"Why not?" said Landsiedel.
"Me?" said Dugan. "I'm half Aleut, Colonel."
Landsiedel burst out with, "And who do you think gives a damn, except you?"
Dugan looked at him and then sipped the drink. They both looked out of the window.
"Sorry," said both of them, simultaneously. The coincidence made them laugh. Landsiedel nodded at Dugan, bidding him speak.
The black-Irish mood had passed from Dugan. He was back in the role of major, and playing it handsomely. With a crooked, amused smile he uttered the literal truth, "Nothing around Atomsk was as tough as this. I've got to work this out myself. Can I see Coppersmith without seeing her?"
"No," said Landsiedel.
"No?"
"No." Landsiedel was not joking. "I had to give her a direct order to keep her from coming here. I didn't know what you wanted. You're tired. I wasn't sure you'd have remembered her."
"I did," said Dugan. "Much good it did me. My mind's not made up. How could I go away on a two-year mission if — if I actually had a family?"