He chuckled. “There was nothing wrong with you. You were just too damned valuable to me and this organization to take a chance of offending you to the point where you quit.”
She smiled. “That’s actually perfectly in keeping with my appraisal of you. You make selfishness a virtue.”
“Funny. It doesn’t sound like one when you describe it like that.” He pulled out a cigar and lit it. “Don’t tell the doctor.”
“My lips are sealed,” replied Gloria. “Don’t blow it this way, or I’ll have to seal my nostrils, too, and then how will I breathe?”
“Clint knows he has to be at the airfield at 3:30, right?” asked Bucky suddenly.
“That’s the third time you’ve asked,” said Gloria. “Yes, he knows he’s flying you and Jerry to Montana. The rest of your crew has been there since yesterday.”
“Just anxious to be off,” said Bucky.
“Why is Jerry going along? He’s not part of the Moon shot, so he’ll just have to come back once you take off.”
“Clint’s got to bring the jet back anyway, and we’ll have some local cameramen, as well as the national news, covering the takeoff, and I want Jerry there standing next to the ship for everyone to see, just like I want him waiting for us when we land in Nebraska after coming back from the Moon.” He paused. “You made a face.”
“I wrinkled my nose.”
“Same thing. What did I do wrong?”
“It’s liftoff, not takeoff.”
“Does anyone really care?” asked Bucky.
“The press will correct you.”
He smiled. “Let ’em. The public holds them in less esteem than used-car dealers and congressmen. If they criticize me, it’ll make me warmer and more human.”
“Do you really think so?” she asked dubiously.
“Probably not. But it sounds good.”
Suddenly, her computer came to life, and, a moment later, Ray Chambers’s face appeared on her screen.
“Good afternoon,” he said. “I believe you know who I am. I’d like to speak to Morgan Blackstone, please.”
Gloria turned questioningly toward Bucky, who nodded and faced his screen.
“Good afternoon, Morgan,” said Chambers’s image.
“It’s Bucky. What can I do for you?”
“I’m calling on behalf of the president.”
“I’m astounded,” said Bucky.
“Please, Mr. Blackstone,” said Chambers uncomfortably. “You’re making this very awkward.”
“That’s what happens when you agree to do the president’s dirty work for him. Now, what is it that he can’t speak to me about himself?”
Gloria looked surprised that he’d speak to Chambers in such a manner, but the more ill at ease Chambers looked, the more Bucky was certain that he’d hit the nail on the head.
“The president wishes you a successful trip and hopes you and your crew come back safe and sound,” said Chambers.
“That’s very gracious of him,” said Bucky. “Please thank him for me.” He resisted an impish urge to pretend he thought the conversation was over and break the connection.
“Uh . . . there’s something more.”
“Surprises never end,” replied Bucky dryly.
“If you should find something up there . . . something, well, unexpected or unusual . . . I’m not saying you will . . .”—Chambers couldn’t hide his fidgeting—“but if you do, we would appreciate it if you would say nothing in public about it until we can talk.”
“What do you think I’m going to find?”
“Nothing,” answered Chambers. “Absolutely nothing.”
“Then isn’t this call a waste of your time?” said Bucky.
“Why are you being like this, Mr. Blackstone?” demanded Chambers in frustration. “I’m not the enemy.”
“You’re also not the president,” said Bucky. “And I don’t admire cowardice in the leader of the Free World.”
“He’s an incredibly busy man,” said Chambers. “Do you really think he’s afraid to speak to you?”
“I think he’s afraid of being recorded, and of course he would be, just as you are being,” answered Bucky. “Now, have you got anything else to say to me?”
Chambers stared nervously at him. “Do we have a deal?”
Bucky laughed aloud. “Go tell your boss that you might have had a deal if he’d had the guts to call me himself.”
“Is that what it’ll take?” said Chambers. “I can see if he’s able to tear himself away from his meeting . . .”
“You mean his putting green,” said Bucky. “And no, you and he blew it. No second chances.”
“I hope you’ll reconsider.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“We’ll be in touch again before you lift off.”
“No, you won’t,” said Bucky. “Now go back to your boss and tell him he’d better hope I come back empty-handed.”
Bucky broke the connection and turned to Gloria. “How’d I do?”
“Even if Cunningham himself had called, you wouldn’t have agreed,” she replied.
“Yeah, but then I’d have needed a different justification for turning him down.” Bucky grinned. “This made it easier.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “Why did you never go into politics?”
“Too much compromise,” he answered. “I like doing things my own way.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
Bucky stood up. “Damn it, I’m tired of sitting around waiting! Tell Jerry we’re leaving now, and have Clint meet me at the plane.”
“He’s filed a flight plan, Bucky,” said Gloria. “I don’t know if he can move it up at this late date.”
“Tell him to try. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Have someone bring my bags down to the limo and have a driver ready.”
He and Jerry had to kill two hours in the airport bar, but finally the private jet took off, and, four hours later, they had landed on Tabletop Mountain.
“Well, this is it!” said Bucky enthusiastically, as a car drove them to the hangar where the Sidney Myshko awaited them.
“The first step, anyway,” agreed Jerry. Then: “I wonder what you’re really going to find there.”
Bucky’s cell phone beeped, and he looked to see that the White House was calling though he couldn’t tell if the call came from Cunningham himself or one of his underlings. He grinned and put it back in his pocket.
“You’re not the only one,” he said.
27
“Relax,” said Cunningham. “He knows he’s holding all the aces right now. And he doesn’t have anything to lose. If he goes up there and finds nothing, which is what will probably happen, he’s going to look like an ass. So he’s enjoying it while he can.”
“That’s not the point, George. The guy’s not even civil. And my personal feelings aside, I can’t say I care much for the disrespect he’s showing the White House.”
Cunningham had not been present during the conversation. He’d expected that Blackstone would be difficult, and he didn’t want Ray trying to handle him while his boss was looking over his shoulder. “I’m tempted,” he said, “to have the IRS start looking seriously at his tax returns.”
“I doubt they’d find anything, George.”
“I know. But they could keep his accountants and lawyers pretty busy.”
“Don’t do it. It’s beneath you.”
The president nodded. “Moreover, it’ll leak, and we’ll get caught.”
Ray chuckled. “My thoughts exactly.” Then he grew serious. “You’re not going to call him, are you?”
“I was thinking about it.”
“Let it go, George.”
“Look, the guy seriously irritates me. And I don’t like his mistreating my people.”
“George, he was just being what he is, a horse’s ass. He wants you to call him. That’s what that whole thing was about. To get you to call so he can tell you to—”