Tom Clancy Weapons Grade by Don Bentley

Author:Don Bentley [Bentley, Don]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense, War & Military, Military
ISBN: 9780593422816
Google: THSdEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0BN585SX5
Barnesnoble: B0BN585SX5
Goodreads: 63877585
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Published: 2023-09-05T05:00:00+00:00

36

Washington, D.C.

The atmosphere in the Situation Room was, in a word, electric. Though the room’s occupants had been gathered without much in the way of official notice, word of the meeting’s purpose had still filtered out. If her years in the nation’s capital had taught Mary Pat anything, it was that asking politicians to keep a secret was a fool’s errand.

This truism was doubly valid when the secret involved Iran.

“Okay, people,” Jack Ryan said, “let’s get started. Mary Pat, you have the floor.”

“Thank you, sir,” Mary Pat said.

As per their usual arrangement, she was seated at the head of the table on Ryan’s right and while she appreciated the trust and respect the President’s gesture conveyed, she did not especially love that the conference table’s other occupants were all facing her. When the attendees focused on the President, she saw them as the cabinet members and principals that they were. But when that collective attention was directed at her, Mary Pat felt like an elk that had been brought to bay by a pack of hounds.

No matter.

While it was normal for a spy to eschew the limelight, Mary Pat had given up running agents a long time ago. Besides, she had a weapon available to her that was lacking in most of the faces staring back at her.

Ambition.

Or more specifically, a lack thereof.

Mary Pat was still in government service because her friend—the President—had asked her to stay. She had no plans to parlay her stint as DNI into a political career and no intention to join a think tank or form a consultancy and hang out her shingle. In a town full of people whose livelihoods depended on their ability to monetize their proximity to power, Mary Pat was an anomaly. She wanted nothing from the people arrayed in front of her, which meant that she could do something that was becoming all too rare among Washington’s movers and shakers.

Tell the truth.

“Yesterday at 0930 Tehran time, we ascertained that the Iranians have constructed a clandestine uranium enrichment facility,” Mary Pat said. “We assess with a high level of confidence that the Iranians are attempting to achieve nuclear breakout. If the facility continues to function uninterrupted, we anticipate that the regime will have enough fissile material to construct one to three nuclear devices within days.”

During their quick huddle before the presentation, the President had told Mary Pat to be brief, succinct, and direct with her presentation. Ryan’s reasoning was that the sooner they ripped the Iran Band-Aid off, the quicker they could get to the meeting’s purpose—war-gaming options to deal with an apocalyptic theocracy about to cross the nuclear threshold. Mary Pat had structured her opening in accordance with her boss’s wishes, but based on the cacophony of voices exploding from the table, ripping off the Band-Aid might have been the wrong analogy.

This felt more like chumming the water.

“I’m sorry, Mary Pat, but I don’t understand how your timeline could be right. Even if Iran started enriching yesterday, they would need months to compile enough enriched uranium for a nuke.

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