The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

finishes his college degree, looking to be a field officer. I've seen the files.
Clark'll retire in a few more years, and keeping him around as an SPO is just a
matter of being decent. He's done some really interesting things. Good man, good
officer.'
Elliot didn't like that, but from what Cabot said, it seemed that it couldn't be
helped. 'We want Ryan eased out.'
'That might not be easy. They really like him on The Hill.'
'You just said he's insubordinate.'
'It won't wash on The Hill. You know that. You want him fired, the President
just has to ask for his resignation.'
But that wouldn't wash on The Hill either, Liz thought, and it seemed
immediately clear that Marcus Cabot wouldn't be much help. She hadn't really
expected that he would be. Cabot was too soft.
'We can handle it entirely from this end, if you want.'
'Probably a good idea. If it became known at Langley that I had a hand in this,
it might look like spite. Can't have that,' Cabot demurred. 'Bad for morale.'
'Okay.' Liz stood, and so did Cabot. 'Thanks for coming down.'
Two minutes later, she was back in her chair, her feet propped up on a drawer.
This was going so well. Exactly as planned. I'm getting good at this . . .
***
'So?'
'This was published in a Washington paper today,' Golovko said. It was seven in
the evening in Moscow, the sky outside dark and cold as only Moscow could get
cold. That he had to report on something in an American newspaper did not warm
the night very much.
Andrey Il'ych Narmonov took the translation from the First Deputy Chairman and
read through it. Finished, he tossed the two pages contemptuously onto his
desktop. 'What rubbish is this?'
'Holtzman is a very important Washington reporter. He has access to very senior
officials in the Fowler Administration.'
'And he probably writes a good deal of fiction, just as our reporters do.'
'We think not. We think the tone of the report indicates that he was given the
data by someone in the White House.'
'Indeed?' Narmonov pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose, cursing the cold
that the sudden weather change had brought with it. If there was anything for
which he did not have time, it was an illness, even a minor one. 'I don't
believe it. I've told Fowler personally about the difficulty with the missile
destruction, and the rest of this political twaddle is just that. You know that
I've had to deal with uniformed hotheads – those fools who went off on their own
in the Baltic region. So do the Americans. It's incredible to me that they
should take such nonsense seriously. Surely their intelligence services tell
them the truth – and the truth is what I've told Fowler myself!'
'Comrade President.' Golovko paused for a beat. Comrade was too hard a habit to
break. 'Just as we have political elements who distrust the Americans, so they
have elements who continue to hate and distrust us. Changes between us have come
and gone very rapidly. Too rapidly for many to assimilate. I find it plausible
that there might be American political officials who believe this report.'