*** Three ***
"ويقال انه willnot يدم طويلا، والذهاب مع الله، ما من chinces
(“It is said he will not last long, Go with God. What of the Chinese?”)
.
“You have to, Thomas, get used to it.”
“But, Admiral, surely…”
“Nope, no way out, everything we want to do will dry up, no cooperation, that’s how the body politic works. Now, how bad can it be, dancing with lovely young debutantes, sipping fine Champagne and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous and the DC crowd as well?”
“I think it is a terrible idea, Sir; I have only begun to go through the personnel files.”
“You have been eighteen hours a day for two weeks on those files. What do you do, sleep in your new office?”
“I told you it would go badly, I told you.”
“It didn’t go bad at all, Admiral, they loved you! The trip, the Senator’s wife on your lap, the drink on the Joint Chief’s daughter; it all made you look adorably naïve and not a threat in any way; exactly what we wanted.”
“Sir, I don’t now how to explain, I don’t do things I can’t do well. I will not embarrass myself that way again, I am sorry, but no!”
Stalemate.
I dug out some old civilian clothes, called a Taxi Cab and headed for a Jazz club I found on line. Quiet, classic music, a few drinks, something to eat, relax, lay back and..what the hell! A girl in my lap?
“Hey, honey, that buzz cut says you are military, big boy Marine, are you?”
I might have said something, but she placed a finger on my lips and her lips in my ear. “Go with it, Sir, you are being watched.”
‘Watched’, I thought, “Watched, watched, what do you mean?”
Big smile, kiss on the cheek, “This is a bug, range about a mile.”
She took it out from under the lapel on my jacket.
“There are two more behind you, one on each side of your head. There is a silver beebee in your drink, I put it there when you went to the head. It could be poison.”
She put her hand around the bottom of my jaw, “Don’t look; that couple across near the door, in the booth, they have been taking your picture for a while. You and I, me, the hooker, will look nice on the Admiral’s desk, doncha think?”
“Who are you’? It wasn’t a nice voice I used.
“Sir, I am your assigned driver and body guard, you should not use public transportation, you should not be here without protection.”
I am rendered speechless for the moment; a driver, a body guard, for me, why, what for? It made no sense; none.
“Why?” I finally took a close look at my ‘hooker’ protector. A pretty woman, sharp facial features, light skin, dark hair, small body…bodyguard, this little thing?
“Sir, your rank and your job put you on the watch list of every Intel outfit from every country that has one and they all have someone. A little druggy in your drink, a little ride, a little truth serum or pliers to pull your toenails and they know everything you know. You should never go to the same place twice. They had this place wired when I got here. They know who you are and what you are, an easy target, naïve and untrained. Easy money.”
