tc.redrabbit-第85章

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　　　〃Ivan　sure　as　hell　does；　but　it　must　drive　their　troops　crazy；　having　to　go　through　every　signal　one　letter　at　a　time。〃
　　　〃Ever　work　the　penetration　side？〃　Ed　Foley　asked　him。
　　　Russell　shook　his　head　at　once。　〃Not　smart　enough。　Good　thing；　too。　A　lot　of　those　guys　end　up　in　rubber　rooms　cutting　out　paper　dolls　with　blunted　scissors。　Hey；　I　know　a　lot　of　the　guys　in　Z…Division。　The　boss　guy　there　just　turned　down　the　chair　in　math　at　Cal　Tech。　He's　pretty　smart；〃　Russell　estimated。　〃Damned　sight　smarter　than　I'll　ever　be。　Ed　Popadopolous's…his　name　is　Greek…father　used　to　run　a　restaurant　up　in　Boston。　Ask　me　if　I　want　his　job。〃
　　　〃No；　eh？〃
　　　〃Not　even　if　they　threw　in　Pat　Cleveland　as　a　fringe　benefit。〃　And　that　was　one　fine…looking　lady；　Ed　Foley　knew。　Mike　Russell　really　did　need　a　woman　in　his　life。。。
　　　〃Okay；　I'll　get　you　a　dispatch　in　about　an　hour。　Okay？〃
　　　〃Cool。〃　Russell　headed　out。
　　　〃Well；　I　think　we　rattled　his　cage　pretty　hard；〃　MP　thought　aloud。
　　　〃Admiral　Bennett　at　Fort　Meade　ain't　going　to　be　real　happy　either。　I　got　a　signal　to　draft。〃
　　　〃Okay；　I'll　see　how　Eddie's　doing　with　his　crayons。〃　And　Mary　Patricia　Kaminsky　Foley　took　her　leave　as　well。
　　　Judge　Arthur　moore's　morning　briefing　normally　happened　at　7：30　in　the　morning；　except　on　Sunday；　when　he　slept　late；　and　so　it　took　place　at　9：00。　His　wife　even　recognized　the　knock　of　the　National　Intelligence　Officer　who　delivered　the　daily　intelligence　news；　always　in　the　private　study　of　his　Great　Falls　house；　which　was　swept　weekly　by　the　Agency's　best　debugging　expert。
　　　The　world　had　been　relatively　quiet　the　previous　day…even　munists　liked　to　relax　on　weekends；　he'd　learned　on　taking　the　job。
　　　〃Anything　else；　Tommy？〃　the　Judge　asked。
　　　〃Some　bad　news　from　Budapest；〃　the　NIO　answered。　〃Our　Station　Chief；　James　Szell；　got　burned　by　the　opposition　making　a　pickup。　Details　unknown；　but　he　got　himself　PNG'd　by　the　Hungarian　government。　His　principal　deputy；　Robert　Taylor；　is　out　of　the　country　on　personal　business。　So　Station　Budapest　is　out　of　business　for　the　moment。〃
　　　〃How　bad　is　that？〃　Not　too　bad；　the　DCI　thought。
　　　〃Not　a　major　tragedy。　Nothing　much　seems　to　happen　in　Hungary。　Their　military　is　pretty　much　a　minor　player　in　the　Warsaw　Pact；　and　their　foreign　policy；　aside　from　the　things　they　do　in　their　immediate　neighborhood；　is　just　a　mirror　image　of　Moscow's。　The　station's　been　passing　us　a　fair　amount　of　military　information；　but　the　Pentagon　doesn't　worry　too　much　about　it。　Their　army　doesn't　train　enough　to　be　a　threat　to　much　of　anybody；　and　the　Soviets　regard　them　as　unreliable；〃　the　NIO　concluded。
　　　〃Is　Szell　somebody　to　screw　up？〃　Moore　asked。　He　vaguely　remembered　meeting　the　guy　at　an　Agency　get…together。
　　　〃Actually；　Jimmy　is　well　regarded。　As　I　said；　sir；　we　don't　have　any　details　yet。　He'll　probably　be　home　by　the　end　of　the　week。〃
　　　〃Okay。　That　does　it？〃
　　　〃Yes；　sir。〃
　　　〃Nothing　new　on　the　Pope？〃
　　　〃Not　a　word；　sir；　but　it'll　take　time　for　our　people　to　shake　all　their　trees。〃
　　　〃That's　what　Ritter　says。〃
　　　It　took　foley　almost　an　hour　to　write　up　his　dispatch。　It　had　to　be　short　but　prehensive；　and　that　taxed　his　writing　ability。　Then　he　walked　it　down　to　Mike　Russell's　office。　He　sat　there　and　watched　a　grumbling　chief　munications　officer　one…time…pad　the　words　one　goddamned　letter　at　a　time；　pad　it　with　more　Czech　surnames；　then　super…encrypt　on　his　STRIPE　encryption　machine。　With　that　done；　it　went　on　the　secure　fax　machine；　which；　of　course；　encrypted　the　text　one　more　time；　but　in　a　graphics　fashion　rather　than　an　alphanumeric　one。　The　fax　encryption　was　relatively　simple；　but　since　the　opposition…which　was　assumed　to　monitor　the　embassy's　satellite　transmitter…could　not　tell　if　the　signal　was　graphics　or　text；　that　was　just　one　more　hoop　for　their　decryption　people　to　jump　through。　The　signal　went　up　to　a　geosynchronous　satellite　and　back　down　to　different　downlinks；　one　at　Fort　Belvoir；　Virginia；　another　at　Sunnyvale；　California；　and；　of　course；　one　at　Fort　Meade；　Maryland；　to　which　the　other　stations　sent　their　〃take〃　via　secure　fiber…optic　landlines。
