Get Jensen up here? Robby wondered.

I thought of that. Too obvious. Might get Jensen in too much trouble. But Ive got to find out where the hell his orders came from. Rangers out for another ten days or so, right?

I believe so, sir.

Has to be an Agency job, Josh Painter observed quietly. Authorized higher up than that, but it has to be Agency.

For what its worth, sir, I got a good friend whos pretty senior there. Im godfather for one of his kids.

Whos that?

Jack Ryan.

Oh, yeah, Ive met him. He was with me on Kennedy for a day or two back whenyoure sure to remember that cruise, Rob. Painter smiled. Right before you took that missile hit. By that time he was off on HMS Invincible.

What? Jack was aboard then? Butwhy the hell didnt he come down to see me?

You never did find out what that op was all about, did you? Painter shook his head, thinking of the Red October affair. Maybe he can tell you about it. I cant.

Robby accepted it without questioning and turned back to the matter at hand. Theres a land side to this operation, too, Admiral, he said, and explained on for another couple of minutes.

Charlie-Fox, Painter said when he was done. That was the Navys shorthand and sanitized version of an expression that had begun in the Marine Corps to denote a confused and self-destructive military operation: Cluster-Fuck. Robert, you get your ass on the first plane back to D.C. and tell your friend that his operation is going to hell in a basket. Jesus, dont those Agency clowns ever learn? If this gets out, and from what youre telling me, its sure as hell going to, its going to hurt us. Its going to hurt the whole country. We dont need this kind of shit, not in an election year with that asshole Fowler running. Also tell him that the next time the Agency decides to play soldier, it might help if they asked somebody who knows something about it ahead of time.

The Cartel had an ample supply of people who were accustomed to carrying guns, and assembling them took only a few hours. Cortez was detailed to run the operation. Hed coordinate it from the village of Anserma, which was in the center of the area in which the mercenary teams seemed to be operating. He hadnt told his boss everything he knew, of course, nor did he reveal his full objective. The Cartel was a cooperative enterprise. Nearly three hundred men had been brought in by cars, trucks, and buses, personal retainers from all of the Cartel chieftains, all of them reasonably fit and accustomed to violence. Their presence here reduced the security details of the remaining drug lords. That would allow Escobedo a sizable advantage as he tried to discover which of his colleagues was making the power play, while Cortez dealt with the mercenaries. He had every intention of running the American soldiers to ground and killing them all, of course, but there was no special hurry in that. Flix had every reason to suspect that he was up against elite troops, perhaps even American Green Berets, formidable opponents for whom he had due respect. Casualties among his force, therefore, were to be expected. Flix wondered how many hed have to kill off in order to alter the overall balance of power within the Cartel to his personal advantage.

There was no point in telling the assembled multitude, of course. These harsh, brutal men were used to brandishing their weapons like the Japanese samurai warriors of all those bad movies that they liked to watch, and like those actors playing at killers, these men were accustomed to having people cower before them, the omnipotent, invincible warriors of the Cartel, armed with their AK-47s, swaggering down village streets. Comical scum, Cortez thought.

It was all rather comical, really. Cortez would not mind a bit. It was to be a diverting and entertaining exercise, something from half a millennium before, when brutal men would tether a bear in a pit and let dogs at it. Eventually the bear died, and though it was frequently rather hard on the dogs, you could always get new ones. Those new dogs would be trained differently, to be loyal to a new master . . . . It was marvelous, Cortez realized after a moment. Hed be playing a game, with men instead of bears and dogs, a game that hadnt been played since the time of the Caesars. He understood now why some of the drug lords had gotten the way they were. This sort of Godlike power was destructive to ones soul. Hed have to remember that. But first there was work to do.

The chain of command was established. There were five groups of fifty or so men. They were assigned operating areas. Communications would be by radio, coordinated through Cortez, in the safety of a house outside the village. About the only complication was the possible interference of the Colombian Army. Escobedo was taking care of that. M-19 and FARC would start making trouble elsewhere. That would keep the Army occupied.

