Ikon by Graham Masterton Page B

one-third.’
    Senator Rodney sniffed, and coughed. There was an NBC editorial last night saying that he was going soft on the Soviets for no particular reason at all. Compromise without credit they called it. And considering the way he used to talk, before he was inaugurated … He used to make the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and you know what , feel about arms limitation.’
    Titus swallowed more whiskey, and then said, ‘We may have a way of stiffening him up again.’
    ‘Is this why you’re calling?’ asked Senator Rodney, cautiously.
    That’s right. Joe Jasper has just stumbled across some very interesting visual and recorded material which shows President Marshall Roberts in a position which you might euphemistically call compromising.’
    ‘Witnesses?’
    The very best. The lady herself, and also another lady of spotless character who happened to see them go to his suite together, and who had the unenviable task of cleaning up when they’d finished.’
    ‘Cleaning up? What kind of cleaning up?’
    ‘I always said you were prurient, Ken. Let’s just say that our beloved President asked the lady to give him a little shower.’
    There was a digestive silence. On the other side of the room, Joe Jasper thrust his hands into his pockets and gave a funny little shiver of pleasure. Then Senator Rodney said, ‘What are you going to do? This is pretty hot stuff.’
    ‘What I’m not going to do is rush around to the Oval Office waving a fistful of Polaroids and tell Marshall that he’s got to call off the talks on Reduction In Nuclear Capability right away, or else.’
    ‘But you don’t want RING to go very much further, do you? Nor do any of us. The further we go, the more promises Marshall makes, the more difficult it’s going to be to extract ourselves with any kind of credibility. The worst thing you can do in politics is look as if you’re always changing your mind. It’s worse than being wrong.’
    Titus said, ‘I’m not going to put any kind of a squeeze on Marshall until I’m sure of my strategy. Let’s be realistic. There’s always the possibility that next week’s RING talks may break down of their own accord. Jesus, Ken, it took them three months to decide how long each delegate could spend in the men’s room. And the point is that I don’t want to waste the nastiest, smelliest piece of information I’ve ever had against Marshall, not if it isn’t really necessary. This stuff could be even more useful at election time.’
    ‘Still got your eye on the Lincoln Sitting Room?’ asked Senator Rodney, with noticeable sharpness. Titus had often visited President Nixon in the Lincoln Sitting Room when the President was working there after dinner, and he had always made it obvious that he coveted it.
    ‘When destiny calls, destiny calls,’ said Titus, unmoved. ‘Meanwhile, I’m going to install our principal witness in
    a house just outside of Washington, where we can get to her easily in case we need to produce her out of a hat; and I’m going to make sure that she’s guarded day and night. Joe tells me the other lady is probably safer where she is, at home in Las Vegas. If we start putting pressure on Marshall because of what he did at the Las Vegas Futura, and one of their chambermaids goes mysteriously missing, then Marshall’s men are going to know who to look for. The woman has a husband and children, and the last thing we want is to have her chickening out because Marshall has threatened to incinerate the family home.’
    Senator Rodney said, “This is going to be dangerous, you know. Marshall isn’t going to like it one little bit.’
    ‘I’m not frightened of Marshall.’
    ‘Well, maybe not. But he won’t take it lying down.’
    “These days, I’m not so sure,’ said Titus. ‘All the guts seem to have dropped out of him. Don’t you remember that speech he made at the San Francisco Cow Palace, during the primaries? All that talk about ‘the light of liberty’?