Jack Ryan 12 - The Teeth of the Tiger by Tom Clancy Read Free Book Online Page A

safe within the company vault was an official Charter signed by the former President of the
    
    
     United States
    
    
    .
    Tom Davis came in. The titulary head of bond trading,
    
    
     Davis
    
    
    's background was similar in some ways to Hendley's, and he spent his days glued to his computer. He didn't worry about security. In this building all of the walls had metal sheathing to contain electronic emanations, and all of the computers were tempest-protected.
    “What's new?” asked Hendley.
    “Well,”
    
    
     Davis
    
    
     answered, “we have a couple of potential new recruits.”
    “Who might they be?”
    Davis
    
    
     slid the files across Hendley's desk. The CEO took them and opened both.
    “Brothers?”
    “Twins. Fraternals. Their mom must have punched out two eggs instead of one that month. Both of them impressed the right people. Brains, mental agility, fitness, and between them a good mix of talents, plus language skills. Spanish, especially.”
    “This one speaks Pashtu?” Hendley looked up in surprise.
    “Just enough to find the bathroom. He was in country eight weeks or so, took the time to learn the local patois. Acquitted himself pretty well, the report says.”
    “Think they're our kind of people?” Hendley asked. Such people did not walk in the front door, which was why Hendley had a small number of very discreet recruiters sprinkled throughout the government.
    “We need to check them out a little more,”
    
    
     Davis
    
    
     conceded, “but they do have the talents we like. On the surface, both appear to be reliable, stable, and smart enough to understand why we're here. So, yeah, I think they're worth a serious look.”
    “What's next for them?”
    “Dominic is going to transfer to
    
    
     Washington
    
    
    . Gus Werner wants him to join the counter-terror office. He'll probably be a desk man to start with. He's a little young for HRT, and he hasn't proven his analytical abilities yet. I think Werner wants to see how smart he is first. Brian will fly to
    
    
     Camp
    
    
    
    
     Lejeune
    
    
    , back to working with his company. I'm surprised the Corps hasn't seconded him to intelligence. He's an obvious candidate, but they do like their shooters, and he did pretty well over in camel-land. He'll be fast-tracked to major's rank, if my sources are correct. So, first, I think I'll fly down and have lunch with him, feel him out some, then come back to D.C. And do the same with Dominic. Werner was impressed with him.”
    “And Gus is a good judge of men,” the former senator noted.
    “That he is, Gerry,”
    
    
     Davis
    
    
     agreed. “So—anything new shaking?”
    “
    
    
     Fort
    
    
    
    
     Meade
    
    
     is buried under a mountain, as usual.” The NSA's biggest problem was that they intercepted so much raw material it would take an army to sort through it all. Computer programs helped by homing in on key words and such, but nearly all of it was innocent chatter. Programmers were always trying to improve the catcher program, but it had proven to be virtually impossible to give a computer human instincts, though they were still trying. Unfortunately, the really talented programmers worked for game companies. That was where the money was, and talent usually followed the money path. Hendley couldn't complain about that. After all, he'd spent his twenties and half of his thirties doing the same. So, he often went looking for rich and very successful programmers for whom the money chase had become not so much boring as redundant. It was usually a waste of time. Nerds were often greedy bastards. Just like lawyers, but not quite as cynical. “I've seen half a dozen interesting intercepts today, though . . .”
    “Such as?”
    
    
     Davis
    
    
     asked. The company's chief recruiter, he was also a skilled analyst.
    “This.” Hendley handed the folder across.
    
    
     Davis
    
    
     opened it and scanned down the page.
    “Hmm,” was all he said.
    “Could be scary, if it turns into anything,”