about to do. But really, there was no other choice, was there? Her own spaces were demonstrably not completely secure. Hemingway had insisted that there were no further listening devices, but Wexler could not shake the uneasy feeling that she was never completely alone in her office.

She pulled her shoulders back and raised her chin. “Okay. I’ll do it. When?”

Brad seem slightly surprised and uneasy over the situation. “Hemingway can take you right over, if you want. I’d like to go along.”

“What for?”

“I might as well hear about it at the same time, right?”

She stared at him, trying to understand what he was thinking. Did he think she wouldn’t tell him everything she heard at JCS? Or did he have other reasons of his own?

Suddenly, an insight. “Is there a turf war between the CIA and naval intelligence on this?” she asked, suddenly certain she was right. “The CIA doesn’t have a source there, do they? They want you to take a look at things, figure out what’s being withheld and get everyone singing off the same page.”

She could see him consider denying it, and then he sighed. “I don’t know exactly. Ever since the big summit that you and the president and the CIA had, I feel like I’m out of the loop. And this agreement — well, they don’t trust me as much as they used to. Divided loyalties, you know.”

Now that was ironic, coming from him. It was T’ing who had warned her about Brad and told her of her aide’s CIA connection himself.

She pointed a stern finger at him. “I will be leaving the office, accompanying Captain Hemingway, in precisely twenty minutes. Within that time, I expect to have a telephone call from the CIA requesting that you be allowed to accompany me and explaining their reasons for the request. Without that, not only do you not go, I will not tell you what happened when I get back.”