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Torrent paused for a moment. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. The jets hang back for air cover, and the little biplanes come on in, machine guns blazing. Like shooting down King Kong.”
“Looks like you’re having fun, Professor,” said Rube.
“War triggers human inventiveness at its most brilliant, because if you don’t win your wars, your civilization disappears.”
“It’s bad form to quote yourself,” said Rube, smiling.
“I said that before?”
“Don’t worry,” said Rube. “Quoting Averell Torrent makes everybody look smarter.”
Torrent clapped him on the shoulder and they moved down the corridor as Torrent disappeared inside the President’s office.
“So you know Torrent,” said Cole.
“Had three seminars from him in grad school.”
“Is he too dashing to be smart and too smart to be so dashing?” asked Cecily.
“He’s got more ego than a movie star,” said Rube, “but unlike most of my former professors, he has the brains to back it up. He never served in the military but he has his own version of history that works better than most others, and he has an eye for strategy. President Nielson isn’t wrong to seek his advice.”
“But he irritates you,” said Cole.
“He works at irritating me,” said Rube. “I don’t know what I did to get under his skin, but he rode me all the way through three seminars and gave me hell during my orals.”
“How did he irritate you just now?” asked Cole. “Besides calling you ‘soldier boy.’ ”
“He’s got a severe case of Winston-Churchill-itis. Churchill was the genius of global politics, so Torrent has to be, too. Churchill went ape over every wacko bit of military tech that came up, so Torrent has to pretend he’s a tech guy.”
“He isn’t?”
“No more than Churchill was. I don’t know why I think he’s faking his enthusiasm. Maybe because a former advisor to the NSA wouldn’t usually know that much about cutting-edge weaponry.” Rube stopped and took Cecily by the shoulders. “Cessy,” he said, “the stuff on my PDA will make your job easier. As soon as I get back, I’ll give it to you.”
“Give it to me now so I can get started,” said Cecily.
“Everything’s in Farsi,” said Rube.
“The names and addresses?” asked Cecily.
“They don’t mean anything without an explanation. I’ll be back by noon tomorrow. I’ll just pop in to the Pentagon, pull DeeNee and my files out, and then we’re home.”
“Then take a minute and copy it to another computer,” Cecily insisted.
Rube hesitated. “Cessy,” he said softly. “I don’t know how the stuff on here will make me look. The minute I let a copy be made, it’s out of my hands. Somebody can steal it. Somebody can leak it.”
“Then leave the PDA with me,” said Cessy. “I’ll take better care of it than you can. There’ll be no chance of it falling out of your pocket or getting bumped when another army of mechs walks into Arlington.”
“There’s information in it that I might need while I’m in DC,” said Rube.
“You really aren’t going to part with it for any reason, are you?” said Cessy.
“How do you think I kept it secure for the last two years?” he said with a sad smile. Then he kissed her. “Cole and I are going to haul now, Cessy. When you talk to the kids, remind them they have a dad and I love them.”
“We love you too, Soldier Boy.”
Cole saw that Reuben walked away grinning. “So it’s okay if she calls you soldier boy?”
“I’m not in love with Torrent,” said Rube.
