tell

saw surprise

saw surprise in the admiral's face and shook his head, irritated at himself. "Sorry. That didn't come out quite the way I intended." He thought for a moment, and Rose let him.
"I assume," Aston said at last, picking his words with care, "that you must've heard about what went on over the Atlantic a couple of weeks ago?"
"Hell, yes!" Rose snorted, then his eyes sharpened. "Why?"
"Because," Aston said very, very carefully, "I know what it was about."
There was absolute, dead silence in the cabin. Helsing knew Aston only by reputation, and he couldn't quite keep the incredulity off his face. Rose, on the other hand, knew him personally.
"How?" he asked finally.
"I can't tell you that," Aston said. "I'm sorry, but I don't know who I can tell. It's a very . . . delicate situation. Even more so than you can possibly guess."
"Dick," Rose said slowly, "we lost a Hummer and every man aboard the Kidd when it hit the fan. We've got over a hundred cases of blindness, and over two thousand dead civilians aboard airliners that lost their avionics and crashed . . . not to mention losing three Toms, one KA-6, and enough millions of dollars worth of electronics to put Roosevelt and two Ticos into the yard for a year. If you know what was behind it, you're going to have to spill it . . . and damned quick, too."
"I know, Jack," Aston said wearily. He shook his head. "Look, what I really need from you is three things: patience, a secure line to Norfolk, and a good neurologist with a limited sense of curiosity." He grinned tiredly at Rose's baffled expression. "I know it sounds crazy," he said, "and it gets better; I've got a young lady aboard my boat who I need brought aboard McKee with no questions and as little fuss as possible. And—" his eyes begged Rose for understanding "—I need an EEG run on her, very, very discreetly but absolutely ASAP."
"Do you really realize just how crazy that sounds?" Rose asked quietly, and Aston nodded.
"I do. Believe me, I do. I wish I could tell you all about it, but I can't. This thing's got a 'Need to Know' hook that's going to be a copper-plated bitch. I need guidance from CINCLANT before I can even admit what I know to myself."
"All right," Rose said slowly. "I'll let you run with it as you think best—for now, at