your own judgment.”
Rapp looked at her. “That’s exactly it. Kind of a thanks, but no thanks … do me a favor and get off my team.”
“There’s a key to understanding their motivations. Have you figured it out yet?”
“No.”
Kennedy had seen it right away and was surprised Rapp hadn’t. “I’m guessing you had a nice quiet drive from Capitol Hill out to Langley. What have you been thinking about?”
“How to structure it … how to fund it … how to kill them if they double-cross me.”
She nodded slowly, deciding he really did mean that he’d kill them if they set him up. “I don’t think they’re going to double-cross any of us.”
“I wish I could share your confidence, but I just can’t bring myself to trust Hartsburg.”
“The bomb changed everything, Mitch.”
Rapp gave her a skeptical look. The bomb she was referring to was part of a plot by Islamic radical fundamentalists to incinerate Washington, DC. If it hadn’t been for Rapp and a handful of dedicated government employees, Senators Walsh and Hartsburg and the majority of their colleagues would have been killed by the detonation of a fifteen-kiloton nuclear weapon.
The tumblers fell into place for Rapp and he said, “Self-preservation.”
“It’s their strongest instinct.”
Rapp thought about that for a moment. Politicians were an amazingly resilient breed. He supposed on some Darwinian level she was absolutely correct. “Whatever works. I just want them one hundred percent on board.”
“So what do you think of their proposal?” Kennedy picked up her cup for another sip.
“It’s basically an expansion of the Orion Team. Which as we’ve discussed has been greatly underused.”
The Orion Team was a covert operations unit that had been founded by Kennedy’s predecessor, Thomas Stansfield, some twenty years ago. The idea was that the unit would operate in secret, independent of the CIA or the rest of the national security apparatus. The team allowed Stansfield to circumvent the leviathan of politics and get around small impediments like the executive order banning assassinations. It allowed him to do things that the more civilized crowd didn’t have the stomach for. Rapp had been the group’s star operative almost from the day he started at the age of twenty-two. He’d spent significant amounts of time in Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia collecting intel and when the situation called for it, dealing with threats in a more final manner.
“Except this time we would have them on our side.” By them Kennedy meant Hartsburg and Walsh.
“I might be missing something here, but explain to me why that’s a good thing.”
“I was part of the Orion Team,” Kennedy began, “for eighteen years. Six of which I spent running it.” She gave him a forced smile. “In addition to spending most of my time trying to keep you out of trouble, the next most difficult task was trying to scrape together the money to sufficiently fund the operations. With Hartsburg and Walsh on board the funding will no longer be an issue, and more importantly, we won’t have to worry about them launching any investigations. Your job will be much easier.”
Rap nodded. “I see your point. I just want to make sure they are beholden to us, and not the other way around.”
“Absolutely.” Kennedy brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Any ideas?”
“Yeah, one.” Rapp held up his BlackBerry. “Mutually assured destruction.”
“MAD.”
“Exactly.” Rapp pressed a few buttons and began replaying the conversation that had taken place in the Congressional Library. After a few seconds he stopped the recording and smiled. “I hope you’re not disappointed?”
“I would have been disappointed in you if you hadn’t.”
Rapp snapped the BlackBerry back onto his belt clip. “And I don’t want any armchair quarterbacking.”
“I already explained that to them.”
“And how did they take it?”
“Listen, Mitch,
Rapp looked at her. “That’s exactly it. Kind of a thanks, but no thanks … do me a favor and get off my team.”
“There’s a key to understanding their motivations. Have you figured it out yet?”
“No.”
Kennedy had seen it right away and was surprised Rapp hadn’t. “I’m guessing you had a nice quiet drive from Capitol Hill out to Langley. What have you been thinking about?”
“How to structure it … how to fund it … how to kill them if they double-cross me.”
She nodded slowly, deciding he really did mean that he’d kill them if they set him up. “I don’t think they’re going to double-cross any of us.”
“I wish I could share your confidence, but I just can’t bring myself to trust Hartsburg.”
“The bomb changed everything, Mitch.”
Rapp gave her a skeptical look. The bomb she was referring to was part of a plot by Islamic radical fundamentalists to incinerate Washington, DC. If it hadn’t been for Rapp and a handful of dedicated government employees, Senators Walsh and Hartsburg and the majority of their colleagues would have been killed by the detonation of a fifteen-kiloton nuclear weapon.
The tumblers fell into place for Rapp and he said, “Self-preservation.”
“It’s their strongest instinct.”
Rapp thought about that for a moment. Politicians were an amazingly resilient breed. He supposed on some Darwinian level she was absolutely correct. “Whatever works. I just want them one hundred percent on board.”
“So what do you think of their proposal?” Kennedy picked up her cup for another sip.
“It’s basically an expansion of the Orion Team. Which as we’ve discussed has been greatly underused.”
The Orion Team was a covert operations unit that had been founded by Kennedy’s predecessor, Thomas Stansfield, some twenty years ago. The idea was that the unit would operate in secret, independent of the CIA or the rest of the national security apparatus. The team allowed Stansfield to circumvent the leviathan of politics and get around small impediments like the executive order banning assassinations. It allowed him to do things that the more civilized crowd didn’t have the stomach for. Rapp had been the group’s star operative almost from the day he started at the age of twenty-two. He’d spent significant amounts of time in Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia collecting intel and when the situation called for it, dealing with threats in a more final manner.
“Except this time we would have them on our side.” By them Kennedy meant Hartsburg and Walsh.
“I might be missing something here, but explain to me why that’s a good thing.”
“I was part of the Orion Team,” Kennedy began, “for eighteen years. Six of which I spent running it.” She gave him a forced smile. “In addition to spending most of my time trying to keep you out of trouble, the next most difficult task was trying to scrape together the money to sufficiently fund the operations. With Hartsburg and Walsh on board the funding will no longer be an issue, and more importantly, we won’t have to worry about them launching any investigations. Your job will be much easier.”
Rap nodded. “I see your point. I just want to make sure they are beholden to us, and not the other way around.”
“Absolutely.” Kennedy brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. “Any ideas?”
“Yeah, one.” Rapp held up his BlackBerry. “Mutually assured destruction.”
“MAD.”
“Exactly.” Rapp pressed a few buttons and began replaying the conversation that had taken place in the Congressional Library. After a few seconds he stopped the recording and smiled. “I hope you’re not disappointed?”
“I would have been disappointed in you if you hadn’t.”
Rapp snapped the BlackBerry back onto his belt clip. “And I don’t want any armchair quarterbacking.”
“I already explained that to them.”
“And how did they take it?”
“Listen, Mitch,
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