The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

his vocation might have been. A linguist like many Vatican officials, he was a
man who had spent thirty years practicing his trade, and the lack of military
power that had crippled his efforts at making the world change had merely taught
him craftiness. In intelligence parlance he was an agent of influence, welcome
in many settings, always ready to listen or offer advice. Of course, he greeted
Adler first.
'So good to see you again, Scott.'
'Eminence, a pleasure as always.' Adler took the offered hand and smiled his
diplomat's smile.
'And you are Dr Ryan. We have heard so many things about you.'
'Thank you, Your Eminence.'
'Please, please.' D'Antonio waved both men to a sofa so beautiful that Ryan
flinched at resting his weight on it. 'Coffee?'
'Yes, thank you,' Adler said for both of them. Bishop O'Toole did the pouring,
then sat down to take notes.
'So good of you to allow us in at such short notice.'
'Nonsense.' Ryan watched in no small amazement as the cardinal reached inside
his cassock and pulled out a cigar holder. A tool that looked like silver, but
was probably stainless steel, performed the appropriate surgery on the largish
brown tube, then D'Antonio lit it with a gold lighter. There wasn't even an
apology about the sins of the flesh. It was as though the cardinal had quietly
flipped off the 'dignity' switch to put his guests at ease. More likely, Ryan
thought, he merely worked better with a cigar in his hand. Bismarck had felt the
same way.
'You are familiar with the rough outlines of our concept,' Adler opened.
'Si. I must say that I find it very interesting. You know, of course, that the
Holy Father proposed something along similar lines some time ago.'
Ryan looked up at that. He hadn't.
'When the initiative first came out, I did a paper on its merits,' Adler said.
'The weak point was the inability to address security considerations, but in the
aftermath of the Iraq situation, we have the opening. Also, you realize, of
course, that our concept does not exactly – '
'Your concept is acceptable to us,' D'Antonio said with a regal wave of his
cigar. 'How could it be otherwise? '
'That, Eminence, is precisely what we wanted to hear.' Adler picked up his
coffee. 'You have no reservations?'
'You will find us highly flexible, so long as there is genuine good will among
the active parties. If there is total equality among the participants, we can
agree unconditionally to your proposal.' The old eyes sparkled. 'But can you
guarantee equality of treatment?'
'I believe we can,' Adler said seriously.
'I think it should be possible, else we are all charlatans. What of the
Soviets?'
'They will not interfere. In fact, we are hoping for open support. In any case,
what with the distractions they already have – '
'Indeed. They will benefit from the diminution of the discord in the region, the
stability on various markets, and general international good will.'