The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

Ryan do it all. A strong bark from the Deputy Director's office could have set
that right, but would Cabot back him up – or would those White House pukes take
it as a sign that Jack was trying a takeover?
Fuckin' politics! Clark thought as he pulled back onto the road. Office
politics. Political politics. And something was wrong at home, too. Clark didn't
know what, but he knew it was something.
Doc, you're too damned good a man for this!
'Can I lay a piece of advice on you?'
'Go ahead,' Jack replied, looking through dispatches.
'Take two weeks, go to Disney World, Club Med, find a beach and walk it. Get the
hell out of town for a while.'
'The kids are in school.'
'So take them out of school, for Christ's sake! Better yet, maybe, leave them
and get away, you and your wife. No, you're not that kind. Take them to see
Mickey.'
'I can't. They're in school – '
'They're in grammar school not graduate school, Doc. Missing two weeks of
long-division and learning to spell "squirrel" won't stunt their intellectual
growth. You need to get away, recharge the batteries, smell the fucking roses!'
'Too much work, John.'
'You listen to me! You know how many friends I've buried? You know how many
people I went out with who never got the chance to have a wife and kids and a
nice house on the water? A lot, pal, a whole lot, never came close to having
what you have. You got all that, and you're trying very damned hard to end up
dead – and that's what's gonna happen, Doc. One way or another, give it maybe
ten years.'
'I have a job to do!'
'It ain't important enough to wreck your fucking life for, you dumb ass! Can't
you see that?'
'And then who runs the shop?'
'Sir, you might be hard to replace when you're at your best, but the shape
you're in now, that Goodley kid can do your job at least as well as you can.'
And that, Clark saw, scored for points. 'Just how effective do you think you are
right now?'
'Will you do me a favor and just drive the car.' There was another SPINNAKER
report waiting for him, according to coded phrases in the morning's dispatches,
along with one from NIITAKA. This would be a busy day.
Just what he needed I Jack thought to himself, closing his eyes for a moment's
rest.
It got worse. Ryan was surprised to find himself at work, more surprised that
fatigue had defeated morning coffee and allowed him to sleep for forty minutes
or so on the way in. He accepted Clark's told-you-so look and made his way up to
the 7th floor. A messenger brought in the two important files, along with a note
that Director Cabot was going to be late. The guy was keeping banker's hours.
Spies were supposed to work harder, Jack thought. I sure as hell do.
NIITAKA came first. The Japanese, the report said, were planning to renege on a
rare trade concession made only six months earlier. It would be explained away