There is a point in any such gathering when those who collect intelligence part company with those who analyze it. That moment came at the conclusion of Rimona’s briefing when Adrian Carter rose suddenly to his feet and began absently beating the pockets of his blazer for his pipe. Four other men rose in unison and followed him across the central hallway into the living room. A log fire was burning in the open hearth; Shamron warmed his liver-spotted hands against the flames before lowering himself into the nearest chair. Navot sat next to him while Gabriel remained on his feet, pacing slowly at the edges of the room. Graham Seymour and Carter sat at opposite ends of the couch, Seymour as if posed for a clothing advertisement, Carter like a doctor preparing to break bad news to a terminal patient.

“How long?” he asked finally. “How long before they’re able to close the deal and build their first nuclear weapon?”

Gabriel and Shamron both deferred to their chief in name only, Uzi Navot.

“Even the IAEA has finally concluded that the Iranians already possess the capability to produce a bomb. And if Martin Landesmann is going to sell them the top-of-the-line centrifuges they need to produce a steady supply of fuel…”

“How long, Uzi?” Carter repeated.

“A year at the outside. Perhaps even sooner.”

Carter inserted his pipe into his tobacco pouch. “For the record, gentlemen, my masters at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would be most grateful if you would refrain from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities now or at any time in the future.”

“The feelings of the White House have been made clear to us.”

“I’m just restating them now lest there be any confusion.”

“There isn’t. And as long as we’re speaking for the record, no one wants to attack Iran any less than we do. This isn’t some faction of the PLO we’re dealing with. This is the Persian Empire. If we hit them, they’ll hit us back. They’re already arming Hezbollah and Hamas for a proxy war and priming their terror networks around the globe for attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.”

“They’ll also turn Iraq into a flaming cauldron and the Persian Gulf into a war zone,” Carter added. “The price of oil will skyrocket, which will plunge the global economy back into recession. And the world will blame you, of course.”

“They always do,” Shamron said. “We’re used to that.”

Carter struck a match and ignited his pipe. His next question was posed through a fog of smoke.

“Are you sure about the China connection?”

“We’ve been watching XTE for some time. The memos we dug out of Martin’s laptop merely confirmed all our suspicions.” Navot paused. “But surely you’re not surprised by China’s involvement in this?”