Bain, Darrell A Strange Valley

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operatives in both countries. I think we'd know in advance if they ever
thought about such a thing. I doubt if their leaders ever do. It's only
the young ignorant fanatics who do the suiciding. Older men and
women aren't so stupid.
Smith stared at the NSA Director. He was so politically naive. Didn't
he know that younger men were always lusting for the power and
positions older men held? There's such a thing as revolution,
Murray. Keep a close watch on those two countries. What with a
dozen different kinds of fucking jihad being preached nowadays, no
telling what might happen. Which reminds me: we've got a meeting
with the Joint chiefs in fifteen minutes to go over progress on the
missile defenses. Time for one more cigarette, then let's get moving.
CHAPTER SIX
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Shirley drove while Daniel finished his paper. She was distracted and
still feeling guilty about placing that tracer on their car as Crafton had
instructed her to. It didn't seem right that Daniel shouldn't know, and
only her training kept her from blurting it out to him. Crafton had
been very specific: Daniel was not to know that their car could be
traced wherever it went. She had no idea why he was being excluded
from that knowledge, other than the persistent rumor that he and
Crafton didn't get along, nor see eye to eye on many issues. That still
didn't seem like a reason to distrust him, but then she was just an
agent, not a personnel supervisor. Maybe something was going on
that she wasn't aware of.
Daniel put down the sports section of the newspaper, which he had
only glanced at briefly. He wasn't much of a sports fan. Football was
mildly interesting, but baseball and basketball didn't inspire him at
all. Do you want me to save any of the paper for you?
Shirley took her eye off the winding road momentarily, startled by his
voice after his long silence while reading. No, I'll catch the news on
television tonight after we stop. Unless you want to go all the way in?
No, our reservations are for tomorrow. Let's stay over at Memphis
then go on into Masterville in the morning.
Memphis it is. This is some beautiful country, isn't it? Daniel
looked out over a vista sloping down to a farm or ranch, then the next
moment it was hidden by a rocky outcrop of slate and granite with
heavy forests above.
It's nothing compared to Colorado or Wyoming. Now there's some
country.
Is that where you're from?
No, I'm originally from back east but I vacationed up in that area
one summer with my boyfriend back when I was still in training. We
did a lot of hiking and rafting.
Daniel smiled to himself. He admired beautiful scenery but had little
desire to go poking into it. Mountain training with the Marines had
cured him of that, and so far as personal fitness, he much preferred
jogging and inside workouts, practicing hand to hand combat moves
and stints with parallel and horizontal bars to keep in shape. He
wasn't an accomplished gymnast but enjoyed the exercise whenever
he could.
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This is some pretty wild country. I wouldn't want to get lost
anywhere in this area, he remarked.
According to the map and our briefing, Masterville is situated right
in the center of some of the wildest, and off the beaten path besides.
We'll be driving on one lane roads tomorrow.
Daniel hadn't looked that closely at the atlas they carried, but
Shirley's mention of how isolated Masterville was, produced a
thought. I wonder if the original inhabitants settled in the area for
that very reason?
Shirley glanced over at him, thinking that she was paired with a very
astute agent. I don't know, but I imagine someone back at the shop is
looking into it.
Yeah. Crafton and I may not get along as well as we should, but he's
no dummy and neither is Phillips. He came up through the ranks.
We all know that, Dan. I think he's like Bobby Lee; a bit too far right
religiously, but he's a good administrator, and it's nice to have
someone running the shop that's one of us.
I suppose, Daniel said, though he wasn't at all sure. While it was
helpful for field agents to have the top administrator know something
about what it was like in the trenches, it seemed to him that there
were positive aspects to having political appointees controlling the
government cabinet departments. It didn't stop bureaucratic fiefs and
cowboys from running wild on occasion, but he did think it helped to
keep a rein on them when the Chiefs changed almost every election
year.
You don't sound like you agree.
There are usually two sides to everything. Well, it doesn't matter
right now. Let's just concentrate on getting this Op out of the way.
Out of the way? You don't sound very enthusiastic. Still having
doubts?
Daniel studied his partner's profile. She was really very pretty and he
knew she was competent, having taken the time to get an opinion
from a fellow agent who had worked with her once. And so far, there
had been no hint of sexual innuendo between them, which was good.
But he admitted to himself that there wasn't that spark of comradery
present as yet, which would allow him to voice a lot of concerns he
had about this Op. Well, maybe it would come, and in the meantime,
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he would play it as professionally as she was doing. I just like to
know as much as I can on an operation. And we know diddley here. I
think we're going to have to be careful about how we ask questions
around town. In fact, they might have done better to send in a team
versed in psychology and misdirection in order to get the people to
talk.
Maybe they'll talk anyway.
Well, guess we'll see. Hell, maybe we should just treat it as a
vacation like we're pretending it is and let-no, I've got a better idea.
Why not pose as folklorists? We might get some genealogical
information as well as the other stuff we're after.
Shirley glanced away from the winding road long enough to give him
a brilliant smile. Great idea! I like it. We've both got our Comphones
with us; we can record that way without anyone giving it a second
thought. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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