"I'm being tossed out on a premise?"
"Why don't you resign?"
"Why split hairs?" asked Steve.
"A matter of prestige. You have always had an excellent record. Had you shown any blots, you'd have been cashiered during training school. You graduated high in the class and therefore—according to the laws—we had to accept you. Mostly," said Morehouse sharply and hitting his fist in the palm of his other hand, "because we knew that any reason we give for releasing you must be air tight. Wrightwood owns too many news agencies, congressmen, and top-drawer statesmen. He'll eye anything we do and if he can, he'll yell favoritism, revenge, or rank incompetence."
"And if I resign?"
"That will be your prerogative."
"Also an admission to Wrightwood that he was right?"
"That's your problem."
"I decline."
"We can force your hand, Hagen."