8. Wild Card (Tom Clancy's Power Plays) by Jerome Priesler & Tom Clancy

Author:Jerome Priesler & Tom Clancy [Priesler, Jerome & Clancy, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Suspense
ISBN: 9780140294965
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2004-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

"No," Julia said. "We hardly forget anything."

Gordian nodded, and for a while the only sound was the rattling of rain on the windows.

"If your point is that the actions Ricci took are somehow in keeping with the premise behind Sword's formation, I don't think I'm able to bite," he said then. "It's based on taking that premise to a reckless extreme. And it's judging those actions by results that could very well have been calamitously different."

'That's what I keep hearing, but where's the proof?" Julia said. "Think about it a minute, Dad. Somebody infects you with a germ hatched in a lab, almost kills you. A year later this head case has me kidnapped. And then another psychopath with a mission tries to wipe out New York. What situations could be more extreme? How do you deal with any of them without taking risks? Tom Ricci's always been ready and he's come up a major stud every time."

Gordian looked at her again. "A major stud?"

"Blame them." Julia nodded at the dogs. "You live in a house full of animals, you start thinking in animalistic terms."

Gordian's brow had crinkled with amusement.

"If you say so," he said.

They spent a few minutes quietly drinking their hot chocolates. Then, his cup emptied, Gordian pushed it slightly to the side, leaned forward, and massaged the back of his neck.

"You make a better case for Ricci than I could," he said. "Unfortunately his attitude doesn't help. Because of him UpLink's under pressure from all sides, and from what I hear he's dropped out of contact. If he wants trust, he's got to show some. In somebody. How can Megan and Pete go to the mat for him, buy him a chance, when he won't give himself one?"

Julia considered that and realized she didn't have an answer. She sighed, finished her own drink, and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"It's after midnight," she said, and stretched. "Suppose the dogs ought to be getting in their Z's."

Gordian nodded.

"A little sleep wouldn't hurt us, either," he said.

A moment later Julia rose, pushed in her chair, and gathered their cups and spoons onto a tray. She was carrying it between three wet, sniffing black noses toward the sink when she turned back to face her father.

"Do we do anything for him?" she said.

Gordian looked at her from the table, smiled gently.

"We're thinking about it," he said.

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