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

engine. "Tell me something. Did it ever occur to you
that we might have been detained by the police? How would
we have explained that to our Uncle Miguel?"
Uncle Miguel was the code name for the man they were
here to see. Deputy Isidro Serrador.
Until the women arrived for their meeting at the
Congreso de
BALANCE OF POWER 3
los Diputados, the Congress of Deputies, that
was how they were supposed to refer to him.
"Detained by the police for what?" Aideen asked.
"Frankly, no. That did not occur to me. We were
simply protecting ourselves."
"Protecting ourselves?" Martha asked.
Aideen looked at her. "Yes."
"From whom?"
"What do you mean?" Aideen asked. "Those men-was
"Those
Spanish
men," Martha said, still bent close to Aideen. "It
would have been our word against theirs. Two American
women crying harassment to
policemen
who probably do their own share of harassing. The
policia
would have laughed at us."
Aideen shook her head. "I can't believe it would
have gone that far."
"I see," Martha said. "You know that for sure. You
can guarantee it wouldn't have."
"No, I can't," Aideen admitted. "But even
so, at least the situation would have been-was
"What?" Martha asked. "Ended? What would you have
done if we'd been arrested?"
Aideen looked out the window as the stores and hotels
of Madrid's commercial center passed by. She'd
recently partaken in one of Op-Center's
computerized WaSP'S-WAR Simulation
Projects-a mandatory exercise for members of the
diplomatic staff. It gave them a feeling for
what their colleagues had to endure if
diplomacy failed. Casualties greater than the
mind could process. That exercise was easier than this
one.
"If we'd been arrested," Aideen said, "I would
4 OP-CENTER
have apologized. What else could I have done?"
"Not a thing," Martha said, "which is exactly my
point-though it's a little late to be thinking about it."
"You know what?" said Aideen. "You're right. You're