The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

the pavement had another effect. It radiated residual heat very rapidly. The
short version is, the energy signature was much larger than the actual yield
justified. Now, you want the real bad news?' Lowell asked.
'Okay.'
'The bomb was a fizzle.'
'What do you mean?'
'I mean it should have been much larger, and we don't know why. The bomb residue
was lousy with tritium. The design yield was at least ten times what it actually
delivered.'
'You mean?'
'Yeah, if this thing had worked. .
'We were lucky, weren't we?'
'If you want to call that luck, yeah.'
Somehow Jack slept for most of the flight.
The aircraft landed the next morning at Beersheba. Israeli military personnel
met the aircraft and convoyed everyone to Jerusalem. The press had found out
some of what was happening, but not enough to be a bother, not on a secure
Israeli Air Force Base. That would come later. Prince Ali bin Sheik was waiting
outside the VIP building.
'Your Highness.' Jack nodded to him. 'Thank you for coming.'
'How could I not?' Ali handed over a newspaper.
Jack scanned the headline. 'I didn't think that would stay secret very long.'
'It's true, then?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And you stopped it?'
'Stopped it?' Ryan shrugged. 'I just wouldn't – it was a lie, Ali. I was lucky I
guessed – no, that's not true. I didn't know that until later. It's just that I
couldn't put my name to it, that's all. Your Highness, that's not important now.
There are some things I have to do. Sir, will you help us?'
'With anything, my friend.'
'Ivan Emmettovich!' Golovko called. And to Ali, 'Your Royal Highness.'
'Sergey Nikolay'ch. Avi.' The Russian walked up with Avi Ben Jakob at his side.
'Jack,' John Clark said. You guys want to get to a better spot? One mortar round
sure would waste a lot of top spooks, y'know?'
'Come with me,' Avi said, who led them inside. Golovko briefed them on what he
had.
'The man is still alive?' Ben Jakob asked.
'Suffering all the pains of hell, but yes, for another few days.'
'I cannot go to Damascus,' Avi said.
'You never told us you lost a nuke,' Ryan said.
'What do you mean?'
'You know what I mean. The press doesn't have that yet, but they will in another
day or two. Avi, you never told us there was something lost out there! Do you
know what that might have meant to us?' Ryan asked.
'We assumed that it had broken up. We tried to search for it, but – '
'Geology,' Dr Lowell said. 'The Golan Heights are volcanic, lots of basaltic
rock, makes for a high background count, and that means it's hard to track in on