The soldiers, as they immediately took to calling themselves, moved off into the hills in trucks. Buena suerte, Cortez told their leaders: Good luck. Of course, he wished them nothing of the kind. Luck was no longer a factor in the operation, which suited the former colonel of the DGI. In a properly planned operation, it never was.

It was a quiet day in the mountains. Chavez heard the pealing of church bells echoing up and down the valley, calling the faithful to Sunday liturgy. Was it Sunday? Chavez wondered. Hed lost track. Whichever day it was, traffic sounds were less than normal. Except for the loss of Rocha, things were in rather good shape. They hadnt even expended much of their ammunition, though in another few days they were due for a resupply drop from the helicopter supporting the operation. You could never have too much ammunition. That was one truth Chavez had learned. Happiness is a full bandolier. And a full canteen. And hot food.

The topography of the valley allowed them to hear things especially well. Sound carried up the slopes with a minimum of attenuation, and the air, though thin, seemed to give every noise a special bell-like clarity. Chavez heard the trucks well off, and put his binoculars on a bend in the road, several miles away, to see what it was. He wasnt the least concerned. Trucks were targets, not things to worry about. He adjusted the focus on the binoculars to get the sharpest possible image, and the sergeant had a good pair of eyes. After a minute or so he spotted three of them, flatbed trucks like farmers used, with removable wooden sides. But they were filled with men, and the men appeared to be carrying rifles. The trucks stopped, and the men jumped out. Chavez punched his sleeping companion.

Oso, get the captain here right now!

Ramirez was there in less than a minute, with his own pair of binoculars.

Youre standing up, sir! Chavez growled. Get the fuck down!

Sorry, Ding.

You see em?

Yeah.

They were just milling around, but it was impossible to miss their rifles, slung over their shoulders. As both men watched, they divided into four groups and started moving off the road. A moment later, they were lost in the trees.

Itll take em about three hours to get here, Capn, Ding estimated.

By that time well be six miles north. Get ready to move.

Ramirez set up his satellite radio.

VARIABLE, this is KNIFE, over. He got a reply on the first call.

KNIFE, this is VARIABLE. We read you loud and clear. Over.

KNIFE reports armed men entering the woods five miles east-southeast our position. Estimate reinforced platoon in strength, and heading our way.

Are they soldiers, over.

Negativesay again, negative. Weapons in evidence, but no uniforms. I repeat, they do not appear to be wearing uniforms. We are getting ready to move.

Roger that, KNIFE. Move immediately, check in when you can. Well try to find out whats going on.

Roger. KNIFE out.

Whats that all about? one of the case officers asked.

I dont know. I wish Clark was here, the other said. Lets check in with Langley.

Jackson managed to catch a United red-eye flight out of San Francisco direct to Dulles International Airport. Admiral Painter had called ahead, and a Navy sedan took him to Washington National, where his Corvette had been parked, and remarkably enough, not stolen. Robby had played it all back and forth in his mind during the entire flight. In the abstract, CIA operations were fun things to think about: spies skulking about and doing whatever the hell it was that they did. He didnt especially mind what this one was doing, but, damn it, the Navy was being used, and you didnt do that without letting people know. His first stop was at his home to change clothes. Then he made a phone call.

Ryan was home, and enjoying it. Hed managed to get home Friday evening a few minutes ahead of his wifes return from Hopkins and slept in late Saturday to shake off the lingering effects of travel shock. The remainder of the day had been devoted to playing with his kids and taking them to Saturday-night mass so that he could get another long nights sleep, plus reacquainting himself with his wife. Now he was sitting on his John Deere lawn tractor. He might be one of the top people in CIA, but he still cut his own grass. Others seeded and fertilized, but for Jack the pastoral act of cutting was therapy. It was a three-hour ritual done every two weekssomewhat more often in the spring, but by now the growth rate was down to a reasonable level. He enjoyed the smell of the cut grass. For that matter, he enjoyed the greasy smell of the tractor and the vibration of the motor. He couldnt entirely escape reality, of course. Clipped to his belt was a portable telephone whose electronic chiming was noticeable over the rumble of the tractor. Jack switched off as he hit the activation button on the phone.

