'There's one way to find out,' Rodgers said.
'Go get 'em,' Herbert said.
'I will.' The general stepped around the wheelchair. 'And thanks for checking out that priest for me.'
'My pleasure,' Herbert replied.
Rodgers threw him a casual salute and started down the hall. It was strange to hear Hood's old nickname after all these years. Press liaison Ann Farris had given it to Hood because of his strict selflessness. Ironically, the name didn't really apply. Early in his tenure, Hood had discontinued adherence to the CCP. He tossed the rule book when he realized that it was the antithesis to intelligence work. All an adversary needed to do was get a copy of the CCP from the government printing office to know exactly what Op-Center was going to do in a given situation. That included enemies outside the country as well as rivals inside the U.S. intelligence community itself. When Hood retired the CCP, his nickname went with it.
Hood's door was closed when Rodgers arrived. The director's assistant, Bugs Benet, was sitting in a cubicle directly across from the door. Bugs told Rodgers that Hood was on a personal call.
'I don't expect it to be a long conversation,' Benet said.
'Thanks,' Rodgers said. The door was soundproof. Rodgers stood beside it and waited.
Hood was probably talking to his wife, Sharon. The two had recently reached an agreement on terms for their divorce. From what little Hood had confided to Rodgers, their primary goal now was the rehabilitation of their daughter, Harleigh. The young girl was one of the hostages taken by terrorists at the United Nations. After nearly a half year of intensive therapy, Harleigh was at last beginning to recover from the trauma she had suffered. For weeks after the crisis, she had done little more than cry or stare.
Rodgers understood what Harleigh was feeling. The general was luckier than the young woman. The difference between an adult and an adolescent was a lifetime of anger. 'Impotent rage' was what Liz Gordon had called it. When a kid took an emotional beating, he tended to feel victimized. He shut down the way Harleigh had done. When an adult took a hit, it often tapped into buried resentment. He let it out. That aggressiveness did not heal the trauma, but it did provide fuel to keep the individual going.
'He's off now, General,' Bugs said.
The general nodded. He did not have to knock. There was a small security camera in the upper left corner. Hood already knew Rodgers was there.
'Good morning, Mike,' Hood said.
'Morning.'
'Sit down,' Hood said. He did not say anything else.
The general lowered himself into one of the room's two armchairs. He knew then that Hood was troubled. Whenever Paul Hood had bad news, he did not engage in top-of-themorning chat. The only thing Mike Rodgers did not know was whether this was personal or professional. And if it was professional, which one of them it was about.
Hood did not waste time getting to the point.
'Mike, I received an E-mailed letter of resolution from Senator Fox early this morning,' Hood told him. He regarded the general. 'The CIOC has voted unanimously not to allow the NCMC to rebuild its military capacity.'
Rodgers felt as if someone had driven a baseball bat into his gut. 'That's knee-jerk bullshit.'
'Whatever it is, the decision is final,' Hood said.
'We can't restaff Striker?' Rodgers said, still in disbelief.
Hood looked down. 'No.'
'But they can't order that,' Rodgers protested.
'They have-'
'No!' Rodgers said. 'Striker is mandated by charter. Fox would need an act of Congress to change it. Even if we sent
Striker on an unauthorized mission, the CCP very clearly states that disciplinary actions are to be directed against the commanders in the field and at HQ, and not against the unit individually or in total. I'll send her the chapter and verse.'
'They took pains to point out that this is not a disciplinary action,' Hood told him.
'Like hell it isn't!' Rodgers snapped. Senator Fox had poked a hole in his rage. He was fighting to control it. 'Fox and the CIOC doesn't want one, because if they investigate us under DA charges, the hearing has to be public. The press would put her against a wall and pull the trigger. We stopped a goddamn war. They know it. She has no reason other than pressure from other agencies to shut us down. Hell, even Mala Chatterjee had good things to say about us.'
Mala Chatterjee was the Indian-born secretary-general of the United Nations. Before the Striker action in Kashmir, she had been fiercely critical of Paul Hood's handling of the United Nations situation.
'Mike, we stepped on the toes of the military and made things rough for the embassy in New Delhi,' Hood said.
'Aw, I'm bleeding for them,' Rodgers said. 'Would they have preferred dealing with a nuclear attack?'
'Mike, what was going on between Pakistan and India was not our official business,' Hood said. 'We went in to reconnoiter, not intervene. Yes, you have humanitarian rights on your side. They have political ramifications on their side. That's why the CIOC is hitting us so hard.'
'No, they're just hitting us low,' Rodgers shot back. 'They don't have the balls to hit hard. They're like my friggin' Uncle Johnny who didn't have a car but liked to take drives. He called realtors and asked them to show him houses. The CIOC doesn't have a car, or money, but they're working us.'
