"I assure you there is no cause for alarm, Mr. Walton. The situation may seem temporarily unfortunate, but I have long believed all things turn out for the best."
"Could have fooled me. But while we're all waiting for the silver lining to this cloud, you could do everybody a favor and get your goddam securities dealers here to issue a statement clarifying their intentions."
"Mr. Walton"-—he chuckled—"you ascribe far too much influence to me. I am merely a banker, one of many in Japan. I have no control over what our institutions choose to do or not do."
"I wish I could believe that."
"Well, I suppose there are many things about Dai Nippon that need to be explained more fully. I look forward to seeing you next week. We can talk then."
Upon which he advised me just to sit tight. All further communications would be routed through their office uptown. And with that dictum in place, he suddenly had better things to do and said thanks for all my help. There was the sound of some satellite bleeps, then silence.
Welcome to the Brave New World, I thought. Again I had this definite feeling the DNI rodeo had just begun.
By then Jack was nearing terminal exhaustion. I passed along Noda's cryptic refusal to lift a hand, advised him to make a statement tomorrow that the U.S. financial markets could be dangerous to everybody's health, and helped him into a cab for his aide's place uptown. The evening was fizzling out with nobody left at the bar but regulars. Thus I went home alone to check in with Amy and then drift off into a very unsettling dream.
My nightmare was over by morning. America's was just beginning.