“Yes.” Goldman nods precisely. “And as you might guess, it’s people in Stanwyck’s command at the Pentagon who have leaked a fair amount of the material used by us and the GAO. Now, Judge Tobiason is either on James’s side, or he isn’t aware of the conflict and is only protecting the Air Force. Or else he disapproves of the fight and only wants to stop it. Impossible to tell. We don’t really know. It doesn’t really matter, now that that stage of the battle is over.”

“And where did you get this information about Stanwyck and James?”

“From James’s subordinates. He isn’t much liked, and the story is widespread at Andrews. And from Stanwyck’s people, who want it known.”

“Hmph.”

They order another round, then talk about tactics in the campaign to get Congress to act. Goldman is enthusiastic about this in a way McPherson hasn’t seen before; apparently Goldman wrote off their chances in court ever since Tobiason was appointed judge in the case, so that this is the point where he can really work with some hope of success.

But McPherson finds himself very tired of the matter. The truth is, the day has seen the end of one of their last chances. Once a pawn has been sacrificed successfully and taken off the board, what real chance is there for it to petition its way back on, to protest the way it was used, to redress its grievances?

Well, Goldman thinks their chances are pretty good. It isn’t exactly chess, after all. Much more ambiguous and uncertain. But McPherson goes back to the Crystal City Hyatt Regency feeling depressed, and more than a little drunk.

Out one of the great mirror-windowed walls of the Hyatt stands the Pentagon Annex, a massive concrete bunker defended against all the world. Impenetrable. Who could really believe it could be defeated?

He gets lost on the way to his room, has to consult three bad maps and walk half a mile of halls to find it. When he does there’s nothing there but the bed, the video, a window facing the inky Potomac. Can he stand to turn the video on?

No. He sits on the bed. Tomorrow he can fly home. Be back with Lucy. Only fourteen hours to get through till then.

Some two hours later, just as he is falling asleep watching the dead video screen, the phone rings. He leaps up as if shot. Answers it.