"And how would you prefer that be handled, Colonel?"

"I was about to say that someone on your staff, a field-grade officer, should be given that duty, but on reflection, Colonel, I'll have one of my field grades handle it. This is, after all, an Air Force post, and I want to make sure these people get the message that I want to see them first thing Monday morning."

"Whatever you say, Colonel," Harris said, and walked out of the office very aware that he was teetering over the brink of telling the Dumb Mick Fly-Boy chickenshit sonofabitch to go fuck himself.

[ THREE ].

Pope Air Force Base Fort Bragg, North Carolina 1125 2 January 1965

"Office of the Commanding General, Special Warfare Center, Captain Zabrewski speaking, sir."

"Captain, my name is Portet, and-"

"The general has been expecting your call, Lieutenant. You're at Pope? Base Operations?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll have a car there in ten minutes. Be waiting outside."

"Yes, sir."

Jack put the phone back in its cradle and shook his head. He had called Hanrahan's office in desperation, after fifteen minutes on the telephone trying, with absolutely no success, to find Major Father Lunsford. First the SWC operator had firmly denied knowing anything about a Major Lunsford, then when Jack had said he was at Mackall, that she knew anything about a place called Camp Mackall, and when he'd finally worked his way past the operator's supervisor and gotten the signal sergeant to patch him through to the Mackall switchboard, that operator, a man, had firmly denied knowledge of a Major Lunsford or a Master Sergeant Thomas. He had finally gotten Thomas on the line.

"Hell, he doesn't tell me where he's going, Lieutenant," Thomas had told him in Swahili. "I don't have a clue where he is. You try his apartment?"

To try the apartment, it had been necessary to find a pay phone, because the Pope/Bragg telephone system did not allow off-post calls from Class B telephones, and then find change to feed the pay phone, and when he finally got the number to ring, it rang and rang and rang, making it clear that Father wasn't at home, either.

As he had dialed the SWC number again, he wondered if Mr. Finton ate Father's ass for not letting people know where he was the way he had eaten his.

"The general will see you now, Lieutenant," said Captain Zabrewski, who stood six feet four inches tall, weighed 230 pounds, and had a voice like a bass tuba.

Jack marched into Hanrahan's office and saluted.

"Hey, Jack," Hanrahan said, returning the salute with a wave in the general direction of his forehead, and smiling. "Where's your friend?"

"Outside, sir. Sir, I was looking for Major Lunsford-"

Hanrahan silenced him with a raised hand and punched the lever on his intercom.

"Ski, run down Mr. Zammoro. When he shows up, send him and Mr. de la Santiago in, please."

"Father's not here," Hanrahan said to Jack.

"Pappy Hodges told me to take Santiago to him, sir. Can I ask where he is?"

Hanrahan thought that over perceptibly.

"He's on his way to Buenos Aires with Colonel Lowell."

"Buenos Aires?" Jack asked incredulously.

"It may have something to do with this," Hanrahan said. "Which Colonel Felter, for reasons I can't imagine, felt he should share with me. It just came over the secure photo line."

He handed Jack what was a wire photograph of a CIA memorandum.

SECRETCentral Intelligence Agency Langley, VirginiaFROM: Assistant Director For Administration Assistant Director For AdministrationFROM: 1 January 1965 1310 GMT 1 January 1965 1310 GMTSUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #8.) Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #8.) TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter Mr. Sanford T. Felter Counselor To The President Room 637, The Executive Office Building Washington, D.C.By CourierIn compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: "Ernesto 'Che' Guevara," dated 14 December 1964, and in consideration of the fact that SUBJECT holds Argentinian citizenship by birth, the following information is furnished:1. (Reliability Scale Three) (From CIA Buenos Aires) The Argentine Foreign Ministry has been informed by Argentine Ambassador in Madrid that former President Juan D. PERoN has chartered an aircraft and intends to travel today from Lisbon, Portugal via Asuncion, Paraguay to an undisclosed location in Argentina, presumably to make good on his promise to return to Argentina by 1 Jan 65. ARG FORMIN previously believed promise was meaningless.2. CIA sources in Madrid and Lisbon know of no overt or covert charter.

Howard W. O'Connor HOWARD W. O'CONNOR Jack finished reading it, and looked at General Hanrahan.

"And then again, it may not," Hanrahan said.

"General Peron? Argentina?"

"Like it says in there, Senor Guevara was born there," Hanrahan said. "How's married life?"

"So far just fine. sir."

"Johnny Oliver reported in this morning. He's getting settled in. If Father and Oliver living together can ever be called settled. In a garden apartment in Fayetteville."

"Father-excuse me, Major Lunsford-offered to find an apartment for Marjorie and me there, sir."

"Jack, very quickly: A senior can call a junior by his first name; the reverse is not true unless they are really friends, and among friends. Example: So far as I'm concerned, you can call Father Father and Oliver Johnny when you and I are alone, but don't let my aide hear you do it. It would deeply offend his sense of proprieties. You'll learn, Jack. It's not hard, but it's important."

"Thank you, sir," Jack said, meaning it, realizing that Hanrahan, like Pappy, like Marjorie, like even Geoff, was trying to help him learn how to act like an officer.

"Father told me about the apartment. When are you coming up here?"

"General, you know about the L-23 we're to pick up in Wichita?"

Hanrahan nodded.

"Well, as soon as it gets modified at SCATSA, sir, I'll bring it here. There was some talk about teaching me how to fly choppers, but that seems to have died."

"Not died. Put on hold. When you get up here, Oliver will transition you into choppers. In addition to your other duties."

