BooksBarbecue
Back Game of Snipers
Chapters (74)
  1. Cover
  2. TITLES BY STEPHEN HUNTER
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. PART 1
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. PART 2
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. PART 3
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. PART 4
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. 59
  68. 60
  69. PART 5
  70. 61
  71. 62
  72. Acknowledgments
  73. About the Author
  74. What’s next onyour reading list?

“It’ll be limited in time, so you’d better have your team ready to hop in and ride hard. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. The act is designed to help you hunt for one thing and one thing alone, not as a general scouting expedition.”

“I’ve got that.”

“It’s so much easier the Mossad way,” sighed Mr. Gold. “We just do it and sleep well at night.”

“You have an advantage,” said Neill. “You’re at war. We’re playing a party game called Don’t Make Anybody Mad.”

•   •   •

The paperwork was expedited, the FISA ruling achieved, and at that point the Director of the Cyber Division ruled that Gershon Gold, of Mossad, was not cleared to assist in the search, being a representative of a foreign intelligence service, even though a friendly one.

Bob immediately resigned.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nick said.

“Who’s being ridiculous? He’s the best cyberguy in the world. A legend. That’s why he’s here. And now you’re telling me he can’t take an elevator down a story and sit at a monitor just like the one he has in Tel Aviv.”

“That’s what I’m telling you. It’s federal law, and, in their way, the Cyber Division is right. If anything goes wrong and it is later revealed that we illegally let an Israeli national highly educated in cyberwar into our nerve center, that could be used against us by the usual sources. Different agendas here: you are trying to catch Juba, the Cyber Division is trying to ensure the Bureau’s integrity and invulnerability to partisan or press attacks.”

“Maybe Gold is the only guy in the world who can break this thing. Would you want them partisan jerks to know that he was sitting upstairs drinking bad coffee while we were fucking up downstairs, thirty feet, as the crow flies, from his instrument of war?”

“Cyber Division is playing the odds. It’s the smart move, bureaucratically. Our smart move has to be to figure out how to get around it. Nothing personal against either man, it’s just another obstacle we have to get over.”

“Can we bring Ward Taylor in on this one?”

“Sure, but he’ll tell you the same thing. He has to. He has no choice.”

It was Gold who ended the contretemps.