"So, you expect me to go all the way down to the White House, present this, and then admit that it might be wrong?" Cabot stamped out his cigar, much to Jack's relief.

"Yes, sir."

"I won't do that!"

"You have to do that, sir. You have to do that because it happens to be true. It's the rule."

"Jack, it can get slightly tedious when you tell me what the rules of this place are. I am the Director, you know."

"Look, Marcus," Ryan said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice, "what we have with this guy is some really hot information, something which, if true, could affect the way we deal with the Soviets. But it is not confirmed. It just comes from one person, okay? What if he's wrong? What if he misunderstands something. What if he's lying, even?"

"Do we have any reason to believe that?"

"None at all, Director, but on something this important - is it prudent or reasonable to affect our government's policy on the basis of a short letter from a single person?" That was always the best way to get to Marcus Cabot, prudence and reason.

"I hear what you're saying, Jack. Okay. My car is waiting. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Cabot grabbed his coat and walked out to the executive elevator. His Agency car was waiting. As Director of Central Intelligence, he got a pair of bodyguards, one driving, and the other in the front-passenger seat. Otherwise he had to deal with traffic the same as everyone else. Ryan, he thought on the drive down the George Washington Parkway, was becoming a pain in the ass. Okay, so he himself was new here. Okay, so he was inexperienced. Okay, so he liked to leave day-to-day stuff to his subordinates. He was the Director, after all, and didn't need to deal with every little damned thing. He was getting tired of having the rules of conduct explained to him once or twice a week, tired of having Ryan go over his head, tired of having analysis explained to him every time something really juicy came in. By the time he entered the White House, Cabot was quite annoyed.

"Morning, Marcus," Liz Elliot said in her office.

"Good morning. We have another SPINNAKER report President needs to go over it."

"So, what's Kadishev up to?"

"Who told you his name?" the DCI growled.

"Ryan - didn't you know?"

"God damn it!" Cabot swore "He didn't tell me that."

"Sit down, Marcus. We have a few minutes. How happy are you with Ryan?"

"Sometimes he forgets who's the Director and who's the Deputy."

"He is a little on the arrogant side, isn't he?"

"Slightly," Cabot agreed frostily.

"He's good at what he does - within limitations - but personally I'm getting a little tired of his attitude."

"I know what you mean. He likes telling me what I have to do - with this, for example."