CHAPTER 12CAPTAIN HANSEN preferred hiatuses to the topic he knew would arise on the trip to the airport. With Admiral Primrose, alone, he could have kept the subject tabled. With Defense joining them, the conversational mixture grew volatile. When Dalton Lamar decided to hitchhike with Defense, Hansen knew that a ewe grazing on a roadside lawn would trigger the flash point.
Since the Secretary of the Interior was hitchhiking, Defense assigned him the pull-down seat forward, across from the captain. As they pulled away from the Pentagon, Interior said to Hansen, “I hear you witnessed a tragedy last night.”
“Yes, sir. One of the FBI men suffered a heart attack while monitoring the young people’s conversation.”
“Whooo-eee! What were they talking about?”
Providentially, Defense intervened
