George, and sent the other straight to the top.
"So this is what you 've been holed up doing lo these three days?" George opened the folder and read the cover page and let out a whistle. H e read at the speed it look him to turn the fifty-odd pages.
"Well?" she asked.
"Couldn't put it down. The middle bit could use some bulling. It was Tallulah the second, not Tallulah the third, who insti gated the practice among the H awawi of female circumcision— quis’ha , by the way, not quish'aa."
"Other than that?"
‘I’m sure it helped to get it out of your system." "I sent it to Duckett."
George stared. "Why don't you just stab him in the he art with Malal's dagger and get it over with?"
Their boss kepi a nineteenth-century gold and silver dagger on his desk, a gilt of Prince Malal, Wasabia's minister of agriculture. It was probably the cheapest present ever given by a Wasabi royal, but Duckett was proud of it. He used it as a letter opener, and sometimes brandished it to make a point.
"George, I'm asking you what you think."
"I hardly know where to begin. This goes a bit beyond our traditional brief. You didn't really send this to him? Come on." Florence nodded. "And to S." "You sent it to S?"
"Why not?'This way Duckett can't st op it. You're the one who's always saying it's easier to ask fo rgiveness than permission." "Well." George said. "Well, well, well, Wow."
Florence's phone rang. "Florence? Mr. Duckett wants you. It's urgent." "Do you want to be cremated." George said, "or do you prefer traditional burial?"
FLORENCE ENTERED DUCK KI T'S office without knocking and closed the door behind her. It shut with a portentous click.
Charles Duckett was leaning back in his chair, as if trying to distance himself physically from the document in front of him. He was looking at it as though it were a dead animal, far gone in putrefaction, that had bee n malevolently dumped upon a pristine altar consecrate d to solemn rituals and tended to by votaries of an elite cult .
The cover sheet looked up insistently.
FEMALE EMANCIPATION AS A MEAN'S OF ACHIEVING LONG-TERM POLITICAL STABILITY IN THE NEAR EAST: AN OPERATIONAL PROPOSAL Submitted by Florence Farfaletti. DDASNEA Circulation: SecState. DDASNEA
"I know you've been under a strain, Florence. I understand that—" "Charles, the reason I sent it to S before getti ng your approval was to relieve you of responsibility. And to be honest, I didn't think I'd get your approval. So what do think?"
"What do I t hink?" Duckett said absently. "Of the fact that one of my deputies, whose actions reflect directly on me. has circulated a proposal calling for the fomenting of revolution in a country that supplies one third of America's energy needs, a country to which we are formally allied, to which we are vitally and strategically linked... circulated it and sent it direc tly to the ... secretary of stat e? What do I think'?"
"I truly believe that—"
"Do you see this phone on my desk. Florence?" "Yes, Charles, I see the phone."
"Any moment now, that phone is going to ring. It will be S calling. The secretary would like to see you, Mr. Duckett. Right away. That's what the voice will say."
"Charles—"
"During my time here. I've endeavored to make my infrequent visits to S occasions of light. Sometimes, given the region it falls to us to superintend, that is not always possible. But at least when the secretary sees me walk into his office, he does not say to himself, W hy, here's Charlie Duckett! Say, isn't he the one whose staff sends me cockamamy proposals to undermine the social structure of America's most s trategic partner in the Middle East? Why, come on in. Charlie boy! What's that Skunk Works of yours cooked up this time? Ho ho. Certainly hope The Washington Post doesn't find out I've been reading proposals to overthrow Wasabia. Ha ha. Might makes things a bit sticky at t he dinner I'm giving for Prince Bawa d next Thursday at my house. Oh, and by the way. Charlie old bean,
"So this is what you 've been holed up doing lo these three days?" George opened the folder and read the cover page and let out a whistle. H e read at the speed it look him to turn the fifty-odd pages.
"Well?" she asked.
"Couldn't put it down. The middle bit could use some bulling. It was Tallulah the second, not Tallulah the third, who insti gated the practice among the H awawi of female circumcision— quis’ha , by the way, not quish'aa."
"Other than that?"
‘I’m sure it helped to get it out of your system." "I sent it to Duckett."
George stared. "Why don't you just stab him in the he art with Malal's dagger and get it over with?"
Their boss kepi a nineteenth-century gold and silver dagger on his desk, a gilt of Prince Malal, Wasabia's minister of agriculture. It was probably the cheapest present ever given by a Wasabi royal, but Duckett was proud of it. He used it as a letter opener, and sometimes brandished it to make a point.
"George, I'm asking you what you think."
"I hardly know where to begin. This goes a bit beyond our traditional brief. You didn't really send this to him? Come on." Florence nodded. "And to S." "You sent it to S?"
"Why not?'This way Duckett can't st op it. You're the one who's always saying it's easier to ask fo rgiveness than permission." "Well." George said. "Well, well, well, Wow."
Florence's phone rang. "Florence? Mr. Duckett wants you. It's urgent." "Do you want to be cremated." George said, "or do you prefer traditional burial?"
FLORENCE ENTERED DUCK KI T'S office without knocking and closed the door behind her. It shut with a portentous click.
Charles Duckett was leaning back in his chair, as if trying to distance himself physically from the document in front of him. He was looking at it as though it were a dead animal, far gone in putrefaction, that had bee n malevolently dumped upon a pristine altar consecrate d to solemn rituals and tended to by votaries of an elite cult .
The cover sheet looked up insistently.
FEMALE EMANCIPATION AS A MEAN'S OF ACHIEVING LONG-TERM POLITICAL STABILITY IN THE NEAR EAST: AN OPERATIONAL PROPOSAL Submitted by Florence Farfaletti. DDASNEA Circulation: SecState. DDASNEA
"I know you've been under a strain, Florence. I understand that—" "Charles, the reason I sent it to S before getti ng your approval was to relieve you of responsibility. And to be honest, I didn't think I'd get your approval. So what do think?"
"What do I t hink?" Duckett said absently. "Of the fact that one of my deputies, whose actions reflect directly on me. has circulated a proposal calling for the fomenting of revolution in a country that supplies one third of America's energy needs, a country to which we are formally allied, to which we are vitally and strategically linked... circulated it and sent it direc tly to the ... secretary of stat e? What do I think'?"
"I truly believe that—"
"Do you see this phone on my desk. Florence?" "Yes, Charles, I see the phone."
"Any moment now, that phone is going to ring. It will be S calling. The secretary would like to see you, Mr. Duckett. Right away. That's what the voice will say."
"Charles—"
"During my time here. I've endeavored to make my infrequent visits to S occasions of light. Sometimes, given the region it falls to us to superintend, that is not always possible. But at least when the secretary sees me walk into his office, he does not say to himself, W hy, here's Charlie Duckett! Say, isn't he the one whose staff sends me cockamamy proposals to undermine the social structure of America's most s trategic partner in the Middle East? Why, come on in. Charlie boy! What's that Skunk Works of yours cooked up this time? Ho ho. Certainly hope The Washington Post doesn't find out I've been reading proposals to overthrow Wasabia. Ha ha. Might makes things a bit sticky at t he dinner I'm giving for Prince Bawa d next Thursday at my house. Oh, and by the way. Charlie old bean,
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