　　　The　munications　people　at　Fort　Meade　were　all　uniformed　non…ms；　and　when　one　of　them；　an　Air　Force　E…5；　ran　it　through　his　decoding　machine；　he　was　surprised　to　see　the　notation　that　said　the　super…encryption　was　on　a　one…time　pad；　NHG…1329。
　　　〃Where　the　hell　is　that？〃　he　asked　his　watch　supervisor；　a　Navy　senior　chief。
　　　〃Damn；〃　the　chief　mented。　〃I　haven't　seen　one　of　those　in　a　long　time。〃　He　had　to　open　a　three…ring　binder　and　root　through　it　until　he　found　the　storage　site　inside　the　big　munications　vault　at　the　far　corner　of　the　room。　That　was　guarded　by　an　armed　Marine　staff　sergeant　whose　sense　of　humor；　like　that　of　all　the　Marines　who　worked　here；　had　been　surgically　removed　at　Bethesda　Naval　Medical　Center　prior　to　his　assignment　to　Fort　Meade。
　　　〃Hey；　Sarge；　gotta　go　inside　for　something；〃　he　told　the　jarhead。
　　　〃You　gotta　see　the　Major　first；〃　the　sergeant　informed　him。　And　so　the　senior　chief　walked　to　the　desk　of　the　USAF　major　who　was　sitting　at　his　desk；　reading　the　morning　paper。
　　　〃Morning；　Major。　I　need　to　get　something　out　of　the　vault。〃
　　　〃What's　that；　Chief？〃
　　　〃A　one…time　pad；　NHG…1329。〃
　　　〃We　still　have　any　of　them？〃　the　major　asked　in　some　surprise。
　　　〃Well；　sir；　if　not；　you　can　use　this　to　start　a　fire　on　your　grill　with。〃　He　handed　the　dispatch　over。
　　　The　Air　Force　officer　inspected　it。　〃Tell　me　about　it。　Okay。〃　He　scribbled　an　authorization　on　a　pad　in　the　corner　of　his　desk。　〃Give　this　to　the　Marine。〃
　　　〃Aye　aye；　sir。〃　The　senior　chief　walked　back　to　the　vault；　leaving　the　Air　Force　puke　to　wonder　why　the　squids　always　talked　so　funny。
　　　〃Here　you　go；　Sam；〃　the　chief　said；　handing　over　the　form。
　　　The　Marine　unlocked　the　swinging　door；　and　the　senior　chief　headed　inside。　The　box　the　pad　was　in　wasn't　locked；　presumably　because　anyone　who　could　get　past　the　seven　layers　of　security　required　to　get　to　this　point　was　probably　as　trustworthy　as　the　President's　wife。
　　　The　one…time　pad　was　a　small…ring　binder。　The　Navy　chief　signed　for　it　on　the　way　out；　then　went　back　to　his　desk。　The　Air　Force　sergeant　joined　him；　and　together　they　went　through　the　cumbersome　procedure　of　decrypting　the　dispatch。
　　　〃Damn；〃　the　young　NCO　observed　about　two…thirds　of　the　way　through。　〃Do　we　tell　anybody　about　that？〃
　　　〃That's　above　our　pay　grade；　sonny。　I　expect　the　DCI　will　let　the　right　people　know。　And　forget　you　ever　heard　that；〃　he　added。　But　neither　really　would；　and　both　knew　it。　With　all　the　wickets　they　had　to　pass　through　to　be　here；　the　idea　that　their　signal　systems　were　not　secure　was　rather　like　hearing　that　their　mother　was　turning　tricks　on　Sixteenth　Street　in　DC。
　　　〃Yeah；　Chief；　sure；〃　the　young　wing…wiper　replied。　〃How　do　we　deliver　this　one？〃
　　　〃I　think　a　courier；　sonny。　You　want　to　whistle　one　up？〃
　　　〃Aye　aye；　sir。〃　The　USAF　sergeant　took　his　leave　with　a　smile。
　　　The　courier　was　an　Army　staff　sergeant；　driving　a　tan　Army　Plymouth　Reliant；　who　took　the　sealed　envelope；　tucked　it　into　the　attache　case　on　his　front　seat；　and　drove　down　the　Baltimore…Washington　Parkway　to　the　D。C。　Beltway；　and　west　on　that　to　the　George　Washington　Parkway；　the　first　right　off　of　which　was　CIA。　At　that　point；　the　dispatch…whatever　the　hell　it　was；　he　didn't　know…ceased　being　his　responsibility。
　　　The　address　on　the　envelope　sent　it　to　the　Seventh　Floor。　Like　many　government　agencies；　CIA　never　really　slept。　On　the　top　floor　was　Tom　Ridley；　a　carded　National　Intelligence　Officer；　and　the　very　one　who　handled　Judge　Moore's　weekend　briefings。　It　took　him　about　three　seconds　to　see　that　this　one　had　to　go　to　the　judge　right　now。　He　lifted　his　STU　secure　phone　and　hit　speed…dial　button　1。
　　　〃This　is　Arthur　Moore；〃　a　voice　said　presently。
　　　〃Judge；　Tom　Ridley　here。　Something　just　came　in。〃
　　　〃Something〃　means　it　was　really　something。
　　　〃Now？〃
　　　〃Yes；　sir。〃
　　　〃Can　you　e　out　here？〃
　　　〃Yes；　sir。〃
　　　〃Jim　Greer；　too？〃
　　　〃Yes；　sir；　and　probably　Mr。　Bostock　also。〃
　　　That　made　it　interesting。　〃Okay；　call　them　and　then　e　on　out。〃　Ridley　could　almost　hear　the　Goddamn　it；　don't　I　ever