“Omigod!” Rupert shook his head. “Has the great white case officer recruited another agent? Of course he’s good at giving briefings to wide-eyed journalists. He probably even told you some secrets. That’s part of the DO game! They pull that same routine with Congress. They send one of the witch doctors up there, who tells them how secret all the information they’re getting is, and how they’re in a dangerous struggle against the forces of darkness, and the congressmen think: Hey, these guys are all right! They’re doing the best they can. We should get off their backs and let them do their job. And in the process, they overlook the fact that the institution is incompetent. It let Aldrich Ames stagger around drunk for ten years handing out secrets to the Russians. It’s rotting from the head down. Eric, my friend, you’ve been had.”

He was beginning to piss me off. Normally, I don’t get angry at people who are sources. It gets in the way of extracting information from them. So I tend to nod, and say “That’s interesting,” no matter how preposterous their statements are. But Rupert was making me angry.

“Look,” I said, “I don’t know why you hate your colleagues so much, but I have to tell you—as an outsider—that Rubino strikes me as a smart, hardworking guy. I thought that back in Paris, before I ever met you, and I think it now. I’m working on a story, and he gave me some help, which I appreciate. I take information wherever I can get it. And if that bothers you, that’s your problem.”

“Touching tribute. But did it occur to you to ask the great white case officer why he is giving this information to you, rather than using it himself? I mean, if the organization was something other than an empty shell, why would he need you, Mr. Reporter? The organization does not like reporters. I think you are missing the point. The fact that he met with you is further evidence he’s drowning.”

I had been listening to Rupert’s tirades for several months now. But for the first time his assault on the agency seemed wet, lame, insubstantial.

“You are full of shit, Rupert. Rubino is working on something that actually does matter—how to keep China from getting weapons that are more dangerous than nukes—and you’re just dumping all over him. I don’t get it. The guy is trying to do his job.”

“So he told you about the big biological-weapons scare, eh? You have been read into the great secret. Congratulations. You are now one of the illuminati. Move over, David Gergen, we have a new member of the team. The responsibles. The insiders. The former journalists.”

“Fuck you. I’m no David Gergen.”