He heard footsteps on the stairs beyond the door. The maid had obviously been dismissed by a man who knew his way in this house. The door opened and the man from State walked in.
Scofield knew him. He was from Planning and Development, a strategist for covert operations. He was around Bray's age, but thinner, a bit shorter, and given to oldschool-tie exuberance which he did not feel, but which he hoped concealed his ambition. It did not.
"Bray, how are you, old buddy?" he said in a halfshout, extending an exuberant hand for a more exuberant grip. "My God, it must be damn near two years. Have I got a couple of stories to tell you!" "Really?" "Have V' An exuberant statement, no question implied. "I went up to Cambridge for my twentieth, and naturally ran into friends of yours right and left. Well, old buddy, I got pissed and couldn't remember what lies I told who about you! Christ Almighty, I had you an import analyst in Malaya, a language expert in New Guinea, an undersecretary in Canberra.
it was hysterical. I mean, I couldn't remember I was so pissed." "Why would anyone ask you about me, CharlieT' "Well, they knew we were both at State; we were friends, everybody knew that." "Cut it out. We were never friends. I suspect you dislike me almost as much as I dislike you. And I've never seen you drunk in my life." The man from State stood motionless; the exuberant smile slowly disappeared from his lips. "You want to play it rough?" "I want to play it as it is." "What happened?" "Where? When? At Harvard?" "You know what I'm talking about. The other night. What happened the other night?" "You tell me. You set it in motion, you spun the first wheels." "We uncovered a dangerous security leak. A pattern of active espionage going back years that reduced the effec- tiveness of space surveillance to the point where we now know it's been a mockery. We wanted it confirmed; you confirmed it. You knew what had to be done and you walked away." "I walked away," agreed Scofield.
"And when confronted with the fact by an associate, you did bodily injury to him. To your own man!" "I certainly did. If I were you I'd get rid of him. Transfer him to Chile; you can't fuck up a hell of a lot more down there." "What?" "On the other hand, you won't do that. He's too much like you, Charlie.
He'll never learn. Watch out. He'll take your job one day." "Are you drunk?" "No, I'm sorry to say. I thought about it, but I've got a little acidity in my stomach. Of course, if I'd known they were sending you, I might have fought the good fight and tried. For old time's sake, naturally." "If you're not drunk, you're off your trolley." "The track veered; those wheels you spun couldn't take the curve." "Cut the horseshit!" "What a dated phrase, Charlie. These days we say bullshit, although I prefer lizardshit-" "That's enough! Your action-or should I say inaction -compromised a vital aspect of counterespionage." "Now, you cut the horseshit!" roared Bray, taking an ominous step toward the man from State. "I've heard all I want to hear from you! I didn't compromise anything. You did! You and the rest of those bastards back there. You found an ersatz leak in your godarnned sieve and so you had to plug it up with a corpse. Then you could go to the Forty Committee and tell those bastards how efficient you were!" "What are you talking about?" "The old man was a defector. He was reached, but he was a defector." "What do you mean 'reached'?" "I'm not sure; I wish I did. Somewhere in that FourZero dossier something was left out. Maybe a wife that never died, but was in hiding. Or grandchildren no one bothered to list. I don't know, but it's there.
Hostages, Charliel That's why he did what he did. And I was his listok." "What's that mean?" "For Christ's sake, learn the language. You're supposed to be an expert." "Don't pull that language crap on me, I am an expert. There's no evidence to support an extortion theory, no family reported or referred to by the target at any time. He was a dedicated agent for Soviet intelligence." 'Evidence? Oh, come on, Charlie, even you know better than that. If he was good enough to pull off a defection, he