Page 134 of Whisper

September 2006

“Where do I submit paperwork to update my personnel status to married?”

Eight weeks after leaving Iraq, Kris strutted into CIA headquarters and into George’s new office. George had been promoted again, now the deputy director of operations, in charge of clandestine field operations around the world. Time had been kind to George; rank advancement even kinder.

Kris couldn’t begrudge him too much. George had carried them all alongside him with his rise through the agency. Kris was off to head up a base hunting Bin Laden in Afghanistan again, and Ryan was the chief of station in Afghanistan, just beneath George.

First things first. Kris wasn’t going back to Afghanistan without official endorsement of his marriage to David. During the Saqqaf hunt, David had been transferred from contractor status to employee status, a way to bring him on board without having to send him to The Farm, interrupt the Saqqaf hunt. Which meant he was now a CIA employee. Which meant Kris and David could be deployed together to Afghanistan as a married couple.

He held up his marriage certificate, sent from Toronto, like a warrant. He arched one eyebrow.

George’s fingers hovered over his keyboard. He blinked. “Married?”

“Last month. In Canada. We’re married now. I expect we’ll be treated like every other married CIA couple.”

George blinked again. “I… don’t know how that will work. There are no gay married couples.”

“Yes there are. We’re married. And it doesn’t matter if we’re gay. We will get the same treatment.”

George cringed. “But… gay marriage isn’t legal here, Kris. Only a few states recognize it, and the federal government explicitly stands against it. The DOMA—” George frowned.

The Defense of Marriage Act. Kris’s blood boiled. In 1996, the same year it was finally legal for homosexuals to hold security clearances, Congress passed the DOMA, defining federal law to recognize marriage as between one man and one woman only. No federal agency recognized same sex marriage or civil unions. “You’re the deputy director of operations. You can make this happen.”

“I cannot change federal law.”

“You can get us stationed together. He’s coming with me to Afghanistan. And this time, none of the bullshit about not being able to share housing. We’re fucking married. And I don’t give a shit what some ridiculous law says. You want me to find Bin Laden? This is my price.”

“You’re an employee of the CIA, not a mafia boss. You don’t have a price we’ll pay. You do the assignment or you’re out of a job.” George’s voice turned sharp, his face sour.

“You called me in Iraq. You begged for my help, and I came through for you,” Kris snapped. “You going to show up for me?”

George’s jaw clenched. Kris watched him lick his teeth, purse his lips. “You need to go to HR if you want to update your marital status,” he growled. “I’m not the person to talk to.”

“Mr. Caldera, there’s no option in the system to list you as married to Mr. Haddad.” The frazzled HR tech threw up her hands. “If I change your status to married, it asks for thewife’sname. If I say that the spouse is also in the CIA, in order to give you the joint assignments that you want, it gives me a list of female employees to select. Mr. Haddad isn’t on the list of people you can be married to.”

Kris blinked. He counted to five, slowly, in his head. He held up his left hand. “Do you see this ring? It’s identical to the one on David’s hand. My husband’s hand. We are married.” He tapped their marriage license, laid out on the desk between him and the HR tech, repeatedly. “We’re married, legally.”

“In Canada.” The tech sat back, sighing. “I’m not even supposed to try to help you. The law in the US is clear. The federal government does not recognize marriages between same sex partners. It’s not allowed. It doesn’t exist in the United States. There’s nothing I can do.”

“I’m married. Crossing a border doesn’t invalidate that,” Kris snapped.

“Mr. Caldera, it just can’t happen here. Gay marriage isn’t legal.”

“So you’re saying I can’t get assigned to the same stations as my husband? Can’t put my husband on my health plan? Can’t file our taxes together? Can’t put him as my inheritor and designated spouse survivor?”

The HR tech shook her head. “No. You can’t. Not until the law is changed. And…” She shrugged. “It doesn’t seem like that is going to happen anytime soon.” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t fucking care about your sorrys!” Kris’s gaze fell on her diamond ring, glittering from her left hand. “You’re married?”

“I am.”

“To a man?”

She nodded, once. Her expression closed down. Gates fell behind her eyes. She lifted her chin, staring at him.

“How would you feel if you couldn’t call him your husband? If you were told your marriage wasn’t legal? That it didn’t exist?”

“I wouldn’t have bothered getting married if I knew I couldn’t. I wouldn’t try to cause problems.” She laced her hands in her lap and glared. “I cannot help you, Mr. Caldera. In the eyes of the federal government and the CIA, your marriage isn’t valid and doesn’t exist. If the law changes, you can come back. Until then.”