The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

'Vikings by three,' Bunker said. 'I'll take all of that action I can get.'
'We're flying out together,' Talbot said. 'Just so Dennis doesn't drive the
airplane.'
'Leaving me up the hills of Maryland. Well, somebody has to mind the
government.' Fowler smiled. He had an odd smile, Jack thought. 'Back to
business. Ryan: you said this is not a threat to us?'
'Let me backtrack, sir. First, I must emphasize that the SPINNAKER report
remains totally unconfirmed.'
'You said the CIA backs it.'
'There is a consensus of opinion that it is probably reliable. We're checking
that very hard right now. That's the whole point of what I said earlier.'
'Okay,' Fowler said. 'If it's not true, there is nothing for us to worry about,
correct?'
'Yes, Mr President.'
'And if it is?'
'Then the risk is one of political blackmail in the Soviet Union, worst-case, a
civil war with the use of nuclear weapons.'
'Which is not good news – possible threats to us?'
'No direct threat to us is likely.'
Fowler leaned back in his chair. 'That makes sense, I suppose. But I want a
really, really good estimate of that just as fast as you can get it to me.'
'Yes, sir. Believe me, Mr President, we're checking every aspect of this
development.'
'Good report, Dr Ryan.'
Jack stood to take his dismissal. It was so much more civilized now that they'd
gotten rid of him.
***
The markets had sprung up of their own accord, mainly in the eastern sections of
Berlin. Soviet soldiers, never the most free of individuals, now found
themselves in an undivided Western city that offered each the chance simply to
walk away, to disappear. The amazing thing was that so few did it, despite the
controls kept on them, and one reason for it was the availability of open-air
markets. The individual Soviet soldiers were continuously surprised at the
desire of Germans, Americans and so many others to buy memorabilia of the Red
Army – belts, shapka fur hats, boots, whole uniforms, all manner of trinkets –
and the fools paid cash. Hard-currency cash, dollars, pounds, Deutschmarks,
whose value at home in the Soviet Union was multiplied tenfold. Other sales to
more discriminating buyers had included such big-ticket items as a T-80 tank,
but that had required the connivance of a regimental commander, who'd justified
it in his paperwork as the accidental destruction of a vehicle by fire. The
colonel had gotten a Mercedes 560SEL from that, with plenty of cash left over
for his retirement fund. Western intelligence agencies had gotten all they
wished by this point, leaving the markets to amateurs and tourists; they assumed
that the Soviets tolerated it for the simple reason that it brought a good deal
of hard currency into their economy, and did so at bargain prices. Westerners
typically paid more than ten times the actual production cost of what they
purchased. The introductory course in capitalism, some Russians thought, would