Executive orders - Tom Clancy [371]
She will be weak for another fortnight or so. Let her eat whatever she wants, and best to let her sleep as long as possible.
It will be as you say, Sohaila's father promised.
You have my number, here and at home, if you have any questions at all.
And if you have any difficulties, with the government, for example, please let me know. The measure of the man's gratitude came across. For what it was worth, MacGregor had a protector of sorts. It couldn't hurt, he decided, walking them to the door. Then it was back to his office.
So, the official said after listening to the report, everything is stabilized.
That is correct.
The staff have been checked?
Yes, and we will rerun the tests tomorrow to be sure. Both patient rooms will be fully disinfected today. All contaminated items are being burned right now.
The body?
Also bagged and to be burned, as you directed.
Excellent. Dr. MacGregor, you have done well, and I thank you for that. Now we can forget that this unhappy incident ever happened.
But how did the Ebola get here? MacGregor demanded-plaintively, which was as far as he could go.
The official didn't know, and so he spoke confidently: That does not concern you, and it does not concern me. It will not be repeated. Of that I am certain.
As you say. After a few more words, MacGregor hung the phone up and stared at the wall. One more fax to CDC, he decided. The government couldn't object to that. He had to tell them that the outbreak, such as it was, was closed out. And that was a relief, too. Better to go back to the normal practice of medicine, and diseases he could defeat.
IT TURNED OUT that Kuwait had been more forthcoming than Saudi on forwarding the substance of the meeting, perhaps because the Kuwaiti government really was a family business, and their establishment happened to be on a very dangerous street corner. Adler handed the transcript over. The President scanned it quickly.
It reads like, 'Get lost.'
You got it, the Secretary of State agreed.
Either Foreign Minister Sabah edited all the polite stuff out, or what he heard scared him. I'm betting on number two, Bert Vasco decided.
Ben? Jack asked.
Dr. Goodley shook his head. We may have a problem here.
'May'? Vasco asked. This goes beyond 'may.'
Okay, Bert, you're our champ prognosticator for the Persian Gulf, the President observed. How about another forecast?
The culture over there is one of bargaining. There are elaborate verbal rituals for important meetings. 'Hi, how are you?' can take an hour. If we're to believe that such things did not take place, there's a message in their absence. You said it, Mr. President: Get lost. Though it was interesting, Vasco thought, that they'd begun by praying together. Perhaps that was a signal that had meant something to the Saudis but not the Kuwaitis? Even he didn't know every aspect of the local culture.
Then why are the Saudis low-keying this?
You told me that Prince Ali gave you another impression?
Ryan nodded. That's right. Go on.
The Kingdom is a little schizophrenic. They like us, and they trust us as strategic partners, but they also dislike us and distrust us as a culture. It's not even that simple, and it goes round and round, but they're afraid that too much exposure to the West will adversely affect their society. They're highly conservative on what we call social issues, like when our Army was over there in '91, and they requested that Army chaplains remove the religious insignia from their uniforms, and seeing women drive cars and carry guns drove them a little nuts. So, on one hand, they depend on us as guarantor of their security-Prince Ali keeps asking you about that, right?-but on the other hand they worry that in protecting them we might mess up their country. It keeps coming back to religion. They'd probably prefer to make a deal with Daryaei than to have to invite us back to guard their border,