Hello.

Jack? Rob.

How you doing, Robby?

Just got myself frocked.

Congratulations, Captain Jackson! Arent you a little young for that?

Call it affirmative action, lettin the aviators catch up with the bubbleheads. Hey, Sissy and I are heading over to Annapolis. Any problem we stop by on the way?

Hell, no. How about lunch?

Sure its no trouble? Jackson asked.

Robby, give me a break, Ryan replied. Since when did you get humble on me?

Ever since you got important and all.

Ryan violated an FCC rule with his retort.

Little over an hour okay?

Yeah, Ill be finished the grass by then. See ya, bud. Ryan terminated the call and placed one to his house, which had three lines. It was, perversely, a long-distance call. He needed a D.C. line for his work. Cathy needed a Baltimore connection for hers, plus a local line for other matters.

Hello? Cathy answered.

Rob and Sis are coming over for lunch, Jack told his wife. How about hot dogs on the grill?

My hairs a mess! Caroline Ryan announced.

Okay, Ill grill that, too. Can you set up the charcoal for me? I ought to be finished out here in twenty minutes or so.

In fact, it took just over thirty. Ryan parked the mower in the garage next to his Jaguar and went into the house to wash up. He had to shave, too, which he barely finished doing when Robby pulled into the driveway.

How the hell did you make it this fast? Jack demanded. He was still wearing his dingy cut-offs.

You prefer I should be late, Dr. Ryan? Robby asked as he and his wife got out of the car. Cathy appeared at the door. Handshakes and kisses were exchanged as everyone caught up on what theyd been doing since the last time theyd gotten together. Cathy and Sissy went into the living room while Jack and Robby got the hot dogs and walked out to the deck. The charcoal wasnt quite ready yet.

So how do you like being a captain?

Be even better when they pay me what I am most clearly worth. Being frocked meant that Robby could wear the four stripes of a captain, but still drew the pay of a mere commander. Im getting a CAG slot, too. Admiral Painter told me last night.

Shit hot! Jack clapped Robby on the shoulder. Thats the next big step, isnt it?

So long as I dont step on my weenie. The Navy giveth, and the Navy taketh away. I dont get it for a year and a half, which means giving up part of my delightful tour in the Pentagon, sob. Robby stopped for a moment and got serious. Thats not why I came.

Oh?

Jack, what the hell have you guys got going in Colombia?

Rob, I dont know.

Look, Jack, this is cool, okay? I fucking know! Your security on the op sucks. Hey, I know you got need-to-know rules, but my admiral is kinda pissed that youre using his assets without telling him about it.

Whos that?

Josh Painter, Jackson answered. You met him on Kennedy, remember?

Who told you that!

A reliable source. Ive been thinking about it. The story back then was that Ivan lost a sub and we were out to help em find it, but things got a little rough for a while, explaining why my RIO had to have brain surgery and my Tomcat needed three weeks before it could fly again. I guess there was more to that than met the eye, and it never made the papers. Shame I cant hear the story. Anyway, well set that one aside for a while. This is why Im here: Those two druggie houses that got blown upthe bombs came off of an A-6E Intruder medium attack bomber belonging to the United States Navy. Im not the only one who knows. Whoever set up this operation, well, the securitys for shit, Jack. You also got a bunch of light-infantry soldiers running around. Doing what, I dont know, but people also know that theyre down there. Maybe you cant tell me whats happening. Okay, its compartmented and all that, and you cant tell me anything, but Im telling you, Jack, the words leaking out, and some folks in the Pentagon are going to be big-league angry when this sucker hits the networks. Whatever dickhead set this thing up is in way the hell over his head, and the word from on high is that us guys in blue and green suits will not repeat not get left holding the bag this time.

Cool off, Rob. Ryan popped open a can of beer for Robby and one for himself.

Jack, were friends, and aint nothing gonna change that. I know youd never do anything this dumb, but I dont know what youre talking about. I dont fucking know, okay? I was in Belgium last week and I told them I didnt know. I was in Chicago Friday morning with that Fowler guy, and I told him and his aide that I dont know. And Im telling you that I dont know.

