Chapters (49)
- Title Page
- Acknowledgements
- ONE - THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW SEPTEMBER 24, 1999
- TWO - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 6, 1999
- THREE - CAUCASUS REGION NEAR THE CASPIAN SEA, RUSSIA, OCTOBER 10, 1999
- FOUR - THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON, D.C. OCTOBER 26, 1999
- FIVE - KALININGRAD, RUSSIA OCTOBER 26, 1999
- SIX - KHABAROVSK TERRITORY NEAR THE RUSSIA-CHINA BORDER OCTOBER 27, 1999
- SEVEN - KALININGRAD, RUSSIA NOVEMBER 2, 1999
- EIGHT - WASHINGTON, D.C. NOVEMBER 5, 1999
- NINE - KALININGRAD REGION NOVEMBER 16, 1999
- TEN - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK NOVEMBER 28, 1999
- ELEVEN - NEW YORK CITY DECEMBER 23, 1999
- TWELVE - NEW YORK CITY DECEMBER 28, 1999
- THIRTEEN - VARIOUS LOCALES DECEMBER 31, 1999
- FOURTEEN - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 31, 1999
- FIFTEEN - NEW YORK CITY DECEMBER 31, 1999
- SIXTEEN - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 31, 1999
- SEVENTEEN - NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 1, 2000
- EIGHTEEN - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK JANUARY 1, 2000
- NINETEEN - NEW YORK CITY AND SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 1, 2000
- TWENTY - WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 2, 2000 FROM THE
- TWENTY-ONE - NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 3, 2000 CALVARY CEMETERY, QUEENS
- TWENTY-TWO - MOSCOW JANUARY 6, 2000
- TWENTY-THREE - WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 6, 2000
- TWENTY-FOUR - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 7, 2000
- TWENTY-FIVE - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 8, 2000
- TWENTY-SIX - NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 16, 2000
- TWENTY-SEVEN - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK JANUARY 16, 2000
- TWENTY-EIGHT - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK JANUARY 16, 2000
- TWENTY-NINE - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK JANUARY 16, 2000
- THIRTY - NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 20, 2000
- THIRTY-ONE - BROOKLYN, NEW YORK JANUARY 26, 2000
- THIRTY-TWO - WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 26, 2000
- THIRTY-THREE - WASHINGTON, D.C. JANUARY 28, 2000
- THIRTY-FOUR - NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 29, 2000
- THIRTY-FIVE - KALININGRAD, RUSSIA JANUARY 30, 2000
- THIRTY-SIX - THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW FEBRUARY 1, 2000
- THIRTY-SEVEN - ANKARA, TURKEY FEBRUARY 7, 2000
- THIRTY-EIGHT - CAPPADOCIA, SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY FEBRUARY 9, 2000
- THIRTY-NINE - KALININGRAD REGION FEBRUARY 9, 2000
- FORTY - KALININGRAD REGION FEBRUARY 10, 2000
- FORTY-ONE - NEW YORK CITY FEBRUARY 9, 2000
- FORTY-TWO - KALININGRAD REGION FEBRUARY 10
- FORTY-THREE - SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 10, 2000
- FORTY-FOUR - MOSCOW FEBRUARY 11, 2000
- FORTY-FIVE - MOSCOW FEBRUARY 12, 2000
- FORTY-SIX - DAGOMYS BLACK SEA COAST, RUSSIA FEBRUARY 12, 2000
- FORTY-SEVEN - NEW YORK CITY KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FEBRUARY 17, 2000
Nordstrum sighed and rubbed his eyelids. “Obviously we all know why we’re here, Scull. But I think Megan was trying to add some perspective to the—”
“Wait,” Gordian said, holding up his hand. “I’m sure that none of us have had much sleep, and everybody’s frazzled. But some extremely important issues have been raised, and I’m glad we didn’t postpone this discussion. Somebody, I think it was Julius Caesar, once said that the art of life is more like the wrestler’s art than the dancer’s, and what I’ve always thought he meant was that you’ve got to meet the unexpected head-on, grapple with it, rather than try to tiptoe around it. That’s the reason we developed the Sword project.” He paused for comment, received none, and turned toward Nimec. “Pete, I want Max Blackburn to assemble a team that will gather information about who may have been responsible for the bombing. He’s to spare no expense.”
Nimec nodded. There was a look Gordian occasionally got in his eyes, a tight, hard focus, that always evoked a mental image of someone holding a magnifying glass into the sunlight to set a leaf on fire. A look that made whoever it was turned upon feel as if he were being bathed in combustible heat. It was a look that he was giving Nimec right now.
“I think it’ll be best if Max flies to Russia as soon as possible. He can coordinate things from there, use the ground station as our primary base of operations,” Gordian continued. “At the same time, Pete, you track down whatever leads you can here in the U.S. I’m hoping for fast progress.”
Nimec nodded again.
“We keep a low profile, okay?” Gordian said. “If the intelligence community gets the slightest hint we’re conducting an independent investigation, they’ll shut us down.”
Gordian swung his gaze around the table.
“Any comments?”
“Only one,” Nordstrum said.
Gordian looked at him, waiting.
“You know that quote about the wrestler and the dancer?”
“Right.”
“It comes from Marcus Aurelius, not the emperor Julius.”
Gordian looked at him another moment. Then he slowly lifted his coffee to his lips, drained the cup, and nodded.
“Appreciate that, my friend,” he said.
The Blue Room at New York’s City Hall, where official press briefings normally took place, was too small to hold the crowd of print and film journalists who wanted to attend the city’s first press conference since the explosion. Figuring out where to hold this briefing had been only one of a hundred decisions that had to be made by the mayor’s office.
But the mayor was gone. Dead. Killed in the blast like a thousand others.