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"Can we have a word with you, Doug?" Emmett asked.
"I'm not in a mood for conversation," Oates grumbled.
"This is critical," Brogan said. "Please hear us out."
His car was not yet in sight on the drive, so Oates shrugged wearily. "I'm listening."
Brogan looked around him and then said softly, "Sam and I think the President is being manipulated."
Oates shot him a sarcastic stare. "Manipulated, hell. He's fallen off his track, and I for one refuse to be a party to his madness.
There's more to the sinking of the Eagle than he let on, and he never did explain the whereabouts of Margolin, Larimer and Moran. I'm sorry, gentlemen; you two can be the first to know. As soon as I get back to the State Department, I'm clearing out my desk and calling a press conference to announce my resignation.
Then I'm taking the next plane out of Washington."
"We suspected what was on your mind," Emmett said. "That's why we wanted to catch you before you went off the deep end."
"What exactly are you trying to tell me?"
Emmett looked at Brogan for help and then shrugged. "The idea is difficult to put across, but Martin and I believe the President is under some sort of . . . well . . . mind control."
Oates wasn't sure he heard right. But logic told him the directors of the CIA and FBI were not men to make light of a serious allegation.
"Controlled by whom?"
"We think the Russians," answered Brogan. "But we haven't accumulated all the evidence yet."
"We realize this sounds like science fiction," Emmett explained, "but it appears very real."
"My God, was the President under this influence as you suggest, when he flew to Mauritania for his talks with Antonov?"
Brogan and Emmett exchanged knowing looks. Then Brogan said, "There isn't a plane in flight anywhere in the world the Agency doesn't know about. I'll stake my job that our data win show no trace of an aircraft flying on a course from Maryland to Mauritania and return."
Oates's eyes winened. "The meeting with Antonov Emmett shook his head slowly. "It never happened."
"Then everything-the disarmament, the agricultural trade agreements-was a lie," said Oates, his voice cracking slightly.
"A fact which is heightened by his vague denial of the Eagle murders," anded Brogan.
"Why did he conceive such a crazy nightmare?" Oates asked dazedly.
"It really doesn't matter why he came up with it," said Emmett.
"The programs probably were not even his idea. What matters is how his behavior is guided. Who is motivating his thought patterns, and from where?"
"Can we find out?"
"Yes," said Emmett. "That's why we wanted to catch you before you cut bait."
"What can I do?"
"Stay," Brogan replied. "The President is not fit for office.
With Margolin, Moran and Larimer still missing, you'remain the next man in line."
"The President must be held in check until we can finish our investigation," said Emmett. "With you at the helm, we keep a measure of control in the event he must be removed from office."
Oates straightened and took a deep breath. "Lord, this is beginning to sound like a conspiracy to assassinate the President."
