Tom Clancy – Op Center 6 State Of Siege

Harleigh Had Been Studying Violin Since She Was Four And Wearing Overalls. He Was Used To Seeing Her That Way, Or In Her Track And Field Clothes When She Was Earning All Her Ribbons. To See Her Walk Upstairs From The Dressing Room, An Accomplished Musician And A Woman, Was Overwhelming. Hood Had Asked His Daughter If She Were Nervous. She Said No.

The Composer Had Done The Hard Part. Harleigh Was Poised And She Was Smart, Too.

Now That Hood Thought About It, The Old Bull’s-Eye Image Of The United Nations Probably Wasn’t What Made Him Feel Vulnerable. It Was Now. This Moment, This Point In His Life.

Standing In The Open Four-Story-Tall Lobby, Hood Felt Very Much Alone. He Felt Detached From So Many Things. His Kids Were Growing, He’d Ended A Career, He Felt Estranged From His Wife In So Many Ways, And Hood Would No Longer Be Seeing The People H Less-Than Do Worked With So Closely For Over Two Years. Is That What He Was Supposed To Feel Halfway Through His Life? Vulnerable And Adrift?

He Didn’t Know. Everyone He’d Associated With At Op-Center-Bob Herbert, Mike Rodgers, Darrell Mccaskey, Computer Genius Matt Stoll, And Even The Late Martha Mackall–Were Single. Their Job Was Their Life. The Same Was True Of Colonel Brett August, Head Of The Striker Team. Had Being With Them Made Him Like This? Or Was He Drawn To Them Because He Wanted That Life? If The Latter Were True, He Was Going To Have A Very Difficult Time Making His New Life Work. Maybe He Should Talk To Psychologist Liz Gordon About This While He Was Still Eligible For Office Perks. Although She Was Single, Too, And Worked About Sixty Hours A Week. Hood Saw Sharon Come Up The Winding Staircase On The Other Side Of The Lobby. She Was Dressed In A Smart Beige Pantsuit And She Looked Terrific. He’d Told Her So Back At The Hotel, And That Had Put A Little Bounce In Her Step. The Bounce Was Still There. She Smiled At Him, And He Smiled Back As She Approached. Suddenly, He Didn’t Feel Quite So Alone.

A Young Japanese Woman Walked Toward Them.

She Was Wearing A Navy Blue Blazer, A Laminated Id Badge On Her Breast Pocket, And A Big, Welcoming Smile. She Came From A Small Lobby Located On The Eastern Side Of The General Assembly Building. Unlike The Main Lobby, Which Was Located On The Far Northern End Of The Building, The Smaller Lobby Adjoined The Main Plaza In Front Of The Towering Secretariat Building. In Addition To The Offices Of The Member Nations, The Secretariat Building Housed The Halls Of The Security Council, The Economic And Social Council, And The Trusteeship Council. That Was Where They Were Headed. The Three Magnificent Auditoriums Were Situated Side By Side, Overlooking The East River. The United Nations Correspondents Club, Which Was Where The Parents Would Be Taken, Was Located Across The Hall From The Security Council.

The Young Guide Introduced Herself As Kako Nogami. As The Visting Parents Followed Her, The Young Lady Went Into An Abbreviated Version Of Her Tour-Guide Speech.

“How Many Of You Have Been To The United Nations Before?” She Asked, Walking Backward.

Several Parents Raised Their Hands. Hood Didn’t. He Was Afraid Kako Would Ask What He Remembered About It, And He’d Have To Tell Her About James Lavigne And Batman.

“To Refresh Your Memories,” She Went On, “And For The Benefit Of Our New Guests, I’d Like To Tell You A Little About The Area Of The United Nations We’ll Be Visiting.” The Guide Explained That The Security Council Is The United Nations’s Most Powerful Body, Primarily Responsible For Maintaining International Peace And Security. “Five Influential Countries Including The United States Sit As Permanent Members,” She Said, “Along With Ten Others, Elected For Two-Year Terms. Tonight, Your Children Will Be Playing For The Ambassadors Of These Nations Along With Their Executive Staffs. “The Economic And Social Council, As The Name Implies, Serves As A Forum For The Discussion Of International Economic And Social Issues,” The Young Woman Went On. “The Council Also Promotes Human Rights And Basic Freedoms.

The Trusteeship Council, Which Suspended Operations In 1994, Helped Territories Around The World Attain Self-Government Or Independence, Either As Sovereign States Or As Part Of Other Nations.” For Just A Moment, Hood Thought It Would Be Fascinating To Nun This Place. Keeping The Peace Inside, Among The Delegates, Had To Be As Challenging As Keeping The Peace Outside. As Though Sensing His Thoughts, Sharon Slipped Her Fingers Between His And Squeezed Tightly.

He Let The Idea Go.

The Group Passed A Large, Ground-Floor Window That Looked Out Onto The Main Plaza. Outside Was The Shinto-Style Shrine That Housed The Japanese Peace Bell. It Was Cast From Coins And Metal Donated By People From Sixty Nations. Just Past The Window, The Lobby Fed Into A Wide Corridor. Straight Ahead Were Elevators Used By Un Delegates And Their Staff.

To The Right Was A Series Of Display Cases. The Guide Led Them Over. The Cases Contained Relics Of The Atom Bomb Blast That Razed Hiroshima: Fused Cans, Charred School Clothes And Roof Tiles, Melted Bottles, And A Pocked Stone Statue Of Saint Agnes. The Japanese Guide Described The Destructive Force And Intensity Of The Blast.

The Exhibit Wasn’t Moving Hood Or Barbara’s Father Hal Mathis, Whose Father Had Died On Okinawa. Hood Wished That Bob Herbert And Mike Rodgers Were Here. Rodgers Would Have Asked The Guide To Show Them The Pearl Harbor Exhibit Next. The One About The Attack That Happened When The Two Nations Weren’t At War. At Twenty-Two Or Twenty-Three Years Old, Hood Wondered If The Young Woman Would Have Understood The Context Of The Question. Herbert Would Have Raised A Stink Even Before They Got This Far. The Intelligence Chief Had Lost His Wife And The Use Of His Legs In The Terrorist Bombing Of The United States Embassy In Beirut In 1983. He Had Gotten On With His Life, But He Did Not Forgive Easily. In This Case, Hood Wouldn’t Have Blamed Him. One Of The Un Publications Hood Had Browsed Through At The Gift Shop Described Pearl Harbor As “The Hirohito Attack,” Tacitly Absolving The Japanese People Of Guilt In The Crime. Even The More Politically Correct Hood Found The Revisionist History Disturbing. After Finishing At The Hiroshima Exhibit, The Group Went Up Two Flights Of Escalators To The Upstairs Lobby. To Their Left Were The Three Auditoriums With The Security Council Chambers Located On The Far End. The Parents Were Led To The Old Press Bull Pen Across The Hall. There Was A Guard Outside, A Member Of The United Nations Security Forces. The African-American Man Was Dressed In A Powder Blue Short-Sleeve Shirt, Blue Gray Trousers With A Black Stripe Down Each Leg, And A Navy Blue Cap. His Name Tag Read Dillon.

When They Arrived, Mr. Dillon Unlocked The Bull Pen Door And Let Them In.

Today, Reporters Generally Work In The High-Tech Television Press Rooms Situated In Long, Glass Booths On Either Side Of The Security Council Auditorium. These Booths Are Accessible By A Common Corridor Between The Security Council And The Economic And Social Council. But In The 1940’S, This Spacious, Windowless L-Shaped Room Was The Heart Of The United Nations’s Media Center. The First Part Of 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.

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