received extensive intelligence, not all of which he had shared with the others under his command. Included in this dossier was the fact that Crawford Sloane had a father who fitted the description of the new arrival. Miguel reasoned: Well, if the old man had joined his son, expecting to see him for a while, it constituted a nuisance but nothing more. The father would almost certainly have to be killed later that day, but that presented no problem . Depressing the telephone transmitter, Miguel ordered, "Take no action about the blue package. Report new billing only .”
"New billing ” meant: if the situation changes .” Roger ,” Julio acknowledged curtly . Replacing the cellular phone, Miguel glanced at his watch. Almost 7:45 A.M. In two hours all seven members of his group would be in place and ready for action. Everything that would follow had been carefully planned, with problems anticipated, precautions taken. When the action started, some improvisation might be needed, but not much. And there could be no postponement. Outside the United States, other movements, dovetailing with their own, were already in motion.
Angus Sloane gave a contented sigh, put down his coffee cup and patted his mouth and silver-gray mustache with a napkin .” I'll state positively ,” he declared, "that no better breakfast has been served this morning in all of New York State .”
"And not one with higher cholesterol either ,” his son said from behind an opened New York Times across the table .” Don't you know all those fried eggs are bad for your heart? How many was it you had? Three ? ”
"Who's counting ? ”
Jessica said .” Besides, you can afford the eggs, Crawf . Angus, would you like another ? ”
"No thank you, my dear .”
The old man, sprightly and cherubic-he had turned seventy-three a few weeks earliersmiled benevolently at Jessica .” Three eggs isn't many ,” Nicky said .” I saw a late movie once about a Southern prison. Somebody in it ate fifty eggs .”
Crawford Sloane lowered the Times to say, "The movie you're speaking of was Cool Hand Luke. It starred Paul Newman and came out in 1967. I'm sure, though, that Newman didn't really eat those eggs. He's a fine actor who convinced you that he did .”
"There was a salesman here once from the Britannica ,” Jessica said .” He wanted to sell us an encyclopedia. I told him we already had one, living in .”
"Can I help it ,” her husband responded, "if some of the news I live with sticks to me? It's like fluff, though. You can never tell which bits will stay in memory and what will blow away .”
They were all seated in the bright and cheerful breakfast room, which adjoined the kitchen. Angus had arrived a half hour earlier, embracing his daughter-in-law and grandson warmly and shaking hands more formally with Crawford . The constraint between father and son-sometimes translating to irritation on Crawford's part-had existed for a long time. Mainly it had to do with differing ideas and values. Angus had never come to terms with the easing in national and personal moral standards which had been accepted by most Americans from the 1960s onward. Angus ardently believed in "honor, duty and the flag"; further, that his fellow countrymen should still exhibit the uncompromising patriotism that existed during World War 11- -the high point of Angus's life, about which he reminisced ad infinitum. At the same time he was critical of many of the rationales that his own son, in his news- gathering activities, nowadays accepted as normal and progressive . Crawford, on the other hand, was intolerant of his father's thinking which , as Crawford saw it, was rooted in antiquity and failed to take into account the greatly expanded knowledge on all fronts-notably scientific and philosophical-in the four plus decades since World War 11. There was another factor, too -a conceit on Crawford's part (though he would not have used that word) that having attained the top of his
"New billing ” meant: if the situation changes .” Roger ,” Julio acknowledged curtly . Replacing the cellular phone, Miguel glanced at his watch. Almost 7:45 A.M. In two hours all seven members of his group would be in place and ready for action. Everything that would follow had been carefully planned, with problems anticipated, precautions taken. When the action started, some improvisation might be needed, but not much. And there could be no postponement. Outside the United States, other movements, dovetailing with their own, were already in motion.
Angus Sloane gave a contented sigh, put down his coffee cup and patted his mouth and silver-gray mustache with a napkin .” I'll state positively ,” he declared, "that no better breakfast has been served this morning in all of New York State .”
"And not one with higher cholesterol either ,” his son said from behind an opened New York Times across the table .” Don't you know all those fried eggs are bad for your heart? How many was it you had? Three ? ”
"Who's counting ? ”
Jessica said .” Besides, you can afford the eggs, Crawf . Angus, would you like another ? ”
"No thank you, my dear .”
The old man, sprightly and cherubic-he had turned seventy-three a few weeks earliersmiled benevolently at Jessica .” Three eggs isn't many ,” Nicky said .” I saw a late movie once about a Southern prison. Somebody in it ate fifty eggs .”
Crawford Sloane lowered the Times to say, "The movie you're speaking of was Cool Hand Luke. It starred Paul Newman and came out in 1967. I'm sure, though, that Newman didn't really eat those eggs. He's a fine actor who convinced you that he did .”
"There was a salesman here once from the Britannica ,” Jessica said .” He wanted to sell us an encyclopedia. I told him we already had one, living in .”
"Can I help it ,” her husband responded, "if some of the news I live with sticks to me? It's like fluff, though. You can never tell which bits will stay in memory and what will blow away .”
They were all seated in the bright and cheerful breakfast room, which adjoined the kitchen. Angus had arrived a half hour earlier, embracing his daughter-in-law and grandson warmly and shaking hands more formally with Crawford . The constraint between father and son-sometimes translating to irritation on Crawford's part-had existed for a long time. Mainly it had to do with differing ideas and values. Angus had never come to terms with the easing in national and personal moral standards which had been accepted by most Americans from the 1960s onward. Angus ardently believed in "honor, duty and the flag"; further, that his fellow countrymen should still exhibit the uncompromising patriotism that existed during World War 11- -the high point of Angus's life, about which he reminisced ad infinitum. At the same time he was critical of many of the rationales that his own son, in his news- gathering activities, nowadays accepted as normal and progressive . Crawford, on the other hand, was intolerant of his father's thinking which , as Crawford saw it, was rooted in antiquity and failed to take into account the greatly expanded knowledge on all fronts-notably scientific and philosophical-in the four plus decades since World War 11. There was another factor, too -a conceit on Crawford's part (though he would not have used that word) that having attained the top of his
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