“We’ve decided to make the next issue like…like a great cry, a cry great enough to strike dumb all those who accuse us of treachery and incitement.”

I stared at him in amazement, watching his lips as they shaped these ringing words. “We’ll outmaneuver them, and at the same time, we’ll be scrupulously fair to those that deserve it. Now, I don’t have to tell you this, of course. You’ve seen it for yourself: despite all their insinuations and instigations, we have never, not once, as God’s our witness, ever received orders over the phone or from anywhere else, and we’ve never had an issue pulled or canceled.”

He blew out smoke.

“And people have to understand this, too—that those who choose to protect us, out of the generosity of their hearts, well…they deserve to have us return the favor.”

Three fingers were now extended, one after the other:

“We make our friends happy, we frustrate our enemies, and we press on. Three birds with one stone. What’s a harmless bit of flattery measured against the freedom we’ve been afforded all these years? Now, next week will be the birthday of the president—the president who’s never forced us to write a single word or stripped so much as a letter from our pages—and of course everyone will be expecting us to break step with the blind loyalty of those other rags… But we’ll surprise them; we’ll be the most appreciative of the lot.”

At last he got to his point, “Every journalist at this magazine is going to write an open letter to the president on the occasion of his birthday. That’s the issue, the whole thing: open letters that outdo one another in their patriotism. It’ll shut our enemies’ mouths.

“This next issue is going to make us the subject of a lot of bewilderment, praise, and scorn. I’m expecting you, Seif, with all your talents, to offer up the loveliest flower in this garden of devotion. To take responsibility.

“Two days and I want your contribution on my desk. Brilliant as I’m sure it will be. The best of the bunch. And after we’ve celebrated, after we’ve had a chance to unwind and enjoy the fruits of our labors, management—and this is a promise, mind you, a certainty—will have finished drawing up new contracts, and yours will be at the top of the pile.”

He took a breath. Smiled.

“Thank you, Seif.”