going to Argentina on the twenty-eighth,” Jack said.
“Argentina? Isn’t that strange? I can’t remember ever hearing a word from you about Argentina.”
“A lot of this just happened in Washington, baby.”
He saw the look on her face.
“What?” he asked.
“What what?”
“What are you thinking?”
“How long are you going to be in Argentina?”
“About the same time, ten, twelve days,” Jack said. “But why do I suspect that’s not what you were thinking?”
“I was thinking I was going to miss you,” Marjorie said.
What I was thinking was that I’m going to go out of my mind in the apartment, wondering where the hell you are, and whether I’m ever going to see you again, or whether Red Hanrahan and the chaplain will show up at the door here with uncomfortable looks on their faces.
“Hey, it’s not as if I want to go,” he said. “They’re sending me.”
You’re not consciously lying, my darling, but that’s not true. You want to go. Maybe you can’t control it, but you want to go.
“I know, baby,” she said. “Sorry.”
She kissed him, and one thing led to another, and it was another thirty minutes before she got around to asking whether he was hungry, and did he want to eat in the apartment or go out.
[ FOUR ]
SECRET
FROM: CIA LANGLEY 12 JANUARY 1965 1805 GMT
TO: STATION CHIEF LÉOPOLDVILLE
SUBJECT: TRANSMISSION OF CIA MATERIAL
MR. SANFORD T. FELTER, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT, WILL BE IN THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO ON A PRESIDENTIAL MISSION, ETA 15 JAN 65.
CIA WILL TRANSMIT CERTAIN CIA CLASSIFIED MATERIAL TO HIM VIA CIA COMMUNICATIONS. ON RECEIPT YOU WILL DECRYPT SAID MATERIAL AND FURNISH ONE COPY ONLY TO US MIL ATTACHÉ WHO WILL PASS TO MR. FELTER.
SHOULD MR. FELTER INITIATE CONTACT WITH YOU, YOU ARE DIRECTED TO PROVIDE WHATEVER ASSISTANCE HE ASKS FOR, TO INCLUDE ACCESS TO CIA CLASSIFIED MATERIAL. UNDER NO REPEAT NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL YOU INITIATE CONTACT WITH MR. FELTER. CIA WILL BE ADVISED IMMEDIATELY OF ANY CONTACT INITIATED BY MR. FELTER AND OF ASSISTANCE REQUESTED AND FURNISHED.
FOR THE DIRECTOR:
HOWARD W. O’CONNOR
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ADMINISTRATION
SECRET
SECRET
FROM SEC STATE WASH DC 12 JANUARY 1965 2110 GMT
TO AMBASSADOR LÉOPOLDVILLE (EYES ONLY)
COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT SANFORD T. FELTER WILL SHORTLY TRAVEL TO LÉOPOLDVILLE AND POSSIBLY OTHER POINTS WITHIN THE REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO ON A MISSION ORDERED BY THE PRESIDENT. HE WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A PARTY OF THREE US ARMY OFFICERS. FELTER HAS PRESIDENTIALLY AUTHORIZED ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE CLASSIFIED MATERIAL OF WHATEVER NATURE.
CONTACT BETWEEN MR. FELTER AND US EMBASSY WILL BE THROUGH US ARMY ATTACHÉ UNLESS INITIATED BY MR. FELTER. FYI FELTER IS COLONEL, GSC, USARMY. FELTER IS AUTHORIZED ACCESS TO USEMBASSY COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES AND MILATTACHÉ WILL BE DIRECTED TO PROVIDE WHATEVER ASSISTANCE HE REQUIRES, WHICH SPECIFICALLY INCLUDES USE OF AIRCRAFT UNDER CONTROL OF MILATTACHÉ. MILATTACHÉ WILL ALSO SERVE AS CONTACT BETWEEN FELTER AND CIA STATION CHIEF. MILATTACHÉ WILL BE ADVISED OF FELTER’S ETA AND WILL MEET HIM AT LÉOPOLDVILLE AIRPORT.
SECSTATE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY INFORMED OF ANY CONTACT INITIATED BY FELTER, AND REASONS THEREFORE, AND ANY ACTIONS TAKEN BY US EMBASSY IN REGARD THERETO.
FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
RONALD I. SPIERS, ADMIN ASST TO SEC STATE
[ FIVE ]
Schipol International Airport
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1000 14 January 1965
Captain Jean-Phillipe Portet, chief pilot of Air Congo, boarded the Boeing 707 that was Air Congo’s Flight 2117, nonstop service to Léopoldville as a passenger, but after stowing his briefcase in the overhead compartment, walked toward the cockpit and motioned Jack to follow him.
The pilot, a Belgian, Captain Henri Ratisse, and the first officer, Marcel Defarre, a Frenchman, turned in their seats.
“Bonjour, mon chef,” he said, smiling. “Jacques.”
“Bonjour, capitain,” Jacques replied. “Marcel.”
“I think I’ll take it, Henri,” Captain Portet announced. “I want to see how well Jacques can get us out of here.”
He motioned for Jack to get in the right seat.
Captain Ratisse didn’t like that much, but Jean-Phillipe Portet was the chief pilot and there wasn’t much he could do about it. And Ratisse knew that the chief pilot’s son was on the Air Congo Reserve Pilot’s roster, rated as a first officer in the 707, and frequently flew in the right seat of one of Air Congo’s 707 cargo planes when a first officer called in sick, or everyone on the roster had flown his hours for that month.
Jack had not been especially surprised when his father had come into the hotel dining room for breakfast wearing his Air Congo captain’s uniform. He usually wore it when he traveled aboard Air Congo aircraft. He was, after all, the chief pilot, and as such