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.""Great.Let me know.Hey, look, I've got company.""Fair enough.ButSanchez ?""Yes, Sir?""WhenBennett gets there, take good care of him-if he can survive the CIAand the FBI, we don't want to lose him on our watch.""You got it, sir.""Take care,Sanchez.""I will, sir.Thanks."Sanchezhung up the phone and closed her eyes for a moment to catch herbreath and gather her thoughts.Suddenly, the phone rang again."Sanchez.Absolutely.Send them in."Ten minutes later, the conference table was set for Thanksgiving.Freshly squeezed orange juice with thick bits of pulp was poured intocrystal glasses.Freshly brewed Colombian coffee was poured intowhiteSyracuseChina cups, and on a side counter sat a bucket of ice, aselection of sodas and a row of NORAD-embossed glasses.Two metal carts werewheeled in from the NORAD commander's personal kitchen with heated platters ofhot, steaming slices of golden roasted turkey and honey-baked ham, butterymounds of mashed Potatoes, bowls of stuffing, tangy cranberry sauce,piping-hot sweet potatoes, boats of thick gravy, little plates of carrots andcelery and sweet pickles and olives, and cloth napkin-covered baskets filledwith corn bread and warm potato rolls, all lightly buttered and smelling likeheaven.BobCorsettiwas the first to enter, followed bySecretaryIverson.Two SecretPage 93ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlService agents were already in place in the back corners of the room.Corsettiand Iverson wasted no time in serving themselves, then welcomedDietrichBlack ,freshly showered, shaved and now wearing a business suit-his own Berettahaving been left with security back at the Air Force base."Deek,BobCorsetti ," said the White House chief of staff, vigorouslyshaking Black's hand."Hey, Bob, good to see you again.""It's been awhile.Wasn't sure if you'd remember me.""Oh, well, hey, how could I forget?""Sorry it's always on such difficult occasions."Black nodded."I don't think you knowStuIverson , the new Treasury Secretary," offeredCorsetti."No-good to meet you, sir.""Pleasure's mine," said Iverson, reaching for Black's outstretched hand andshaking it vigorously."How was your flight?""Uneventful.""We should all be so lucky," said Corsetti."You must be starved.Please,have some dinner.""It hardly seems right, sir.""I know.But we have a lot to be thankful for.The president's alive-andyou guys did a hell of a job withBennett.Now eat.""Yes, sir.Thank you, sir."Black reluctantly but gratefully helped himself, then grabbed a NORADcoffee mug, some ice, and a Diet Coke (of course) and joined the two men atthe table, silently bowing his head to say grace."Stu, what do you expect at the bell on Monday?" Corsetti asked."Hellfireand brimstone," Iverson said bluntly, stirring some heavy cream into hiscoffee."AsiaandEurope both crashed overnight.S&P futures are down sharply.NASDAQ's been acting like a whipped dog."Meltdown?""The China Syndrome."Iverson cut his turkey with his knife and fork, took a bite, then carefullywiped his mouth with his freshly ironed white cloth napkin."Bob, we need some good news, and we need it fast.""And what happens if we don't get it?"Iverson pondered that a moment, then set his knife and fork down."Bob, look.It was a rough time after theTwinTowers went down.The marketsstruggled for quite some time.But they eventually got back on their feet.Page 94ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlPeople finally got their confidence back.They started flying again.Theybegan to take vacations again.Companies began to hire again.OK? Now, theywake up after all these new attacks-fearful more is on the way-and you've gota serious confidence problem on your hands.Companies around the world losttrillions of dollars of market value yesterday,Bob.Trillions.In one day.""And?""And it's going to get worse.People aren't going to spend again.""And?""You've got huge layoffs coming-again.""And?""And what,Bob ? That's it.Econ 101.Nobody buys.Nobody produces.Peopleget laid off.They spend less.They produce less.It's a vicious cycle-andit's tough to get out.""Worst-case scenario?""Look,Bob , I don't want to."Recession?"Iverson shook his head."Bob, a recession is the least of your troubles right now.""Spell it out for me, Stu."Iverson set his coffee down and took a deep breath."Look, the only thing that matters right now is what the president doesthis weekend.That's it.Period.You screw this up, and you've got a globaleconomic meltdown on your hands.And I've got to tell you,Bob.Arrestingsomebody isn't going to help.You can arrest a thousand terrorists-amillion-and no one's going to care.No one.Even if they're all guilty.Hell,especially if they're all guilty.People don't want arrests.They don't wantto hear about frozen assets and economic sanctions and funding the IraqiNational Congress and pinpricks and surgical strikes and all that.""You're saying we screwed up?"Corsetti was getting a little defensive."Apparently.""We did the best we could, Stu.This hasn't exactly been easy.""I know," said Iverson."I'm just saying, it wasn't enough,Bob.It just wasn't.""You think we should have gone harder after Iraq-taken out Saddam somehow.Regime change?""Isn't that what CIA recommended?"Page 95ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"You think we backed off from a full court press against Saddam because wewere scoring big against other terrorist groups, smaller groups?""It was a good show [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]