'Forgive me, Paul, but nuts to that,' McCaskey said. 'I believe that we're the good guys, Op-Center and most Americans. Our response mechanisms get triggered when something is wrong.'
'Wrong by what yardstick?'
'This one,' McCaskey replied, touching the left side of his chest.
Hood looked wistfully at McCaskey. He had not intended to discuss the new situation with his staff just yet. But maybe it was time. He shut the door of the Tank and returned to the conference table. He sat beside McCaskey.
'What if I told you that Op-Center's triggers had changed?' Hood asked.
'Changed how?'
'What if the only way the National Crisis Management Center can survive is by catering to partisan interests? By handling crises as before, but also by executing domestic black-ops activities?'
'Paul, what the hell are you talking about?' McCaskey asked. 'What else happened that I don't know about?'
'We were hit with a different kind of bombshell,' Hood told him. 'It seems the president and Senator Debenport have decided that the USF represents a threat to this nation. They have requested that we use Op-Center and this investigation to stop Senator Orr.'
'Are they insane?' McCaskey yelled. 'This isn't the 1950s. I'd rather shut the door than '
'Than do what, Darrell?' Hood asked. 'Spy on Americans? The FBI and CIA do it all the time.'
'With one difference,' McCaskey said. 'Reasonable suspicion. We cannot use the investigation to impede a Constitutionally protected process.'
'The problem is, we can,' Hood replied. 'It's a legitimate investigation '
'Of a homicide. What you are suggesting is a completely different beast. It isn't ethical, Paul.'
'Tell me which is the greater morality,' Hood asked. 'Do we let ourselves get squeezed a little so we can continue doing good in other areas? Or do we put up a Going Out of Business sign with our pride intact, allowing God knows how many crises to slip by Homeland Security?'
'That's an old argument, Paul. Does a commander sacrifice one life to save ten? What do you do for the greatest good?'
'It's an old argument because there is no clear-cut answer,' Hood said.
'Sure there is. If you have to think about something in order to justify it, the thing is probably wrong.'
'No,' Hood insisted. 'Sometimes you have to think about things because your initial instinct is to run. That's fear, not courage.'
'That's rationalization.'
'That's reality,' Hood countered. 'A reality in which Americans do fight Americans, whether we like it or not. Tell me, where does Darrell McCaskey end up if he walks out of here or the CIOC shuts us down? Back at the Bureau? At the Company, where national security is the meal and morality is the garnish? All you would be doing somewhere else is losing yourself in the system. The corruption would still be there. You just would not be able to see it.'
McCaskey said nothing.
'We had it good,' Hood said. 'Maybe too good to last.'
'We could tell them no.'
'Sure. And do you think Debenport would get us funding to replace the equipment we lost?'
McCaskey just stared at his old friend. 'I hear what you're saying, Paul, but forgive me it still sounds like sophistry. I'm disappointed the president even put you in this position, after all you've done for him.'
'He has his bosses, too. Every job has you shovel some shit. In this case, at least, we can still do our job. Maybe even better than before, because more money will be available to us.'
