The exertion still made the male. But it was the knowledge gained that made the man.

And Kannaday was beginning to realize that knowledge, hidden inside, was what made men most dangerous.

THIRTY - Washington, D.C. Friday, 10:07 A.M.

THIRTY

Washington, D.C. Friday, 10:07 A.M.

Paul Hood was just finishing a phone conversation with Mike Rodgers when Bob Herbert called.

The general was on his way back from a breakfast with Senator Dan Debenport of South Carolina. The senior senator was going to be taking over the chairmanship of the Congressional Intelligence Oversight Committee from the retiring senator, Barbara Fox. Hood would not be sorry to see her go. Fox had never understood that crisis management could not function according to a rule book. Op-Center could not always get approval from the CIOC for operations. Bob Herbert had a nickname for the constant clash between Op-Center and the CIOC. He called it the “bility breach.” Hood demanded flexibility. Fox insisted on accountability. Those two things did not go together.

Debenport was a former Green Beret who had done two tours of duty in Vietnam. That was why Hood had sent Rodgers to chat with him. He hoped the two military men would hit it off. That would not only help Op-Center, it would also help Hood. Even when he kept Senator Fox out of the loop, dealing with the CIOC took more time than Hood cared to give it.

From the sound of things, Senator Debenport was willing to give Op-Center a great deal of leeway in terms of the kind of operations they could mount. But there was a caveat.

“We can have the freedom we want because Senator Debenport doesn’t want the United States to stumble into crises that could have been avoided,” Rodgers said. “To do that, however, he wants to work closely with us. He wants to make sure there is a flow of information between him, Op-Center, the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA.”

“I’m not sure there’s a net gain for us,” Hood said unhappily.

“Added bureaucracy, you mean.”

“That, plus the senator will be in a better position to interfere with operations,” Hood said. “He can tell us that we have more elbow room. But if he disapproves of something, he can shut the action down. It may not even be intentional. He might have other things to do when a plan reaches his desk. He may red-light an operation until he has a chance to study it.”

“We still have autonomy, Paul.”

“Until he says otherwise,” Hood replied.

“True,” Rodgers said. “But I’ll be able to talk to him. He and I have a lot of friends, colleagues, and experiences in common. That’s more than we have with Senator Fox.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Hood said.