The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

field of fire in all directions. He got them inside and carried the bags for
them.
'You guys have to be pretty tired,' Marvin observed. 'Why don't you just bed
down? You're safe here, okay?' Qati took the advice. Ghosn did not. He and
Russell went to the kitchen. Ibrahim was happy to learn that Marvin was a
skilled cook.
'What is this meat?'
'Venison – deer meat. I know you can't eat pork, but you got any problems with
deer?' the American asked.
Ghosn shook his head. 'No, but I have never had it.'
'It's okay, I promise. I found this at a local store this morning.
Native-American soul food, man. This is good mule deer. There's a game-rancher
around here who grows them commercially. I can try you out on beefalo, too.'
'What the devil is that?'
'Beefalo? Another thing you can only get around here. It's a cross between beef
cattle and buffalo. Buffalo is what my people used to eat, man, biggest damned
cow you're ever gonna see!' Russell grinned. 'Good lean meat, healthy and
everything. But venison's the best, Ismael.'
'You must not call me that,' Ghosn said tiredly. It had been a twenty-seven hour
day for him, counting the time zones.
'I got the IDs for you and the Commander.' Russell pulled the envelopes from a
drawer and tossed them on the table. 'Names are exactly what you wanted, see? We
just have to do the photos and put them on the cards. I have the equipment to do
it.'
'Was this hard to get?'
Marvin laughed. 'Naw, it's standard commercial stuff. I used my own license form
as a master, ginned up the copies, then I got the hardware to do first-class
dupes. Lots of companies use photo-passes, and the equipment is standardized.
Three hours work. I figure we have all day tomorrow and the day after to go over
everything.'
'Excellent, Marvin.'
'You want a drink?'
'Alcohol, you mean?'
'Hey, man, I saw you have a beer with that German guy – what was his name?'
'Herr Fromm, you mean.'
'Come on, it's not as bad as eatin' pork, is it?'
'Thank you, but I will pass on that – is that how you say it?'
' "Pass on the drink"? – yeah, that's fine, man. How's that Fromm guy doing?'
Marvin asked casually, looking at the meat. It was almost done.
'Doing well,' Ghosn answered just as casually. 'He went off to see his wife.'
'Exactly what were you guys working on, anyway?' Russell poured himself a shot
of Jack Daniel's.
'He helped us with the explosives, some special tricks, you see. He's an expert
in the field.'
'Great.'
***
It was the first hopeful sign in a few days, maybe a few weeks, Ryan thought.