'What?' Partridge sat up and swung his legs over the bed; although not yet oriented, he realized he was fully clothed. 'Where? How?'
'One of my clients was dining at the Carriage House in Georgetown where you met the congressman from North Dakota. When the unpleasantness started, he called me. Again fortunately, I live in the area and was able to get there in time. Incidentally, you're obviously not registered here.'
'Wait a minute!' yelled Partridge. 'Muleshit! That meeting between the holy roller and me was a set-up! His office gets a call that I want to meet him on urgent committee business and my office gets the same. We got that Pentagon prick, Barrish, coming in the morning, so we both figure we'd better see each other. I ask him what's going on and he asks me the same!'
'I wouldn't know anything about that, sir.'
'Hogshit!… What unpleasantness?'
'You overindulged.'
'Rabbitshit! I had one fuckin' martini and the sky padre had lemonade!'
'If that's the truth, you both have odd tolerances. You fell over the table and the minister tried to drink the salt.'
The chairman of the Partridge Committee glared at the Czech. 'Finns,' he said quietly. 'You dosed us both with Mickey Finns!'
'Before last night I never set foot inside that restaurant.'
'You're also a liar, a hell of an experienced one… Good Christ, what time is it?' Partridge whipped his wrist up to look at his watch; Varak interrupted.
'The hearing is over.'
'Shit.'
'The minister was not terribly effective, but your new appointee made an indelible impression, sir. I'm sure you'll see portions of his performance on the evening news, certain words deleted, of course.'
'Oh, my God,' whispered the congressman to himself. He looked up at the Czech from Inver Brass. 'What did they say about me? About why I wasn't there.'
'Your office issued a statement that was perfectly acceptable. You were on a fishing boat on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The engine failed and you had to drop anchor a mile from the marina. It's been substantiated; there are no problems.'
'My office issued a statement like that? On whose authorization?'
'Your son's. He's a remarkably forgiving young man. He's waiting outside in your car.'
The red-haired salesman in the Saab showroom fairly glowed in astonishment as he signed the papers and counted out ten one-hundred dollar bills. 'We'll have the car ready for you by three o'clock this afternoon.'
That's nice,' said the buyer, who had listed his profession on the finance-loan agreement as a bartender, currently employed at the Carriage House in Georgetown.
The Icarus Agenda
Chapter 18
'Zero hour, Mr. Kendrick,' said Colonel Robert Barrish, smiling pleasantly into the camera, his voice the soul of reason. 'We must be prepared for it, and with pre-emptive escalation we push it farther and farther away.'
'Or conversely, overstock the arsenals to the point where one miscalculation blows up the planet.'
'Oh, please,' admonished the army officer condescendingly. 'That line of rationalization has long since been rendered modus non operand!. We're the professionals.'
'You mean our side?'
'Of course I mean our side.'
'What about the enemy? Aren't they professionals, too?'
