The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

'Weapons?' Qati asked.
'Not here, man. I have everything you need at home.'
'Any problems?'
'Not one.' Russell was silent for a moment. 'Maybe there is one.'
'What?' Ghosn asked with concealed alarm. Being on foreign soil always made him
nervous, and this was his first trip to America.
'Cold as hell where we're going, guys. You might want to get some decent coats.'
'That can wait,' the Commander decided. He was feeling very bad now. The latest
batch of chemotherapy had denied him food for nearly two days, and as much as he
craved nourishment, his stomach rebelled at the mere sight of it in one of the
airport fast-food stands. 'What about our flight?'
'Hour and a half. How about you get some sweaters, okay? Follow me. I'm not
foolin' about the weather. It's like zero where we're going.'
'Zero? That is not so – ' Ghosn stopped. 'You mean, below zero, centigrade?'
Russell stopped for a second. 'Oh. Yeah, that's right. Zero here means something
different. Zero's cold, guys, okay?'
'As you say,' Qati agreed. Half an hour later they had thick woolen sweaters to
go under their thin raincoats. The mostly empty Delta flight to Denver left on
time. Three hours later, they walked off their last jetway for a while. Ghosn
had never seen so much snow in his life.
'I can hardly breathe,' Qati said.
'It'll take you a day to get used to the attitude. You guys go get the luggage.
I'll get the car and warm it up for you.'
'If he's betrayed us,' Qati said, as Russell walked away, 'we'll know it in the
next few minutes.'
'He has not,' Ghosn replied. 'He is a strange man, but a faithful one.'
'He is an infidel, a pagan.'
'That is true, but he also listened to an imam in my presence. At least he was
polite. I tell you, he is faithful.'
'We will see,' Qati said, walking tiredly and breathlessly to the baggage-claim
level. Both men looked around as they moved, searching for eyes. That was always
the giveaway, the eyes that fixed on you. It was hard even for the most
professional of men to keep from looking at their targets.
They collected their luggage without incident, and Marvin was waiting. He could
not stop the blast of air from hitting them, and thin as the air was, it was
also colder than either had ever experienced. The heat of the car was welcome
indeed.
'How go the preparations"
'Everything is on schedule, Commander,' Russell said. He drove off. The Arabs
were quietly impressed by the vast open space, the broad interstate highway –
they found the speed-limit signs very strange – and the obvious wealth in the
area. They were also impressed with Russell, who had manifestly done quite well.
Both men rested easier that he had not betrayed them. It was not that Qati had
actually expected it, rather that he knew that his vulnerability increased as
they got closer to the final part of the plan. That, he knew, was normal.
The farm was of a good size. Russell had thoughtfully overheated it somewhat,
but what Qati noted most of all was its obvious defensibility, with a clear