Jackson was quiet for a moment. You know, anybody else, Id call him a liar. I know what your new job is, Jack. Youre telling me that youre serious? Honest to God, Jack, this here is important.

Word of honor, Captain, I dont know dick.

Robby drained his beer and crushed the can flat. Aint that the way it always is? he said. We got people out there killing, maybe getting hurt, too, and nobody knows anything. God, I love being a fucking pawn. You know, I dont mind taking my chances, but its nice to know why.

Ill do my best to find out.

Good idea. They really havent told you whats happening, eh?

They havent told me shit, but Im going to damned well find out. You might want to drop a hint on your boss, Jack added.

Whats that?

Tell him to keep a low profile until I get back to you.

Whatever doubt the Patterson brothers had about what they should do ended that Sunday afternoon. The Grayson sisters came for visitors day, sitting across from their menneither pair had trouble distinguishing who was whoand proclaiming their undying love for the men whod liberated them from their pimp. It was no longer just a question of getting out of jail. The final decision was made on the way back to their cell.

Henry and Harvey were in the same cell, mainly for security reasons. Had they been separated, then by the simple expedient of changing shirts, they could have swapped cells and somehowthe jailers knew that the Pattersons were clever bastardsdone something to screw things up for everybody. The additional advantage was that the brothers didnt fight each other, as was hardly uncommon with the rest of the jail population, and the fact that they were quiet and untroublesome allowed them to work in undisturbed peace.

Jails are necessarily buildings designed to take abuse. The floors are of bare reinforced concrete, since carpets or tile would just be ripped up to start a fire or some other mischief. The resulting hard, smooth concrete floor made a good grinding surface. Each brother had a simple length of heavy metal wire taken from the bedstead. No one has yet designed a prison bed that doesnt require metal, and metal makes good weapons. In prison such weapons are called shanks, an ugly word completely suitable to their ugly purpose. Law requires that jails and prisons cannot be mere cages for housing prisoners like animals in a zoo, and this jail, like others, had a crafts shop. An idle mind, judges have ruled for decades, is the devils workshop. The fact that the devil is already a resident in the criminal mind simply means that the craft shops provide tools and material for making shanks more effective. In this case, each brother had a small, grooved piece of wood doweling and some electricians tape. Henry and Harvey took turns, one rubbing his shank on the concrete to get a needlelike point while the other stood guard for an approaching uniform. It was high-quality wire, and the sharpening process took some hours, but people in jail have lots of idle time. Finished, each wire was inserted in the groove in the dowelmiraculously enough, the groove, cut by a craftshop router, was exactly the right size and length. The electricians tape secured the wire in place, and now each brother had a six-inch shank, capable of inflicting a deep, penetrating trauma upon a human body.

They hid their weaponsprison inmates are very effective at itand discussed tactics. Any graduate of a guerrilla or terrorist school would have been impressed. Though the language was coarse and the discussion lacking in the technical jargon preferred by trained professionals in the field of urban warfare, the Patterson brothers had a clear understanding of the idea of Mission. They understood covert approach, the importance of maneuver and diversion, and they knew about clearing the area after the mission was successfully executed. In this they expected the tacit assistance of their cellmates, but jails and prisons, though violent and evil places, remain communities of men, and the pirates were decidedly unpopular, whereas the Pattersons were fairly high in the hierarchical chain as tough, honest hoods. Besides, everyone knew that they were not people to cross, which encouraged cooperation and discouraged informants.

Jails are also places with hygienic rules. Since criminals are frequently the type to defer bathing, and brushing and flossing their teeth, and since such behavior lends itself to epidemic, showers are part of an unbending routine. The Patterson brothers were counting on it.

What do you mean? the man with a Spanish accent asked Mr. Stuart.