"Yes, sir."

"How close is Geoff Craig to finishing up down there? Do you know?"

"He rode down to Hurlburt with me when I picked up de la Santiago-"

"Today?"

"No, sir. On New Year's Eve. We spent New Year's Eve together at Geoff's."

"I thought Marjorie would want to display her new husband to the brass at the O Club."

"First we went there, and then to Geoff's," Jack said, and then answered the question. "Geoff's just about finished with the course, sir."

"Nobody knows, of course, when this Guevara business is about to start. The possibility exists Felter may be wrong. If I wanted to take over South America, I think I'd start in Central America, or maybe Chile or Bolivia, not in the Congo."

"I wondered about that, sir."

"On the other hand, from the moment I met him, a long time ago, in Greece, Felter's track record has been perfect. In the end, he's usually turned out to be right, and everybody else wrong. So it behooves us to get this operation in place as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

"I wonder where the hell Zammoro is?" Hanrahan asked, and looked impatiently at his closed office door.

"Sir," Mr. Zabrewski's voice boomed over the intercom, as if he had been waiting for the question, "Mr. Zammoro is here."

Hanrahan smiled at Jack and chuckled. He depressed the SPEAK lever on his intercom.

"Bring them in, please, Ski," he ordered.

The door opened and a large, swarthy man in fatigues came in first, clutching his green beret in a massive hand, followed by Enrico de la Santiago and Captain Zabrewski. Zabrewski stood by the side of the door; de la Santiago looked as if he didn't know what to do.

The large man walked to Hanrahan, came to attention, and barked, in the approved military manner, "Sir, Warrant Officer Zammoro reporting as ordered, sir." He had a slight Spanish accent.

Hanrahan returned the salute. Zammoro remained at attention. Hanrahan gestured for him to relax, and turned to de la Santiago.

"I'm General Hanrahan, Mr. de la Santiago."

"How do you do, sir?" de la Santiago replied, coming almost to attention.

"Ski, close the door, please, and stick around."

"Yes, sir."

"Zam, this is Lieutenant Portet," Hanrahan said.

"How do you do, sir?" Zammoro asked.

"Lieutenant Portet, Zam, and Mr. de la Santiago are old friends. You two don't happen to know each other, do you?"

"Yes, sir. We knew one another, in Cuba," Zammoro said.

"Mr. Zammoro was a major in the Cuban Army, Lieutenant Portet, and you were, as I understand it, Mr. de la Santiago, a captain in the Cuban Air Force?"

"Yes, sir," de la Santiago said.

"There is a special program, not very well-known, begun during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, which authorizes certain foreign nationals to be taken into the U.S. Army if they possess certain skills and characteristics that convince a board of U.S. Army officers, one of whom has to be a general officer, they will be of unusual value to the Army," Hanrahan said.

De la Santiago nodded but didn't say anything.

"Mr. Zammoro is such an individual," Hanrahan said. "The board of officers before whom he appeared were convinced that he was a bona fide refugee from Senor Castro's government, rather than an intelligence officer sent to penetrate our Army. And the board of officers was convinced further that the skills acquired while he was a major in the pre-Castro Cuban Army would be of value to the Army, and specifically to Special Forces."

"Yes, sir," de la Santiago said.

"He was therefore permitted to enlist as a private in the U.S. Army, which required that he take an oath of allegiance to the United States, disavowing any previous allegiances, and that he swore to obey the orders of the officers appointed over him, and to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

"I understand, sir," de la Santiago said.

"Shortly after Private Zammoro was sworn in as a private soldier-I believe it was the same day, was it not, Zam?"

"Yes, sir," Zammoro said, smiling.

"It was brought to his attention that he was eligible to apply for direct appointment as a warrant officer, junior grade, U.S. Army, because of his linguistic skills. He is fluent in Spanish as well as English, as I believe you are, Mr. de la Santiago?"

"Yes, sir," de la Santiago said.

"And he applied, and went before another board of officers, which also included one general officer, which not only decided that he possessed the requirements to be a warrant officer, junior grade, but that if he were an American citizen, he would be eligible for direct appointment as a captain, and that when and if he became an American citizen, which is possible, under another special provision of the law, for a foreign national who has served faithfully for eighteen months as an enlisted man or warrant officer, in the U.S. Army, that he be so commissioned."

He paused and looked at de la Santiago.

"You're following all this, Senor de la Santiago?"

"Yes, sir."

"And questions, Senor de la Santiago?"

"At the risk of sounding flippant, sir, how soon could I expect to go before the board of officers you mentioned?"

"You're in front of it now, Mr. de la Santiago," Hanrahan said. "And let the record show that the president of the board has been advised by Mr. Sanford T. Felter, Counselor to the President, Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., that he is personally familiar with Mr. de la Santiago's counterintelligence dossier and states that he is not an intelligence officer of Cuba or any other foreign power."

Captain Zabrewski, who had been leaning against the wall, came to attention.

"Yes, sir," he said.

"For your information, Mr. de la Santiago," Hanrahan said, "it is the custom of the U.S. Army, when polling a board such as this one, that the junior member thereof be polled first, so his opinions will in no way be influenced by the opinions of his superiors. "

Hanrahan paused.

"Mr. Zammoro, is there any question in your mind that Mr. de la Santiago, should he be allowed to enlist as a private in the U.S. Army, would be of special value to Special Forces?"

Zammoro popped to attention.

"No, sir."

"Or, should he be enlisted as a private soldier, that his application for appointment as warrant officer, junior grade, be approved? "

"No, sir."