district?â
âSeventeenth.â
âThen youâre one of Newtâs new hires.â
âOh, Sandy,â Dan said. âKISS, Garth Brooks, Metallica, and the Contract with America?â
âItâs the same me,â she said, putting her empty glass on a passing tray and snagging a full one in the same motion. Dan concluded she wasnât with AA anymore. âWhat people who arenât in politics donât realize is that itâs like casting an actor. You fit the role, you sell the donors, you get hired. I look at people like Zoelke and Mulholland and Dwayne Harrow and your old sugar pop, Bankey Talmadge,â she said, fluttering her lashes at Blair, âand I figure, why not little ole me? Dan, you never said what youâre doing.â She fingered the lapel of his blues as if she were thinking of buying it. âI see youâre still in the Navy. You an admiral yet?â
âA commander.â
âShit, you were one of those when we used to get blitzed after class at Mister Henryâs, werenât you? Arenât you supposed to get promoted once in a while?â
âI was a lieutenant commander then. A full commander now.â
âYeah, you were always full. Of something.â
âIâll let the two of you catch up,â Blair said, with the no-tone that meant somebody would be doing some explaining after the party.
â Cute girl,â Treherne sneered after her retreating back, loud enough that even in the party noise Dan knew Blair must have heard.
âSheâs my wife.â
âYeah, you said. Where are you working now?â
Dan told her he was on the National Security Council staff. Treherne looked incredulous. âGod help us. Youâre at the White House, and Iâm in Congress?â
He smiled. âThatâs how I feel.â
âI wonder if everybody here does.â
Dan wondered too. How many of those at the apex quailed at where theyâd arrived, and what power they wielded. Others, though, probably didnât. For some reason Knightâs scowl came to mind. The lieutenant general heâd met that afternoon. The disdainful assumption that he knew better than his civilian masters, better than the voters ⦠no, that didnât seem to signal much self-doubt.
But wasnât his own flaw the opposite? To distrust himself, and what he was told to do? Wasnât that the key to his fatal ability to complicate the simple equations of command and obedience, to bring chaos out of order?
The emperor Vespasian moved stiffly past holding a Scotch. Or at least it appeared to be his broad face, wide, bony head, and iron gray buzz cut. The rest was clad in Army green. Dan recognized General Ulrich Stahl, chairman of the Joint Chiefs but rumored by the columnists unlikely to be asked to stay for a second term. Heâd briefed Stahl once too. A small gray woman followed the stately general, tottering slightly. It was often shocking to see the spouses of senior military men. On the other hand, maybe that was a positive. At least theyâd stayed with their first wives.
Treherneâs Salem-flavored breath in his ear brought him back. âSo what are you doing over there? At the NSC?â
He told Sandy about counterdrug and threat reduction. âTheyâre serious about reducing the number of loose nukes. If you can vote in favor of that sometime, I wish you would.â
Past her Dan saw another familiar visage sharpen out of the blur; Knight himself, as if conjured by his recollection. The OPSDEP was on an intersecting course with Stahl, moving steadily through the crowd toward the chairman.
Treherneâs cheeks hollowed around a fresh filter tip; her eyes searched over his shoulder as more guests handed wraps to servants and joined the receiving line stretching ever longer in front of the Edwardses. âLetâs see. Threat reduction. Thatâs where we pay the commies to say they