The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

change in the tone of his reports over the last few months. The way he uses
language is subtly different. His statements are more positive, less speculative
in some areas. Now, that may fit his reports – the content of them, I mean – but
there may be some meaning in that.'
'You're basing your evaluation on how he dots his i's?' The Russian expert
demanded with a snort. 'Kid, we don't do that sort of work here.'
'Well, I have to take this one downtown,' Ryan said. 'I have to tell the
President that we think he's right. I want to get Andrews and Kantrowitz in here
to backstop us – objections?' There were none. 'Okay, thank you. Ben, could you
stay for a moment? Mary Pat, take a long weekend. That's an order.'
'She's colicky, and I haven't been getting much sleep,' Mrs Foley explained.
'So, have Ed take the night duty,' Jack suggested.
'Ed doesn't have tits. I nurse, remember"
'MP, has it ever occurred to you that nursing is a conspiracy of lazy men?' Ryan
asked with a grin.
The baleful look in her eyes concealed her good humor. 'Yeah, at about two every
morning. See you Monday.'
Goodley got back in his chair after the other two left, 'Okay, you can yell at
me now.'
Jack waved for him to light up. 'What do you mean?'
'For bringing up a dumb idea.'
'Dumb idea, my ass. You were the first to suggest it. You've been doing good
work.'
'I haven't found beans,' the Harvard scholar grumbled.
'No, but you've been looking in all the right places.'
'If this stuff was for real, how likely is it that you'd be able to confirm
through other sources?' Goodley asked.
'A little better than even money, maybe sixty percent, tops. Mary Pat was right.
This guy's been giving us stuff we can't always get somewhere else. But you're
also correct: he stands to profit from being right. I have to run this one down
to the White House before the weekend starts. Then I'm going to call Jake
Kantrowitz and Eric Andrews and get them to fly in here for a look-see next
week. Got any particular plans for the weekend?' Jack asked.
'No.
'You do now. I want you to sweep through all your notes and do us a position
paper, a good one.' Ryan tapped his desk. 'I want it here Monday morning.'
'Why?'
'Because you're intellectually honest, Ben. When you look at something, you
really look.'
'But you never agree with my conclusions!' Goodley objected.
'Not very often, but your supporting data is first-rate. Nobody's right all the
time. Nobody's wrong all the time, either. The process is important, the
intellectual discipline, and you have that locked down pretty tight, Dr Goodley.
I hope you like living in Washington. I'm going to offer you a permanent
position here. We're setting up a special group in the DI. Their mission will be
to take contrarian positions, an in-house Team-B that reports directly to the
DDI. You'll be the number-two man in the Russian section. Think you can handle