"These were faxed from Interpol," McCaskey said. "Maps drawn up just after the fall of Poland showing the basement of the Hermitage. The Russians knew they'd be going to war, so they gutted the cellars, reinforced them to bunker strength, and drew up plans to move the local government and military command down there in the event of an attack. You've got eighteen-inch-thick cinder-block walls and ceilings, plumbing, vents-- very little would have to have been done to turn it into a secure area for intelligence work."

Rodgers looked over the architectural plans. "That's what I would've done with it. I wonder why they waited so long."

"Interpol says the basement was, in fact, used on and off over the years for radio surveillance around the world," McCaskey said. "But you know the Russians. Wherever possible, they prefer on site intelligence over electronic surveillance."

"The peasant mentality," Rodgers said. "A potato in the hand is worth a dozen in some rosy five year plan."

"Basically, yes," said McCaskey. "But with moles being sniffed out and the collapse of the KGB, that may be changing now."

"Thanks," Rodgers said. "Get this over to Squires so he can review them with the man going into St. Petersburg." He looked at Coffey. "For people operating on fault lines, we appear to be doing some pretty good spy work. How about working on getting those clearances we'll need as soon as Striker is airborne again, which will be-- he looked at his computer clock-- "in about an hour."

Coffey looked numb. He nodded as he rose, then tugged his cuff links again and looked at Rodgers. "One more thing, Mike. As an attorney and a friend, I should point out to you that according to our charter, section seven, 'Accountability of Military Personnel to Civilian Commanders,' subsection b, paragraph two, Striker reports to the ranking military officer. That's you. The Director can't countermand an order you've given."

"I know the charter almost as well as I know Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. What's your point, Lowell?"

Coffey said, "If I fail to get congressional approval and Paul takes their thumbs-down seriously, the only way he can recall Striker is by dismissing you and appointing another Deputy Director. If he needed to do that quickly, he could go to the duty officers."

"I wouldn't put him in that position," Rodgers said. "I'd recall Striker if he asked me to. But in here-- he stood and touched his gut-- "I don't think Paul will do that. We're a crisis management team, and as long as we do everything we can to ensure the safety of our Striker force, we're going to manage this crisis."

"You guys may end up out there all alone," Coffey told him.

"Only if it doesn't work out," Darrell McCaskey observed. "Our asses were supposed to be grass after North Korea, but we won that and no one complained."