Tom raised his eyebrows and said, “And your brother was a SEAL…and now he works for… Oh, I hadn’t seen this yet. He works for us?”

David replied, “No, he does not work for In-Q-Tel.”

The woman laughed. Tom looked up from the file and smiled.

Tom said, “In-Q-Tel. Right. Dave, let’s get a few things straight. I am not employed by In-Q-Tel. Not really. It is a more of a part-time deal for me. My real employer is the same organization that indirectly pays the bills at In-Q-Tel. The Central Intelligence Agency. I specialize in counter-espionage.”

David frowned and said, “What are you talking about?”

Tom ignored him and said, “This situation all started a few weeks ago. We have uncovered some very disturbing bits of information. I’d heard rumors of course, but until you hear it from a reliable source, you tend to discount those as conspiracy theories. Rumors like that…just seem too crazy to believe.”

Tom looked lost in thought for a moment, and then looked David directly in the eye. “A penetration of that scope…and at those high levels. It’s unthinkable.” He sighed. “But it looks like it’s happened. And the same source that tipped us off on that told us something much worse.” He looked down at the file again. “Now, we’ve got a long flight ahead of us. I promise I’ll answer your questions. But I only recently found out I’d be taking you on this little vacation, so humor me for a few minutes while I peruse your biography.”

David didn’t know what to say. He still had adrenaline pumping through his veins, and felt angry at Tom’s attitude. Still, something told him to calm down and try to be patient.

He said, “Tom. Look…if this is some national security breach on a project or something, I’ll cooperate with whatever you need. I still don’t understand how kidnapping me from my home could possibly be appropriate or necessary. Why the hell would you take me like this? And what do I have to do with whatever is going on?”

Tom ignored him.

“Your sister’s a Navy pilot huh? Hmm. Some family. And you…failed out of flight school. Huh. I guess you were the black sheep? That must have been a hell of a conversation with old dad.” He looked up briefly. Enough time to see the flash of anger in David’s eyes.

“I didn’t fail out of flight school. It was a medical disqualification. Bad eyesight.”

Tom waved off what he was saying like it wasn’t important. David decided that the jerk personality wasn’t some CIA cover. That part was genuine.

He said, “So then you got a job with In-Q-Tel as an analyst in `08, and have been with the company ever since. Your current project is ARES, correct?”

David looked at the woman and then back at Tom.

Tom saw his hesitation and said, “Relax, she’s cleared. She’s NSA.”

David looked at her in surprise. She smiled cheerfully. David said, “Why should I trust anything you say to me after what I just went through?”