‘This isn’t about authority,’ Jarvis snapped, provoking a look of surprise on Mitchell’s craggy features. ‘This is about getting the job done with the resources we had available at the time. And I cleared every usage of classified projects with the relevant chief of staff.’
William Steel glanced down the table at him.
‘Those chiefs of staff are no longer on the service record, Mr. Jarvis,’ he said softly but with enough restrained energy to convey force. ‘The list of people you can call in favors from is rapidly shrinking.’
‘I don’t call in favors,’ Jarvis growled back. ‘I do what is required to protect national security. That is what all of us should be doing, not coming here from the CIA and shoving our little noses into piles of bureaucratic crap in order to get brownie points back at the Pentagon.’
William Steel’s eyes flew wide in surprise. Jarvis didn’t wait for the director’s response.
‘Can we stop beating about the bush and get down to the problem here?’ Jarvis asked the Joint Chiefs. ‘I take it that this is about my department’s hiring of Warner & Lopez Inc. to carry out investigations on our behalf?’
‘It is,’ Morris Tyler acknowledged before any of the chiefs could reply. ‘The Department of Defense believes that it is a tactical folly to employ civilians in what should be an internally sourced investigative outfit.’
‘Then the department should look more goddamned carefully at its own charter,’ Jarvis snapped back. ‘All of the intelligence agencies outsource work, even clandestine operations. Every single one of Warner and Lopez’s investigations at the DIA was previously rejected or denied resources by other agencies, including the CIA and FBI, before we picked it up at the DIA. We got results precisely because we were willing to look into things when other agencies were not.’
‘Which is admirable,’ Tyler agreed, ‘but which could still have been internally sourced. Why put these things into the hands of civilians at all?’
‘Budgets,’ Jarvis replied, ‘resources, equipment, time. The logistics of life mean that quite often a case will come up that requires intervention immediately. I put in a call to Director Mitchell for men on the ground and I might be waiting hours before a team can even be confirmed, let alone assembled. With Warner and Lopez, they’re on the spot on demand, and they’re just as reliable as any government agent.’ Jarvis shot a look at William Steel. ‘Sometimes even more so.’
Admiral John Griffiths, Chief of the Navy, leaned forward on the table.
‘We were briefed this morning on the scope of your operations. I know that everybody in this room is aware of the full details of each of these investigations, so I’ll make this simple. Since starting this department of yours, for which I understand you turned down the role of Director-DIA, you’ve overseen investigations into alien remains found in a seven-thousand-year-old tomb in Israel; into immortalized veterans of the Civil War living in seclusion in New Mexico; and the arrest and death of the philanthropist Joaquin Abell, who had used his fortune to build a device capable of seeing into the future. And you put all of this into the hands of a washed-up former marine and a DC detective turned bounty-hunter?’
Jarvis maintained a stern expression.
‘Yes, sir, that’s exactly what I did. And respectively that washed-up former marine and DC detective saved the life of a prominent senator, prevented a serious biological attack on the United Nations and put an end to a takeover of the democratic process of this nation within those investigations. If it weren’t for their efforts, half the population of our planet would have died of a lethal virus by now. What’s wrong with you all? Have they not done enough to prove their worth? Shall I call them and demand that they double their efforts because the CIA’s little puppy dogs think that they can do better?’
William Steel’s tone betrayed no rancour as he replied.
‘No, Mr. Jarvis. Only that they can be more closely monitored and their allegiance assured.’
Jarvis’s eyes narrowed.
‘That’s utter crap and every man around this table knows it. What’s the CIA’s stake here?’
Tyler Morris raised a hand, silencing Steel’s response.
‘Gentlemen, the fact remains that we have a situation here that is best resolved by ensuring a return to more traditional methods. Outsourcing is all well and good for administration purposes, but for sensitive investigations I propose that we require trained, qualified agents to take over within this department of the DIA.’
Jarvis raised an eyebrow at Tyler.
‘The same trained, qualified agents that tossed those same cases aside before we picked them up and solved them?’
‘We’ll review our analysis procedures,’ Tyler Morris rumbled back.
‘Sure you will.’
General Hank Butcher, Chief of the Army, shook his head.
‘What’s your problem with this?’ he asked Jarvis. ‘Why are you so opposed to military influence in your investigations?’
‘Because it’s not influence the CIA wants,’ Jarvis replied. ‘This is about control. They dropped the ball time after time when these investigations came up, passing them off as the stuff of myth and mystery. Now, they see that we’re getting results at the DIA and they’re throwing a hissy fit because they want to play.’
‘That’s not the case,’ William Steel snapped, finally showing his anger. ‘We’re interested only in what you haven’t done, not what you’ve achieved.’
‘Fine,’ Jarvis said. ‘I’ll send Warner and Lopez down to Quantico for some training and get them badged officially to the agency. Satisfied?’
Steel squirmed. Jarvis could see him grinding his teeth in his jaw.
‘No,’ he replied. ‘This operation is over, period.’
‘Is that an order now?’ Jarvis mocked. ‘I thought that in terms of rank you were the smallest fish in the room.’
Abraham Mitchell intervened, his voice quiet but forceful enough to cut through the tension.
‘Doug, for now I think it’s best if we draw this operation to a close until something can be worked out.’
Jarvis looked at Mitchell and slowly shook his head.
‘Y’know, I had you down as pretty solid, Abe. Didn’t realize you’d fold so easily just because the JCs are flashing their pretty medals and ribbons at you.’
‘It’s practicality, not pressure!’ Mitchell growled back. ‘Every man at this table is in basic agreement except you. We can put it to a vote if you like, Doug, make it real fair.’
‘Fair?’ Jarvis uttered. ‘Nothing’s fair when it comes to inter-agency squabbling. I don’t suppose this has gone up as far as the Director of Intelligence, has it?’
‘This is a manpower issue,’ Steel replied. ‘It’s not something we need to off-load on him.’
‘Perish the thought,’ Jarvis said as he looked at the Director of the CIA and got up from his seat. ‘He might disagree and wonder whether the CIA has an ulterior motive for shutting us down, and then what would you do?’
‘Shut you down anyway,’ Steel uttered.
Jarvis shot Mitchell a look of pure contempt. ‘Are we done here?’
Mitchell nodded once, curtly. Jarvis turned, and had almost made it to the door when Steel’s voice reached him.
‘Jarvis. Where are Warner and Lopez right now?’
‘Busy,’ Jarvis said as he opened the office door.
‘Busy where?’
Mitchell looked at Jarvis. ‘Doug, their whereabouts is not a big deal.’
‘Busy in Idaho,’ Jarvis replied finally. ‘Why?’
‘Pull them out, immediately,’ Steel snapped.
‘They’re dark, out of reach,’ Jarvis lied. ‘I’ll pull them out when they make contact, or are we intending to put their lives at risk by going in there and searching for them in plain view of potential enemies of the state?’