"Clancy, Tom - Op-Center 05 - Ballance of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clancy Tom)

to them from the U.s. Embassy in Madrid.
Relayed so quietly that only Deputy
Serrador, Ambassador Neville,
President Michael Lawrence and his closest
advisors, and the top people at Op-Center knew about
it. And they would keep quiet. If Deputy
Serrador were correct, tens of thousands of lives
were at risk.
A church bell rang in the distance. To Aideen, it
somehow sounded
holier
in Spain than it did in Washington. She counted out
the tolls. It was six o'clock. Martha and Aideen
made their way to the guardhouse.
BALANCE OF POWER 13
Nosotros aqui para un viaje todo
comprendido,
Aideen said through the grate in the glass. "We're
here for a tour." Completing the picture of the excited
tourist, she added that a mutual friend had arranged for a
private tour of the building.
The young guard, tall and unsmiling, asked for their
names.
Senorita Temblon y Senorita Serafico,
Aideen replied, giving him their cover
identities. Before leaving Washington Aideen had
worked these out with Serrador's office. Everything, from the
airplane tickets to the hotel reservations, was in
those names.
The guard turned and checked a list on a
clipboard. As he did, Aideen looked around.
There was a courtyard behind the fence, the sky a
beautiful blue-black above it. At the rear of the
courtyard was a small stone building where auxiliary
governmental services were located. Behind that was a
new glass-covered building, which housed the offices
of the deputies. It was an impressive complex that
reminded Aideen just how far the Spanish had come
since the death in 1975 of El Caudillo, "the
leader," Francisco Franco. The nation was now a
constitutional monarchy, with a prime minister
and a largely titular king. The Palacio de las
Cortes itself spoke very eloquently of one of the
trying times in Spain's past. There were bullet
holes in the ceiling of the Chamber of Sessions, a
remnant and graphic reminder of a right-wing coup
attempt in 1981. The palace had been the site
of other attacks, most notably in 1874 when
President Emilio Castelar lost a vote of
confidence and soldiers opened fire in the hallways.