“The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy (Chapter 16 – Chapter 22)

After a successful operation in America, made by the Caruso brothers, Campus thought that they were ready for the next ones. Now that strategy was called reconnaissance by fire. The whole point was that after they whacked one or two terrorists, saw what reaction, if any, results, and would take their guidance from there. But there was only one question whether terrorists’ eliminations going to be overt or covert. That point remained open, as the whole Campus’ attention was attracted by one thing, the weapon; it was a pen. To all appearances, it was an expensive ballpoint, gold-plated, with obsidian on the clip. By depressing the clip and turning the nib cover, the man switched the point from a real pen to a hypodermic with a lethal transfer agent. It would paralyze the victim in fifteen to twenty seconds, and kill him in three minutes, with no cure, and a very transient signature in the body.

   The brothers’ first victim was Uda bin Sali (he bankrolled terrorists’ expense accounts). They had to scout out the target, pick their moment, and make their hit; for that reason Brian and Dominic went to London. They'd have to be clever about that. Uda would probably take the lead, because it would be his job to spot the guy's police tail. But there was no sense in waiting too long, either. They'd looked at Berkeley Square just to get a feel for it, and hoping to eyeball the target. As soon as they so the man, brothers split up, heading in opposite directions; Dominic took out his Chichester map of central London and walked to the police tail; he stopped and turned quickly, gauging the distance from Brian to Sali. Brian would be doing exactly the same thing, and his job was to synchronize movement with his brother, who had the lead. Dominic stopped and turned quickly, gauging the distance from Brian to Sali. Brian would be doing exactly the same thing, of course,and his job was to synchronize movement with his brother, who had the lead. Then Dom’s eyes fixed on the tail. The Brit's eyes noted that, and his gaze shifted as well. Meanwhile Brian went to Sali; his eyes locked on the subject. At a range of three feet, he took half a step right as though to avoid someone who wasn't there at all, and bumped into him. The charge fired, injecting its seven milligrams of succinylcholine into the tissue of the largest muscle on Sali's anatomy; and Brian Caruso kept right on walking. Thus the brothers’ function was performed.

   Their second target was Anas Ali Atef (in Munich), he was thought to be a courier for the opposition, and also worked to recruit talent. There the man met his old friend and went to the mosque. After several minutes both of them went out of the building and walked towards the brothers. Dominic removed the gold pen from the inside pocket of his not-quite-a-suit jacket, furtively twisting the tip to arm it, then holding it in his right hand like an ice pick. He was heading on a close reciprocal course to the subject; Dominic appeared to trip over something, and fell right into the Atef guy; that would have covered the discomfort of the stab.

   The third target, Fa’ad, was in Osterreich; suffered the same fate as the previous ones. But the last mission differed, as in Italy Jack Patrick Ryan, Jr was sent to the twins as an analyst, Besides, he booked the room in the same hotel as their last target (Mohammed), that’s why the team had to change their tactics. Jack had to fulfill this task, with which he handled perfectly.

Individual Reading: "The Teeth of the Tiger": part 4