The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

subordinate to and part of his intense personal will.
'This city, this Vatican state, is consecrated to the service of God and man,
and today it has fulfilled that purpose better than at any time. For today, my
fellow citizens of the world, today we have achieved another part of the dream
that all men and women share wherever they may live. With the help of your
prayers, through a vision given us so many centuries ago, we have come to see
that peace is a better thing than war, a goal worthy of efforts even more
mighty, demanding courage far greater than is required for the shedding of human
blood. To turn away from war, to turn towards peace, is the measure of our
strength.
'Today it is my honor, and a privilege that all of us share, to announce to the
world a treaty to put a final end to the discord that has sadly defiled an area
holy to us all. With this agreement, there will be a final solution based on
justice, and faith, and the word of the God Whom we all know by different names,
but Who knows each of us.
'This treaty recognizes the rights of all men and women in the region to
security, and freedom of religion, to freedom of speech, to the basic dignity
enshrined in the knowledge that all of us are God's creation, that each of us is
unique, but that we are all equal in His sight . . .'
***
The final hatch came open. Ghosn closed his eyes and whispered a fatigued prayer
of thanks. He'd been at this for hours, skipping his noon meal. He set the hatch
down, placing the bolts on the concave surface so that they wouldn't be lost.
Ever the engineer, Ghosn was neat and tidy in everything he did. Inside the
hatch was a plastic seal, still tight, he noted with admiration. That was a
moisture and weather seal. And that definitely made it a sophisticated
electronic device. Ghosn touched it gently. It wasn't pressurized. He used a
small knife to cut the plastic, and peeled it carefully aside. He looked for the
first time into the cylinder, and it was as though a hand of ice suddenly
gripped his heart. He was looking at a distorted sphere of yellow-gray . . .
like dirty bread dough. it was a bomb.
At least a self-destruct device. A very powerful one, fifty kilos of
high-explosive . . .
Ghosn backed off; a sudden urge to urinate gripped his loins. The engineer
fumbled for a smoke and lit it on the third attempt. How had he missed . . .
what? What had he missed? Nothing. He'd been as careful as he always was. The
Israelis hadn't killed him yet. Their design engineers were clever, but so was
he.
Patience, he told himself. He commenced a new examination of the cylinder's
exterior. There was the wire, still attached, from the radar device, and three
additional plug points, all of them empty.
What do I know of this thing?
Radar transceiver, heavy case, access hatch . . . explosive sphere wired with .
. .
Ghosn leaned forward again to examine the object. At regular and symmetrical
intervals in the sphere were detonators . . . the wires from them were . . .
It isn't possible. No. It cannot be that!