The Bear and the Dragon - Tom Clancy [284]
"I cannot read their minds. I do call upon them to make amends, or at least to consider the feelings and beliefs of the rest of the world, and then to reconsider their unfortunate action in that light."
"And what about the trade issues?" This one came from ABC.
"If China wants normalized trade relations with the United States, then China will have to open its markets to us. As you know, we have a law on the books here called the Trade Reform Act. That law allows us to mirror-image other countries' trade laws and practices, so that whatever tactics are used against us, we can then use those very same tactics with respect to trade with them. Tomorrow, I will direct the Department of State and the Department of Commerce to set up a working group to implement TRA with respect to the People's Republic," President Ryan announced, making the story for the day, and a bombshell it was.
"Christ, Jack," the Secretary of the Treasury said in his office across the street. He was getting a live feed from the Oval Office. He lifted his desk phone and punched a button. "I want a read of the PRC's current cash accounts, global," he told one of his subordinates from New York. Then his phone rang.
"Secretary of State on Three," his secretary told him over the intercom. SecTreas grunted and picked up the phone. "Yeah, I saw it too, Scott."
"So, Yuriy Andreyevich, how did it go?" Clark asked. It had taken over a week to set up and mainly because General Kirillin had spent a few hours on the pistol range working on his technique. Now he'd just stormed into the officers' club bar looking as though he'd taken one in the guts.
"Is he a Mafia assassin?"
Chavez had himself a good laugh at that. "General, he came to us because the Italian police wanted to get him away from the Mafia. He got in the way of a mob assassination, and the local chieftain made noises about going after him and his family. What did he get you for?"
"Fifty euros," Kirillin nearly spat.
"You were confident going in, eh?" Clark asked. "Been there, done that."
"Got the fuckin' T-shirt," Ding finished the statement with a laugh. And fifty euros was a dent even in the salary of a Russian three-star.
"Three points, in a five-hundred-point match. I scored four ninety-three!"
"Ettore only got four ninety-six?" Clark asked. "Jesus, the boy's slowing down." He slid a glass in front of the Russian general officer.
"He's drinking more over here," Chavez observed.
"That must be it." Clark nodded. The Russian general officer was not, however, the least bit amused.
"Falcone is not human," Kirillin said, gunning down his first shot of vodka.
"He could scare Wild Bill Hickok, and that's a fact. And you know the worst part about it?"
"What is that, Ivan Sergeyevich?"
"He's so goddamned humble about it, like it's fucking normal to shoot like that. Jesus, Sam Snead was never that good with a five-iron."
"General," Domingo said after his second vodka of the evening. The problem with being in Russia was that you tended to pick up the local customs, and one of those was drinking. "Every man on my team is an expert shot, and by expert, I mean close to being on his country's Olympic team, okay? Big Bird's got us all beat, and none of us are used to losing any more'n you are. But I'll tell you, I'm goddamned glad he's on my team." Just then, Falcone walked through the door. "Hey, Ettore, come on over!"
He hadn't gotten any shorter. Ettore towered over the diminutive Chavez, and still looked like a figure from an El Greco painting. "General," he said in greeting to Kirillin. "You shoot extremely well."
"Not so good as you, Falcone," the Russian responded.
The Italian cop shrugged. "I had a lucky day."
"Sure, guy," Clark reacted, as he handed Falcone a shot glass.
"I've come to like this vodka," Falcone said on gunning it down. "But it affects my aim somewhat."
"Yeah, Ettore." Chavez chuckled. "The general told us you blew four points in the match."
"You mean you have done better than this?" Kirillin demanded.
"He has," Clark answered. "I watched him