The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

twin doubles in a little independent place a mile from the airport. This he had
to guarantee with a credit card that he'd managed not to use until now. He
didn't like having to do that. One more bit of paper for his trail.
***
'Good morning, Liz.' Ryan walked into the office and sat down. 'How are you
today?'
The National Security Advisor didn't like being baited any more than the next
person. She'd had a little battle with this bastard's wife – in front of
reporters! – and taken her lumps publicly. Whether Ryan had had anything to do
with it or not, he must have had a good laugh about it last night. Worse than
that, what that skinny little bitch had said also went after Bob Fowler, didn't
it? The President had thought so on being told last night.
'You ready for the brief?"
'Sure am.'
'Come on.' She'd let Bob handle this.
Helen D'Agustino watched the two officials enter the Oval Office. She'd heard
the story, of course. A Secret Service agent had heard the whole thing, and the
vicious put-down administered to Dr Elliot had already been the subject of a few
discreet chuckles.
'Good morning, Mr President,' she heard Ryan say, as the door closed.
'Morning, Ryan. Okay, let's hear it.'
'Sir, what we plan to do is actually fairly simple. Two CIA officers will be in
Mexico, at the airport, covered as airline maintenance personnel. They'll do the
normal stuff, emptying ashtrays, cleaning the johns. Before they leave they will
place fresh flower arrangements in the upstairs lounge. Concealed in the
arrangements will be microphones like this one.' Ryan pulled the plastic spike
from his pocket and handed it over. 'These will transmit what they pick up to a
second transmitter, concealed in a bottle. That device will broadcast a
multi-channel EHF – that's extremely high frequency – signal out of the
aircraft. A series of three other aircraft will fly parallel courses with the
747 to receive that signal. An additional receiver with a tape-recorder attached
will be concealed on the 747, both as a backup to the air-to-air links and as a
cover for the operation. If it's located, the bugs will seem to be something
done by the news people accompanying the Prime Minister. We don't expect that,
of course. We'll have people at Dulles to recover our gadgets. In either case,
the electronic transmission will be processed and the transcripts presented to
you a few hours after the aircraft lands.'
'Very well. What are the chances for success?' Chief of Staff Arnold van Damm
asked. He had to be there, of course. This was more an exercise in politics than
statecraft. The down-side political risk was serious, just as the reward for
success would be more than noteworthy.
'Sir, there are no guarantees for operations of this kind. If something is said,
it is likely that we'll know what it is, but he might not even discuss the
matter at all. The equipment has all been tested. It works. The field officer
running this operation is well experienced. He's done touchy ones before.'
'Like?' van Damm asked.
'Like getting Gerasimov's wife and daughter out a few years ago.' Ryan explained