The Bourne Sanction by Robert Ludlum, Eric Van Lustbader Page B

of how to maintain security or run the intelligence services.”
    LaValle gave off an icy smile. “That’s why the secretary of defense has labored mightily to keep the workings clandestine.”
    “The more they know, the less they understand,” General Kendall said, “and the more inclined they are to interfere by means of their congressional hearings and threats of budgets cuts.”
    “Oversight is a bitch,” LaValle agreed. “Which is why areas of the Pentagon under my control are working without it.” He paused for a moment, studying Batt. “How does that sound to you, Deputy Director?”
    “Like manna from heaven.”
    Oleg had screwed up big time,” Devra said.
    Arkadin took a stab. “He got in over his head with loan sharks?”
    She shook her head. “That was last year. It had to do with Pyotr Zilber.”
    Arkadin’s ears pricked up. “What about him?”
    “I don’t know.” Her eyes opened wide as Arkadin raised his fist. “I swear it.”
    “But you’re part of Zilber’s network.”
    She turned her head away from him, as if she couldn’t stand herself. “A minor part. I shuffle things from here to there.”
    “Within the past week Shumenko gave you a document.”
    “He gave me a package, I don’t know what was in it,” Devra said. “It was sealed.”
    “Compartmentalization.”
    “What?” She looked up at him. Blood beads on her face looked like freckles. Tears had caused her mascara to run, giving her dark half circles under her eyes.
    “The first principle of putting together a cadre.” Arkadin nodded. “Go on.”
    She shrugged. “That’s all I know.”
    “What about the package?”
    “I passed it on, as I was instructed to do.”
    Arkadin bent over her. “Who did you give it to?”
    She glanced at the crumpled form on the floor. “I gave it to Filya.”
    LaValle had paused a moment to reflect. “We never knew each other at Yale.”
    “You were two years ahead of me,” Batt said. “But in Skull and Bones you were notorious.”
    LaValle laughed. “Now you flatter me.”
    “Hardly.” Batt unbuttoned his overcoat. “The stories I heard.”
    LaValle frowned. “Are never to be repeated.”
    General Kendall let loose with a guffaw that filled the compartment. “Should I leave you two girls alone? Better not; one of you could wind up pregnant.”
    The comment was meant as a joke, of course, but there was a nasty undercurrent to it. Did the military man resent his exclusion from the elite club, or the connection the other two had through Skull & Bones? Possibly it was a bit of both. In any event, Batt noted the second’s tone of voice, tucked the possible implications into a place where he could examine them later.
    “What d’you have in mind, Mr. LaValle?”
    “I’m looking for a way to convince the president that his more immoderate advisers made a mistake in recommending Veronica Hart for DCI .” LaValle pursed his lips. “Any ideas?”
    “Off the top of my head, plenty,” Batt said. “What’s in it for me?”
    As if on cue LaValle produced another smile. “We’re going to require a new DCI when we can Hart’s ass out of the District. Who would be your first choice?”
    “The current deputy director seems the logical one,” Batt said. “That would be me.”
    LaValle nodded. “Our thought precisely.”
    Batt tapped his fingertips against his knee. “If you two are serious.”
    “We are, I assure you.”
    Batt’s mind worked furiously. “It seems to me unwise at this early juncture to have attacked Hart directly.”
    “How about you don’t tell us our business,” Kendall said. LaValle held up a hand. “Let’s hear what the man has to say, Richard.” To Batt, he added, “However, let me make something crystal clear. We want Hart out as soon as possible.”
    “We all do, but you don’t want suspicion thrown back at you-or at the defense secretary.”
    LaValle and General Kendall exchanged a quick and knowing look. They were like twins, able to