“Certainly. I’ll be leaving that afternoon. I can see him in the morning, then hand him off to a minion.”

“How perfect,” Felicity said. “I’ll tell him to report to you at ten AM.”

“I’ll have staff accumulate some reading for him, then give him the ten-cent tour.”

“Wonderful. Are you coming my way?”

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Lance replied.

“May I entertain you at lunch?”

“That would be delightful. Thursday all right?”

“One o’clock at the Reform Club, then?”

“See you there.”

“Fly safely.” Felicity hung up and buzzed Cartwright. “I’ll see the brigadier now,” she said.

—

Fife-Simpson was started from a doze by a buzzing noise. It took a moment for him to realize that it was coming from his telephone, and he picked it up. “Yes?”

“Brigadier,” Cartwright said, “the director will see you now.” She hung up.

Fife-Simpson leapt to his feet, got into his suit jacket, checked the mirror on the back of the door, then trotted down the hall. He was shown into the director’s office immediately.

“Good morning, Brigadier,” Felicity said, indicating that he should sit.

“Good morning, Director,” he said, taking the chair opposite her.

“First of all, may I welcome you to the service?”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“I have a task for you, which I believe you will find enlightening. It’s the sort of thing I would ordinarily do myself, but I find myself a little overwhelmed at the moment.”

“Whatever I can do, Director.”

“Good. Pack a bag and present yourself, at ten o’clock in the morning the day after tomorrow in Langley, Virginia, to Lance Cabot, the director of central intelligence, at CIA headquarters.”

Fife-Simpson sat up straighter. “And what am I to do there?”

“You are to look and listen, ask questions, and, if necessary, answer some, from a selection of the Agency’s people, with an eye toward assessing the current relationship between the CIA and our service, and looking for ways to improve it. Stay as long as you need to, and on return, write a report summarizing your observations and your suggestions, for my eyes only. I may see fit to distribute it to a short list of our people at a later date.”

“I’d be very happy to, ma’am,” he said.

“And while you’re over there, pop into our embassy in Washington, pay your respects to the ambassador, and have a talk with our station chief and his deputy. Find out what they’re working on, and see what, if anything, they need to do their work better.”

“How long should I stay, Director?”

“As long as it takes. Cartwright will arrange your schedule and book your airline seat and hotel accommodations. You should probably stay in D.C., since Langley is in a more rural setting.”

The brigadier stood and nearly saluted, but caught himself. “Thank you, Director. I’ll report upon return.”