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      Floyd Baker opened a leather attaché case, took some papers from it, and handed a copy to Rogers. ‘These are our top prospects. They’re all qualified career diplomats. Each one of them has been cleared. No security problems, no financial problems, no embarrassing skeletons in the closet.’

      As Stanton Rogers took the list, the Secretary of State added, ‘Naturally, the State Department favours a career diplomat, rather than a political appointee. Someone who’s been trained for this kind of job. In this situation, particularly. Romania is an extremely sensitive post. It has to be handled very carefully.’

      ‘I agree.’ Stanton Rogers rose to his feet. ‘I’ll discuss these names with the President and get back to you. He’s anxious to fill the appointment as quickly as possible.’

      As the others got up to leave, Ned Tillingast said, ‘Stay here, Pete. I want to talk to you.’

      When Tillingast and Connors were alone, Tillingast said, ‘You came on pretty strong, Pete.’

      ‘But I’m right,’ Pete Connors said stubbornly. ‘The President is trying to sell out the country. What are we supposed to do?’

      ‘Keep your mouth shut.’

      ‘Ned, we’re trained to find the enemy and kill him. What if the enemy is behind our lines – sitting in the Oval Office?’

      ‘Be careful. Be very careful.’

      Tillingast had been around longer than Pete Connors. He had been a member of Wild Bill Donovan’s OSS before it became the CIA. He, too, hated what the bleeding hearts in Congress were doing to the organization he loved. In fact, there was a deep split within the ranks of the CIA between the hard-liners and those who believed the Russian bear could be tamed into a harmless pet. We have to fight for every single dollar, Tillingast thought. In Moscow, the Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti – the KGB – trains a thousand agents at a time.

      Ned Tillingast had recruited Pete Connors out of college, and Connors had turned out to be one of the best. But in the last few years, Connors had become a cowboy – a little too independent, a little too quick on the trigger. Dangerous.

      ‘Pete – have you heard anything about an underground organization calling itself Patriots for Freedom?’ Tillingast asked.

      Connors frowned. ‘No. Can’t say that I have. Who are they?’

      ‘So far they’re just a rumour. All I have is smoke. See if you can get a lead on them.’

      ‘Will do.’

      

      An hour later, Pete Connors was making a phone call from a public booth at Hain’s Point.

      ‘I have a message for Odin.’

      ‘This is Odin,’ General Oliver Brooks said.

      

      Riding back to the office in his limousine, Stanton Rogers opened the envelope containing the names of the candidates for the ambassadorship and studied them. It was an excellent list. The Secretary of State had done his homework. The candidates had all served in Eastern and Western European countries, and a few of them had additional experience in the Far East or Africa. The President’s going to be pleased, Stanton thought.

      ‘They’re dinosaurs,’ Paul Ellison snapped. He threw the list down on his desk. ‘Every one of them.’

      ‘Paul,’ Stanton protested, ‘these people are all experienced career diplomats.’

      ‘And hide-bound by State Department tradition. You remember how we lost Romania three years ago? Our experienced career diplomat in Bucharest screwed up and we were out in the cold. The pinstriped boys worry me. They’re all out to cover their asses. When I talked about a people-to-people programme, I meant every word of it. We need to make a positive impression on a country that at this moment is very wary of us.’

      ‘But if you put an amateur in there – someone with no experience – you’re taking a big risk.’

      ‘Maybe we need someone with a different kind of experience. Romania is going to be a test case, Stan. A pilot run for my whole programme, if you will.’ He hesitated. ‘I’m not kidding myself. My credibility is on the line. I know that there are a lot of powerful people who don’t want to see this work. If it fails, I’m going to get cut off at the knees. I’ll have to forget about Bulgaria, Albania, Czechoslovakia, and the rest of the Iron Curtain countries. And I don’t intend for that to happen.’

      ‘I can check out some of our political appointees who –’

      President Ellison shook his head. ‘Same problem. I want someone with a completely fresh point of view. Someone who can thaw the ice. The opposite of the ugly American.’

      Stanton Rogers was studying the President, puzzled. ‘Paul – I get the impression that you already have someone in mind. Do you?’

      Paul Ellison took a cigar from the humidor on his desk and lit it. ‘As a matter of fact,’ he said slowly, ‘I think I may have.’

      ‘Who is he?’

      ‘She. Did you happen to see the article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs called “Détente Now”?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘What did you think of it?’

      ‘I thought it was interesting. The author believes that we’re in a position to try to seduce the communist countries into coming into our camp by offering them economic aid –’ He broke off. ‘It was a lot like your inaugural speech.’

      ‘Only it was written six months earlier. She’s published brilliant articles in Commentary and Public Affairs. Last year I read a book of hers on Eastern European politics, and I must admit it helped clarify some of my ideas.’

      ‘All right. So she agrees with your theories. That’s no reason to consider her for a post as impor –’

      ‘Stan – she went further than my theory. She outlined a detailed plan that’s fascinating. She wants to take the four major world economic pacts and combine them.’

      ‘How can we –?’

      ‘It would take time, but it could be done. Look, you know that in 1949, the Eastern bloc countries formed a pact for mutual economic assistance, called COMECON, and in 1958 the other European countries formed the EEC – the Common Market.’

      ‘Right.’

      ‘We have the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes the United States, some Western bloc countries and Yugoslavia. And don’t forget that the third world countries have formed a non-aligned movement that excludes us.’ The President’s voice was charged with excitement. ‘Think of the possibilities. If we could combine all these plans and form one big marketplace – my God, it could be awesome! It would mean real world trade. And it could bring peace.’

      Stanton Rogers said cautiously, ‘It’s an interesting idea, but it’s a long way off.’

      ‘You know the old Chinese saying, “A journey of a thousand miles starts with but a single step …”’

      ‘She’s an amateur, Paul.’

      ‘Some of our finest ambassadors have been amateurs. Anne Armstrong, the former Ambassador to Great Britain, was an educator with no political experience. Perle Mesta was appointed to Denmark, Clare Boothe Luce was Ambassador to Italy. John Gavin, an actor, was the Ambassador to Mexico. One-third of our current ambassadors are what you call “amateurs”.’

      ‘But you don’t know anything about this woman.’

      ‘Except that she’s damned bright, and that we’re on the same wavelength. I want you to find out everything you can about her.’ He picked up a copy of Foreign Affairs and glanced at the table of contents. ‘Her name is Mary Ashley.’

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