"Thank you," said Dugan, "I want to say that. The government is rotten but the people are wonderful. Czars and Stalins come and go, but the Russian people live on."
XVII. ALL ROADS LEAD
There was a special conference in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The Director of Plans and Operations was there. So was the Director of Intelligence, who had brought Dugan's friend, Colonel Landsiedel, into the room with him. (Nobody had bothered to bring back Dugan, who had been to Atomsk, or Swanson, the photointelligence expert, both of whom had spent more time than all the rest solving the riddle of Atomsk.) A gnomish little Russian expert from the State Department was there, sucking interminable cigarettes from a long, stained holder. Two atomic engineers, who had been allowed to look over the technical papers while an M.P. with a machine gun stood guard over them, had already made up their minds and knew what would be expected of them.
The Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and General Coppersmith from Tokyo all entered the room together.
After greetings, they took their places at the perfectly appointed table.
The Chief of staff played here's-the-church-and-here's-the-steeple with his hands before clearing his throat and opening the meeting:
"There isn't much to say. We have confirmed the location of Atomsk. I take it that all you gentlemen are agreed."
All around the table the men nodded.
"We're not at war with the Soviet Union. We have even apologized for the attack on the Soviet coast which was undertaken by some drunken Japanese fishermen. It shows how far we are prepared to go to conciliate them." Nobody had bothered — from Tokyo headquarters — to tell the Chief of Staff just what those fishermen had been doing, and the Chief of Naval Operations had not yet seen fit to turn the secret Navy report over to the Army.
The Deputy Chief, stealing a glance at his boss' face, said, "And we have, of course, given all pertinent information to the Air people so they can add it to their target list."