The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

The eyes opened slowly. 'What time is it?'
'Seven-twenty. What part of New England are you from originally?'
'New Hampshire, up north, place called Littleton.'
'Well, take a look out the window and it might remind you of home.'
By the time Jack returned with fresh water, the younger man was standing at the
windows. 'Looks like about a foot and a half out there, maybe a little more. So,
what's the big deal? Where I come from this is called a flurry.'
'In D.C., it's called The Ice Age. I'll have coffee ready in a few minutes.'
Ryan decided to call the security desk of the lobby. 'What's the situation?'
'People calling in saying they can't make it. But what the hell – most of the
night staff couldn't get out. The G.W. Parkway is closed. So's the Beltway on
the Maryland side, and the Wilson Bridge – again.'
'Outstanding. Okay, this is important, so listen up – that means anybody who
makes it in is probably KGB trained. Shoot 'em.' Goodley could hear the laughter
on the phone from ten feet away. 'Keep me posted on the weather situation. And
reserve me a four-by-four, the GMC, in case I have to go somewhere.' Jack hung
up and looked at Goodley. 'Rank hath its privileges. Besides, we have a couple
of them.'
'What about people who have to get in?'
Jack watched the coffee start to come out of the machine. 'If the Beltway and
G.W. are closed, that means that two-thirds of our people can't get in. Now you
know why the Russians have invested so much money in weather-control programs.'
'Doesn't anybody down here – '
'No, people down here pretend that snow is something that happens on ski slopes.
If it doesn't stop soon, it'll be Wednesday before anything starts moving in
this town.'
'It's really that bad here?'
'You'll see for yourself, Ben.'
'And I left my cross-country skis up in Boston.'
***
'We didn't hit that hard,' the major objected.
'Major, the breaker board seems to disagree with you,' the crew chief replied.
He pushed the breaker back in position. The small black plastic tab hesitated
for a moment, then popped right back out. 'No radio because of this one, and no
hydraulics 'cause of that one. I'm afraid we're grounded for a while, sir.'
The metering pins for the landing gear had arrived at two in the morning, on the
second attempt. The first, aborted, attempts had been by car, until someone had
decided that only a military vehicle could make it. The parts had arrived by
HMMWV, and even that had been held up by the various stopped cars on the
highways between Washington and Camp David. Repairs on the helicopter were
supposed to have started in another hour or so – it was not a difficult job –
but suddenly they were more complicated.
'Well?' the major asked.
'Probably a couple of loose wires in there. I gotta pull the whole board, sir,
inspect the whole thing. That's a whole day's work at best. Better tell 'em to
warm up a back-up aircraft.'
The major looked outside. This was not a day he wanted to fly anyway. 'We're not