“I know some blokes who would do this. There’s even a few in this room who might join when their enlistments end.”
“Excellent. I have no hesitation negotiating and paying for early terminations of enlistments with naval personnel departments”
“What about the Wraith being stolen? Aren’t you worried about the Malaysians coming for it?”
“Possession is nine tenths of the law,” Renard said. “And can you imagine a court of law that would have jurisdiction, much less attempt to enforce it? Piracy is our crime, and since five nations cannot agree who owns the water where we committed it, I don’t see a bureaucratic legal process reaching us. The sheer embarrassment of it will make the Malaysians hesitate to do anything but declare the ship a loss.”
Cahill twisted and grabbed the new pitcher as the waiter brought it.
“That means you’re always on the run when you’re deployed. You can’t just pull into any port and grab a beer. There’s going to be a Malaysian guy waiting in every port with a machine gun ready to either take back the ship or extract revenge.”
“Perhaps. But in my navy, there are only calculated port calls of necessity. If you want to visit a port for fun, you do so under a false identity that I will provide, and you spend the money from your generous salary to fly there first class.”
“Yeah, how much is the pay?”
“Exorbitant. Trust me. Doesn’t Jake look filthy rich?”
Jake shrugged and nodded.
“What about missions? What’s coming next? If I do this, it’s for the excitement. I’m afraid you’ve got me addicted to it.”
“As always, I am pursuing several opportunities. However, I cannot share. I don’t even share with Jake until a mission is a reality. But rest assured, I guarantee adventure.”
“All right, then. Do I sign in blood?”
The smile cut across Renard’s face.
“No need. Just say ‘yes’.”
Cahill shrugged.
“Yes.”
Jake feared that jealousy might cloud the moment, but he surprised himself by springing from his chair and hugging his new partner.
Two days later, he glanced across the waiting room at Renard.
“Are your Taiwanese buddies this annoying?”
“They used to make me wait longer, until I saved their nation from extinction. Now I get direct access when desired.”
“What’s she doing?”
“She’s showing us how important she is.”
“You mean how important she thinks she is.”
“No, she is actually as important as she thinks.”
“Why?”
“Because we believe it. Otherwise, we would have left by now.”
A middle-aged lady in a dark suit behind a desk, flanked by an American flag and a CIA banner, lifted her nose.
“Miss McDonald will see you now.”
As she led him and Renard through oaken doors into Olivia’s plush office, Jake noticed that nobody had exited. He wondered if she had been engaged in a conference call, or if she had just made them wait in a textbook Asian power play.
Sexy with a curve-hugging suit, she stood and walked around her desk to greet him. As she embraced him, he sensed her coldness, the hug being a gesture of diplomacy more than an expression of caring between past lovers.
Her words sounded sterile.
“It’s so good to see you, Jake. It’s been too long.”
Lines on her face showed age catching up with her, but in a world led by old men, she shone as a beacon of bright, young energy. As she kissed Renard’s cheeks and then slinked back to her desk, her movement suggested that power and prestige had converted her innate confidence into arrogance.
He waited for her to sit before lowering himself into her leather guest chair.
“Thank you for coming, gentlemen.”
Unsure who she had become, Jake clenched his jaw and deferred to his colleague’s knowledge of decorum.
“It’s our pleasure to be with you,” Renard said. “We are most appreciative of your support in our latest endeavor in the Spratly Islands.”
“You’re too kind, Pierre. We helped each other. How were your travels?”
“Splendid. It’s good to be back in the States.”
“Yeah, me too,” Jake said. “I’m just happy to be home. Well, almost home. We came here directly.”
“How do you like my new corner office? It’s a long way from my first open-air cube when I was just an analyst.”
“It’s impressive, especially for the CIA,” Jake said. “It looks like you’ve hit the big time. What are you, second in line to replace the CIA director?”
“I’m well positioned within the director’s executive staff,” she said. “If Gerry wins the next election, as he should, it will assure me of all the clout I need to make it to the top.”
Jake wanted to remind her that she didn’t bring them there to gloat about her friend, the Secretary of Defense, being an early forerunner to win the next presidential election. But he stopped himself, questioning if the entire visit revolved around gloating.
“And a worthy candidate you are to lead your nation’s intelligence interests,” Renard said. “Tell me, what can I do to help further your cause?”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing,” she said. “I like the results when we team up, despite the complications we ran into in Argentina.”
“We faced unfortunate circumstances together in Argentina,” Renard said, “But the intelligence in the Spratlys was impeccable. You were masterful, and I can’t thank you enough.”
Her brow cast a shadow upon her eyes.
“No, you can’t. So let’s be honest. We need each other. Military efforts don’t get resolved without knowing your enemy, your allies, and controlling the information — especially since the world is becoming aware of your mercenary submarine fleet.”
“I agree,” Renard said, “but you’ve been candid about controlling more than information. In fact, you’ve been quite candid about meaning to control me.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Veto power, you called it. The right to tell me that I cannot deploy my submarines where I wish. If that’s not control, then perhaps my command of the English language is failing.”
“I won’t argue the semantics. Call it what you want.”
Jake crossed his ankle over his thigh.
“She has veto power?”
“Miss McDonald has expanded the extent of her influence appreciably in the years that we’ve been privileged to know her. She is right. We need each other. That which I can accomplish with two submarines is beyond what I can support with my own intelligence community, broad as it is. Direct access to American intelligence is valuable, and I need it.”
“So we agree,” she said. “We’re a team.”
“I thought we always were a team,” Jake said.
She smiled, and he thought he noticed a patronizing pity, as if she saw him as a child who misunderstood an obvious critical factor.
“Of course, Jake,” she said. “We have always been a team. That will never change.”
“We appreciate the assurance,” Renard said. “As always, it’s good to see you.”
Jake sensed Renard stiffening his back moments before Olivia stood.
“I appreciate you stopping by, gentlemen. Let me walk you to the door.”
Renard instructed Jake to remain silent until they reached their limousine.
“We flew to Langley and sat in her waiting room for two hours for that? Nobody said anything? It was all pleasantries and platitudes.”
“Everything was said when we walked in the door. By doing so, you and I conceded that she is in charge. The rest was an informal script, even the part where I pretended to take offense at her veto power and her belittling of my feigned protestation.”