Chapter summaries Cry Havoc Jack Carr

Chapter 31: The NSA, ARPANET, and Desmond’s Betrayal

Spoiler Warning: This summary and analysis contains major plot details for Chapter 31 of Cry Havoc. Read on only if you’ve finished the chapter or don’t mind spoilers.

Summary

NSA information processing specialist Allister Desmond attends a lecture by computing pioneer J.C.R. Licklider on the future of networked computing and ARPANET. While Licklider paints a vision of “internetworking” and a Global Computer Network, Desmond’s attention is elsewhere—on his lover Clara, already checked into a hotel, and on the rotor reader concealed in his pocket. He plans to copy classified keying material from the crypto vault and hand it to Clara for her career advancement in West Germany.

As Licklider describes man-computer symbiosis and packet switching, Desmond reflects on the NSA’s history of domestic surveillance and the fate of Herbert Yardley, whose 1931 book The American Black Chamber exposed earlier code-breaking secrets. Desmond rationalizes his impending theft by reasoning that if the NSA illegally spies on American citizens, a small act of treason for an ally is harmless.

After the lecture, he hurries toward the exit, only to be stopped by two security men who announce a new random briefcase inspection. They open his attaché case and find only pens, a grocery list, tissues, an apple, and a Len Deighton spy novel. The rotor reader remains hidden in Desmond’s coat pocket. He passes the check, sweating profusely, then drives off the NSA campus. Paranoid, he watches for pursuing cars in the rearview mirror, but his secret has escaped with him.

Key Events

  • Desmond sits through Licklider’s lecture on ARPANET and the “Computer as a Communication Device,” half-listening while fixating on his evening with Clara.
  • He recalls NSA’s origins—the Cipher Bureau, Yardley’s exposure, and the resulting Secrets Act—and uses the agency’s own lawlessness to excuse his coming betrayal.
  • Desmond confirms the rotor reader is in his jacket pocket; he will soon enter the crypto vault alone, free of any two-person rule, and copy keying material.
  • Following the lecture, he bypasses his office and heads directly to the lobby, where two suits announce a new random security protocol.
  • They search his Hartmann briefcase on a table while other employees are stopped as well; the case contains only innocent items, and the guards let him go after trivial small talk about spy novels.
  • Free but sweating, Desmond walks to his Ford Galaxie, starts the car, and drives away, constantly checking for dark sedans in his mirror, certain he has gotten away clean.

Character Development

  • Allister Desmond: A mid-level NSA programmer who has betrayed his country and sees himself as a romantic Bond-like figure. He craves the thrill of the act, yet the ease of the theft disappoints him; he wishes it were more difficult to feel like a true secret agent. His infatuation with Clara blinds him to the gravity of his treason, and he rationalizes the crime by pointing to the NSA’s own illegal domestic surveillance. The chapter reveals a man whose arrogance and self-deception nearly unravel at a superficial security check, yet his luck holds—for now.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • The Illusion of Security: The random briefcase check is theater; it searches the attaché but ignores the pocket where the real contraband sits. The rotor reader symbolizes the vulnerability that no protocol catches when the threat is internal.
  • Secrets Within Secrets: The NSA’s mission to read everyone’s mail exists alongside Desmond’s personal betrayal—both hidden from the public and from each other. Yardley’s absent photo in the hallway underscores how the agency tries to bury its own history of exposure even as a new traitor walks the halls.
  • Technology Outpacing Ethics: Licklider’s vision of a Global Computer Network that could give the NSA total information awareness is juxtaposed with the very human act of theft that undermines its foundation. The future network will be only as secure as the people who build it.
  • Rationalization of Treason: Desmond convinces himself that what he is doing is harmless because he is helping Clara’s career and because the NSA already breaks the law. He even sees the stolen keys as a tool for an allied nation, ignoring that keying material is the skeleton key to all encrypted communications he programs.
  • The Ordinary Spy: Desmond is not a slick professional but an easily distracted, sweaty man whose cover is nearly blown by a lunchtime apple and a paperback. The chapter illustrates that real espionage often wears a tweed jacket and walks out the front door.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter plants treason at the heart of the digital age’s birthplace. Set in the very moment when the ARPANET—the precursor to the modern internet—is being conceived, it shows how an average employee can undermine the world’s most secretive agency. Desmond’s successful theft of cryptographic material starkly demonstrates that even the most advanced technological fortress is only as strong as the human beings inside it. The casual security check that misses the rotor reader foreshadows catastrophic consequences, making this chapter a quiet but pivotal turn in the novel’s espionage plot.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. How does Desmond rationalize his theft of NSA keying material?
    He argues that since the NSA illegally intercepts private communications of American citizens—including senators and journalists—without consequence, his own crime is minor. He also frames it as helping Clara’s career at a West German company (a trusted ally), and even finds the act exciting, like living inside a spy novel.

  2. What is the irony of J.C.R. Licklider’s lecture occurring during Desmond’s attempted smuggling?
    Licklider envisions a Global Computer Network that would let the NSA “read everyone’s mail,” yet at that precise moment a trusted NSA programmer is stealing the very keys that could compromise that network. The scene highlights a fundamental gap: no amount of technological foresight can account for a willing insider.

  3. What does the lobby security check reveal about institutional vulnerabilities?
    The search is superficial and misses the hidden rotor reader because it only targets briefcases. It underscores that even an intelligence agency fixated on secrets can be defeated by a simple pocket-sized device. The guard’s casual conversation about spy novels mirrors Desmond’s own fantasy, turning a near-capture into a farcical illustration of how security theater fails.

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