"Jake met him at my house in Australia," Pickering interrupted.
"-and brought him into my office."
"So what do we do about McCoy? You want me to call this General-Stewart, you said?-and get him off our back?"
"I thought perhaps you would be willing to call General Forrest. That would keep us out of it entirely. And it would give you a chance to talk to him."
Major General Horace W. T. Forrest was Assistant Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Headquarters, USMC.
"Why do I suspect an ulterior motive, Rickabee? Why didn't you just call Forrest?"
"I thought it might be of value, General, to remind General Forrest that you are not just a nightmare of his."
"You really think it's that bad?"
"My job is to see things as they are, General. Let me put it this way: I suspect that General Forrest secretly hopes that your recovery will take some time, maybe until the war is over. He has not come to see you, you may have noticed, or even had his aide call your aide to ask about your condition."
"In that case, get the sonofabitch on the phone," Pickering said. "After you tell me what to say to him."
"The General has been made aware of the problem, Sir. Another general officer, who has no need to know why, has to be discouraged from asking about one of your officers. I'm sure the General will know how to deal with the situation."
"I haven't the foggiest idea... " Pickering said, and stopped.
Rickabee was already picking up the telephone.
"General Pickering for General Forrest," Rickabee said, and then handed Pickering the telephone.
"Forrest."
"Pickering, General."
"Well, what a pleasant surprise, General. I understand you've been a little under the weather."
"I'm feeling much better, General."
"Ready for duty, General?"
"I've placed myself on limited duty, General, until I can get the doctors to agree with my prognosis."
"Well, General, you really don't want to rush things. You'd better listen to the doctors."
"I have a little problem, General. I thought I could ask you help with it."
"Anything within my power, General."
"It has to do with General Stewart-"
"Public relations type, that Stewart?"
"That's right, General."
"Well, you and I, General, are really not in the public relations business, are we?"
"That's precisely the problem, General. General Stewart apparently has an interest in putting one of my officers into the public eye."
"Who would that be, General?"
"Lieutenant McCoy, General."
"Oh, yes. I know McCoy. What the hell does Stewart want with him?"
"It seems that McCoy's brother did something spectacular on Guadalcanal, General. General Stewart is having him returned for publicity purposes. He found out that Sergeant McCoy's brother is my McCoy and wants to involve him."
"Give him the runaround, General."
"General Stewart is a determined man, General. He sent a major to see Colonel Rickabee."
"Give the major the runaround. I was under the impression that Rickabee was pretty good at that sort of thing."
"Colonel Rickabee is, General. But the Major is about as determined as General Stewart. Which is why I'm asking for your help, General."
"I'll deal with General Stewart, General. Put it out of your mind."
"Thank you very much, General."
"As soon as you feel up to it, General, have your aide call mine and we'll set something up. You and I really have to sit down and have a long talk."
"That's very kind of you, General. I'll do that."
"Good to finally have the chance to talk to you, Pickering," General Forrest said, and the line went dead.
Pickering put the telephone back in its cradle and looked at Rickabee.
"How'd I do?"
"General officers are expected to do very well, General. You didn't let the side down."
"If I were Forrest, I wouldn't like me either," Pickering said.
"I wouldn't like it a goddamn bit if somebody I never heard of, who got his commission in a damned strange way, showed up as one of my senior subordinates."
"General, President Roosevelt is the Commander in Chief. There should be no questioning of his orders by a Marine."
"I don't think Forrest is questioning the legality of the order, but I suspect he has some question about its wisdom."
"Who was it, General-Churchill?-who said, `War is too important a matter to leave to the generals'?"