The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

hundred straws. 'Bundle thirty-six.'
'Thirty-six,' Fromm agreed, looking at the tags. He took it and maneuvered it
into place. It fit perfectly, Qati saw, coming closer. The German's skilled
hands moved it slightly, so that the slits on its plastic jigs dropped into the
slots on the jigs directly underneath. When Fromm was satisfied, Ghosn looked.
'Correct position,' Ibrahim said, for what must have been the hundredth time of
the day.
'I agree,' Fromm announced, and both men wired it firmly into place.
'Like assembling a gun,' Qati whispered to Günther, as he walked away from the
work table.
'No.' Bock shook his head. 'Worse than that. More like a child's toy.' The two
men looked at each other and started laughing.
'Enough of that!' Fromm said in annoyance. 'This is serious work! We need
silence! Next bundle, number thirty-seven!'
'Thirty-seven,' Ghosn dutifully replied.
Bock and Qati walked out of the room together.
'Watching a woman having a baby cannot be as dreadful as this!' Qati raged when
they got outside.
Bock lit a cigarette. 'It isn't. I know. Women move faster than this.'
'Indeed, that is unskilled labor.' Qati laughed again. The humor vanished, and
the Commander became serious. 'It's a pity.'
'Yes, it is. They have all served us well. When?'
'Very soon.' Qati paused. Günther, your part in the plan . . . it is very
dangerous.'
Bock took a long pull on his cigarette, blowing the smoke out into the chilled
air. 'It is my plan, is it not? I know the risks.'
'I do not approve of suicidal plans,' Qati observed after a moment.
'Nor do I. It is dangerous, but I expect to survive. Ismael, if we wanted a safe
life, we would be working in offices – and we would never have met. What binds
us is the danger and the mission. I've lost my Petra, my daughters, but I still
have my mission. I do not say that this is enough, but is it not more than most
men have?' Günther looked up at the stars. 'I have thought often of this, my
friend. How does one change the world? Not in safety. The safe ones, the timid
ones, they benefit from our work. They rage at life, but they lack the courage
to act. We are the ones who act. We take the risks, we face the danger, we deny
ourselves for others. It is our task. My friend, it is far too late to have
second thoughts.'
'Günther, it is easier for me. I am a dying man.'
'I know.' He turned to look at his friend. 'We're all dying men. We've cheated
death, you and I. Eventually death will win, and the death we face lies not in
bed. You chose this path, and so did I. Can we turn back now?'
'I cannot, but facing death is a hard thing.'
'That is true.' Günther, flipped his cigarette into the dirt. 'But at least we
have the privilege of knowing. The little people do not. In choosing not to act,
they choose not to know. That is their choice. One can either be an agent of
destiny or a victim of it. Everyone has that choice.' Bock led his friend back
in. 'We have made ours.'