The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

scholarship that commands respect. Except that nobody over here knows much about
it,' Riley concluded.
'Any other conceptual problems?' Jack asked.
Father Tim laughed: 'The Council of Vienna! How did you forget that, Jack?'
'What?' Alden sputtered in annoyance.
'1815. Everybody knows that! After the final settlement of the Napoleonic Wars,
the Swiss had to promise never to export mercenaries. I'm sure we can finesse
that. Excuse me, Dr Alden. The Pope's guard detachment is composed of Swiss
mercenaries. So was the French king's once – they all got killed defending King
Louis and Marie Antoinette. Same thing nearly happened to the Pope's troops
once, but they held the enemy off long enough for a small detachment to evacuate
the Holy Father to a secure location, Castel Gandolfo, as I recall. Mercenaries
used to be the main Swiss export, and they were feared wherever they went. The
Swiss Guards of the Vatican are mostly for show now, of course, but once upon a
time the need for them was quite real. In any case, Swiss mercenaries had such a
ferocious reputation that a footnote of the Council of Vienna, which settled the
Napoleonic Wars, compelled the Swiss to promise not to allow their people to
fight anywhere but at home and the Vatican. But, as I just said, that is a
trivial problem. The Swiss would be delighted to be seen helping solve this
problem. It could only increase their prestige in a region where there is a lot
of money.'
'Sure,' Jack observed. 'Especially if we provide their equipment. M-1 tanks,
Bradley fighting vehicles, cellular communications . . .'
'Come on, Jack,' Riley said.
'No, Father, the nature of the mission will demand some heavy weapons, for
psychological impact if nothing else. You have to demonstrate that you're
serious. Once you do that, then the rest of the force can wear the Michaelangelo
jumpsuits and carry their halberds and smile into the cameras – but you still
need a Smith & Wesson to beat four aces, especially over there.'
Riley conceded the point. 'I like the elegance of the concept, gentlemen. It
appeals to the noble. Everyone involved claims to believe in God by one name or
another. By appealing to them in His name . . . hmm, that's the key, isn't it?
The City of God. When do you need an answer?'
'It's not all that high-priority,' Alden answered. Riley got the message. It was
a matter of official White House interest, but was not something to be
fast-tracked. Neither was it something to be buried on the bottom of someone's
desk pile. It was, rather, a back-channel inquiry to be handled expeditiously
and very quietly.
'Well, it has to go through the bureaucracy. The Vatican has the world's oldest
continuously-operating bureaucracy in the world, remember.'
'That's why we're talking to you,' Ryan pointed out. 'The General can cut
through all the crap.'
'That's no way to talk about the princes of the church, Jack!' Riley nearly
exploded with laughter.
'I'm a Catholic, remember? I understand.'
'I'll drop them a line,' Riley promised. Today, his eyes said.
'Quietly,' Alden emphasized.