The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

everyone. Finally, he waved for silence and the applause grudgingly subsided.
'My fellow Americans, I come to this house to report on recent events in Europe
and the Middle East, and to lay before the United States Senate a pair of treaty
documents which, I hope, will meet with your speedy and enthusiastic approval.'
More applause. 'With these treaties, the United States, operating in close
cooperation with many other nations – some trusted old friends, and some
valuable new ones – has helped to bring about peace in a region that has helped
to give peace to the world, but which has known all too little peace itself.
'One can search all of human history. One can trace the evolution of the human
spirit. All of human progress, all the shining lights that have lit our way up
from barbarism, all the great and good men and women who have prayed and dreamed
and hoped and worked for this moment – this moment, this opportunity, this
culmination, is the last page in the history of human conflict. We have reached
not a starting point, but a stopping point. We – ' More applause interrupted the
President. He was very slightly annoyed, having not planned for this
interruption. Fowler smiled broadly, waving for silence.
'We have reached a stopping point. I have the honor to report to you that
America has led the way on the road to justice and peace.' Applause. 'It is
fitting that this should be so . . .'
'A little thick, isn't it?' Cathy Ryan asked.
'A little.' Jack grunted in his chair and reached for his wine. 'It's just how
things go, babe. There are rules for this sort of thing just as there are for
opera. You have to follow the formula. Besides, it is a major – hell, a colossal
development. Peace is breaking out again.'
'When are you leaving?' Cathy asked.
'Soon,' Jack replied.
'Of course, there is a price we must pay for this, but history demands
responsibility from those who forge it,' Fowler said on the TV. 'It is our task
to guarantee the peace. We must send American men and women to protect the State
of Israel. We are sworn to defend that small and courageous country against all
enemies.'
'What enemies are they?' Cathy asked.
'Syria isn't happy with the treaty as yet. Neither is Iran. As far as Lebanon
goes, well, there isn't any Lebanon in any real sense of the word. It's just a
place on the map where people die. Libya and all those terrorist groups. There
are still enemies to be concerned about.' Ryan finished off the glass and walked
into the kitchen to refill it. It was a shame to waste good wine like this, Jack
told himself. The way he was guzzling it, he might as well drink anything . . .
'There will be a monetary cost as well,' Fowler was saying, as Ryan came back.
'Taxes are going up again,' Cathy observed crossly.
'Well, what did you expect?' Fifty million of it is my fault, of course. A
billion here, and a billion there . . .
'Will this really make a difference?' she asked.
'It should. We'll find out if all those religious leaders believe in what they
say, or if they're just bullshit artists. What we've done is to hoist them on
their own petards, babe . . . Make that "principles,"' Jack said after a moment.
'Either they work things out in accordance with their beliefs or they reveal