State of Siege - Tom Clancy [26]
the room was lined with old desks, telephones, a few banged-up computer terminals, and hand-me-down fax machines. In the larger second half of the room-the base of the L-were vinyl couches, a rest room, a supply closet, and four TV monitors mounted on the wall. Ordinarily, the monitors displayed whatever discussion was going on in the Security Council or Economic and Social Council. By putting on headsets and switching channels, observers could listen in whatever language they wished. Tonight they'd be watching Ms. Chatterjee's speech followed by the recital. A pair of card tables at the end of the room held sandwiches and a coffeemaker. There were soft drinks in a small refrigerator. After thanking the parents for their cooperation, Kako very politely reminded them what they'd been told by letter and by the United Nations representative who had met them at the hotel the night before. For security reasons, they must remain in this room for the duration of the event. She said she would be returning with their children at eight-thirty. Hood wondered if the guard had been posted to keep tourists out of the press room or to keep them in. Hood and Sharon walked over to the sandwich table. s Ohie of the men pointed to the plastic plates and utensils. "See what happens when the U.s. doesn't pay its dues?" he cracked. The veteran Washington police officer was referring to the nation's billion-dollar debt, a result of the Senate's unhappiness with what it characterized as chronic waste, fraud, and financial abuses at the United Nations. Key among these charges was that money allocated for UN peacekeeping forces was being used to bolster the military resources of participating nations. Hood smiled politely. He didn't want to think about big budgets and big government and greenback diplomacy. He and his wife had had a good day today. After their tense first night in New York, Sharon tried to relax. She savored the pleasant fall sunshine at Liberty Island and didn't let the crowds get to her. She enjoyed Alexander's excitement at learning all the technical facts about the statue and at being left alone with his video games and less-than-nutritious takeout from a salad bar on Seventh Avenue. Hood wasn't going to let imprisonment or America-bashing or cheap utensils ruin that. Harleigh may have been the catalyst for all these good feelings, but neither their daughter nor Alexander was the glue. There's something here, Hood told himself as they filled their plates and then sat on one of the old vinyl couches to await their daughter's New York City debut. He wanted to hold onto that feeling in the same way that he had held Sharon's hand. Tightly.
New York, New York Saturday, 7:27 P dism.
Traffic in Times Square is extremely dense after seven Pm. on Saturday night as theatergoers arrive from out of town. Limousines clog the side streets, garages have cars lined up waiting to get in, and cabs and buses inch through the center of the theater district.
Georgiev had allowed for the delay when he planned this part of the operation. When he finally turned east on Forty-second Street and rolled toward Bryant Park, he was relaxed and confident. So were the other members of the team. But then, if he hadn't served with them, seen that they were cool under pressure, he never would have recruited them for this mission.
Apart from Reynold Downer, the forty-eight-year-old former colonel of the Bulgarian People's Army was the only truly mercenary man on the team. Barone wanted money to help his people back home. Sazanka and Vandal had issues of honor dating back to World War II. Issues that money would clear away. Georgiev had a different problem. He'd spent nearly ten years as part of the CIA'-FINANCED underground in Bulgaria. He'd fought the Communists for so long that he couldn't adapt to an era that had no enemy. He had no trade apart from soldiering, the army was not paying its people with regularity, and he was much poorer now than he'd been taking American dollars and living under the shadow of the Soviet empire. He wanted to open a new