The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

'Welcome!' Cardinal D'Antonio kissed Stavarkos on both cheeks. He found the
man's beard distasteful, but that could not be helped. The Cardinal led the
Patriarch into the conference room. There were sixteen people grouped around a
table, and at the foot of it was an empty chair. Stavarkos took it.
'Thank you for joining us,' said Secretary Talbot.
'One does not reject an invitation of this sort,' the Patriarch replied.
'You've read the briefing material?' That had been delivered by messenger.
'It is very ambitious,' Stavarkos allowed cautiously.
'Can you accept your role in the agreement?'
This was going awfully fast, the Patriarch thought. But – 'Yes,' he answered
simply. 'I require plenipotentiary authority over all Christian shrines in the
Holy Land. If that is agreed to, then I will gladly join your agreement.'
D'Antonio managed to keep his face impassive. He controlled his breathing and
prayed rapidly for divine intervention. He'd never quite be able to decide
whether he got it or not.
'It is very late in the day for such a sweeping demand.' Heads turned. The
speaker was Dmitriy Popov, First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Soviet Union.
'It is also inconsiderate to seek unilateral advantage when everyone here has
conceded so much. Would you stand in the way of the accord on that basis alone?'
Stavarkos was not accustomed to such direct rebukes.
'The question of Christian shrines is not of direct significance to the
agreement, Your Eminence,' Secretary Talbot observed. 'We find your conditional
willingness to participate disappointing.'
'Perhaps I misunderstood the briefing material,' Stavarkos allowed, covering his
flanks. 'Could you perhaps clarify what my status would be?'
***
'No way,' the anchor snorted.
'Why not?' Angela Miriles replied. 'What else makes sense?'
'It's just too much.'
'It is a lot,' Miriles agreed, 'but what else fits?'
'I'll believe it when I see it.'
'You might not see it. Stavarkos doesn't much like the Roman Catholic Church.
That battle they had last Christmas was a nasty one.'
'How come we didn't report it, then?'
'Because we were too damned busy talking about the downturn in Christmas sales
figures,' you asshole, she didn't add.
***
'A separate commission, then?' Stavarkos didn't like that.
'The Metropolitan wishes to send his own representative,' Popov said. Dmitriy
Popov still believed in Marx rather than God, but the Russian Orthodox Church
was Russian, and Russian participation in the agreement had to be real, however
minor this point might appear. 'I must say that I find this matter curious. Do
we hold up the agreement on the issue of which Christian church is the most
influential? Our purpose here is to defuse a potential flashpoint for war
between Jews and Muslims, and the Christians stand in the way?' Popov asked the
ceiling – a little theatrically, D'Antonio thought.
'This side issue is best left to a separate committee of Christian clerics,'