The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

and a good teacher, which this Fromm bastard is . . .'
'Then why haven't more –'
'The hard part is getting the ingredients, specifically the plutonium or U235.
That requires a nuclear reactor plant of a specific type, or the new centrifuge
technology. Either represents a vast investment, and one which is difficult to
conceal. It also explains the remarkable security measures taken in the handling
and transport of bombs and their components. The oft-told tale that bombs are
hard to make is a lie.'
CHAPTER 18
Progress
Wellington had three men working for him. Each was an experienced investigator,
accustomed to politically sensitive cases which demanded the utmost discretion.
His job was to identify likely areas of field investigation, then to examine and
correlate the information they returned to his office in the justice Department.
The tricky part was to gather the information without notice going back to the
target of the probe, and Wellington correctly thought that that part of the task
would be particularly difficult with a target like Ryan. The DDCI was nothing if
not perceptive. His previous job had qualified him as a man who could hear the
grass grow and read tea-leaves with the best of them. That meant going slow . .
. but not too slow. It also seemed likely to the young attorney that the purpose
of his investigation was not to produce data suitable for a grand jury, which
gave him quite a bit more leeway than he might otherwise have had. He doubted
that Ryan could have been so foolish as to have actually broken any law. The SEC
rules had been grazed, perhaps bent, but on inspection of the SEC investigation
documents, it was clear that Ryan's action had, arguably, been made in good
faith and full expectation that he had not violated any statute. That judgment
might have been technical on Ryan's part, but the law was technical. The
Securities and Exchange Commission could have pushed, and might even have gotten
an indictment, but they would never have gotten a conviction . . . maybe they
could have muscled him into a settlement and/or a consent decree, but Wellington
doubted that also. They'd suggested it as a sign of good faith, and he had
answered with a flat no. Ryan was not a man to tolerate being pushed around.
This man had killed people. That didn't frighten Wellington in any way. It was
merely an indicator of the man's strength of character. Ryan was a tough,
formidable son-of-a-bitch who met things head-on when he had to.
That's his weakness, Wellington told himself.
He prefers to meet things head-on. He lacks subtlety. It was a common failing of
the honest, and a grievous weakness in a political environment.
Ryan had political protectors, however. Trent and Fellows were nothing if not
canny political craftsmen.
What an interesting tactical problem . . .
Wellington saw his task as two-fold: to get something that could be used against
Ryan, and something that would also neutralize his political allies.
Carol Zimmer. Wellington closed one file and opened another.
There was a photograph from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. That one