I mean theyll be out in eight years. Considering they murdered a family of four and got caught red-handed with a large supply of cocaine, its one hell of a good deal, the attorney replied. He didnt like doing business on Sunday, and especially didnt like doing business with this man in the den of his home with his family in the backyard, but he had chosen to do business with drug types. He told himself at least ten times with every single case that hed been a fool to have taken the first oneand gotten him off, of course, because the DEA agents had screwed up their warrant, tainting all the evidence and tossing the case on a classic legal technicality. That success, which had earned him fifty thousand dollars for four days work, had given him a name within the drug community, which had money to burnor to hire good criminal lawyers. You couldnt easily say no to such people. They were genuinely frightening. They had killed lawyers who displeased them. And they paid so well, well enough that he could take time to apply his considerable talents to indigent clients who couldnt pay. At least that was one of the arguments he used on sleepless nights to justify dealing with the animals. Look, these guys were looking at a seat in the electric chairlife at minimumand I knocked that down to twenty years and out in eight. For Christs sake, thats a goddamned good deal.

I think you could do better, the man replied with a blank look and in a voice so devoid of emotion as to be mechanistic. And decidedly frightening to a lawyer who had never owned or shot a gun.

That was the other side of the equation. They didnt merely hire him. Somewhere else was another lawyer, one who gave advice without getting directly involved. It was a simple security provision. It also made perfect professional sense, of course, to get a second opinion of anything. It also meant that in special cases the drug community could make sure that its own attorney wasnt making some sort of arrangement with the state, as was not entirely unknown in the countries from which they came. And as was the case here, some might say. Stuart could have played his information from the Coasties for all it was worth, gambling to have the whole case thrown out. He estimated a fifty-fifty chance of that. Stuart was good, even brilliant in a courtroom, but so was Davidoff, and there is not a trial lawyer in the world who would have predicted the reaction of a jurya south Alabama, law-and-order juryto a case like this one. Whoever was in the shadows giving advice to the man in his den, he was not as good as Stuart in a courtroom. Probably an academic, the trial lawyer thought, maybe a professor supplementing his teaching income with some informal consulting. Whoever heshe?was, Stuart hated him on instinct.

If I do what you want me to do, we run the risk of blowing the whole case. They really could end up in the chair. It also would mean wrecking the careers of Coast Guard sailors who had done wrong, but not nearly so wrong as Stuarts clients had most certainly done. His ethical duty as a lawyer was to give his clients the best possible defense within the law, within the Standards of Professional Conduct, but most of all, within the scope of his knowledge and experienceinstinct, which was as real and important as it was impossible to quantify. Exactly how a lawyer balanced his duty on that three-cornered scale was the subject of endless class hours in law school, but the answers arrived at in the theaterlike lecture halls were always clearer than in the real legal world found beyond the green campus lawns.

They could also go free.

The mans thinking reversal on appeal, Stuart realized. It was an academic lawyer giving advice.

My professional advice to my clients is to accept the deal that I have negotiated.

Your clients will decline that advice. Your clients will tell you tomorrow morning towhat is the phrase? Go for broke? The man smiled like a dangerous machine. Those are your instructions. Good day, Mr. Stuart. I can find the door. The machine left.

Stuart stared at his bookcases for a few minutes before making his telephone call. He might as well do it now. No sense making Davidoff wait. No public announcement had yet been made, though the rumors were out on the street. He wondered how the U.S. Attorney would take it. It was easier to predict what hed say. The outraged I thought we had a deal! would be followed by a resolute Okay, well see what the jury says! Davidoff would muster his considerable talents, and the battle in Federal District Court would be an epic duel. But that was what courts were all about, wasnt it? It would be a fascinating and exciting technical exercise in the theory of the law, but like most such exercises, it would have little to do with right and wrong, less to do with what had actually happened aboard the good ship Empire Builder, and nothing at all to do with justice.

Murray was in his office. Moving into their townhouse had been a formality. He slept theremost of the timebut he saw far less of it than hed seen of his official apartment in the Kensington section of London while legal attach to the embassy on Grosvenor Square. It was hardly fair. For what it had cost him to move back to the D.C. areathe city that provided a home for the United States government denied decent housing to those on government salariesone would have thought that hed have gotten some real use from it.

His secretary was not in on Sunday, of course, and that meant Murray had to answer his own phone. This one came in on his direct, private line.

Yeah, Murray here.