Teeth of the Tiger

Tom Clancy Teeth of the Tiger

DEDICATION

To Chris and Charlie.

Welcome aboard

… and, of course, Lady Alex, whose light burns

as brightly as ever

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Marco, in Italy, for navigation instructions

Ric and Mort for the medical education

Mary and Ed for the maps

Madam Jacque for the records

UVA for the look at TJ's place

Roland, again, for Colorado

Mike for the inspiration

And a raft of others for small but important tidbits of knowledge

'People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.'

— GEORGE ORWELL

'This is a war of the unknown warriors; but let all strive without failing in faith or in duty…'

— WINSTON CHURCHILL

Whether the State can loose and bind

In Heaven as well as on Earth:

If it be wiser to kill mankind

Before or after the birth—

These are matters of high concern

Where State-kept schoolmen are;

But Holy State (we have lived to learn)

Endeth in Holy War.

Whether The People be led by The Lord,

Or lured by the loudest throat:

If it be quicker to die by the sword

Or cheaper to die by vote—

These are things we have dealt with once,

(And they will not rise from their grave)

For Holy People, however it runs,

Endeth in wholly Slave.

Whatsoever for any cause,

Seeketh to take or give

Power above or beyond the Laws,

Suffer it not to live!

Holy State or Holy King—

Or Holy People's Will—

Have no truck with the senseless thing.

Order the guns and kill!

Saying — after — me —

Once there was The People — Terror gave it birth;

Once there was The People and it made a Hell of Earth

Earth arose and crushed it. Listen, O ye slain!

Once there was The People — it shall never be again!

— RUDYARD KIPLING, 'Macdonough's Song'

PROLOGUE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER

David Greengold had been born in that most American of communities, Brooklyn, but at his Bar Mitzvah, something important had changed in his life. After proclaiming 'Today I am a man,' he'd gone to the celebration party and met some family members who'd flown in from Israel. His uncle Moses was a very prosperous dealer in diamonds there. David's own father had seven retail jewelry stores, the flagship of which was on Fortieth Street in Manhattan.

While his father and his uncle talked business over California wine, David had ended up with his first cousin, Daniel. His elder by ten years, Daniel had just begun work for the Mossad, Israel's main foreign-intelligence agency, and, a quintessential newbie, he had regaled his cousin with stories. Daniel's obligatory military service had been with the Israeli paratroopers, and he'd made eleven jumps, and had seen some action in the 1967 Six Day War. For him, it had been a happy war, with no serious casualties in his company, and just enough kills to make it seem to have been a sporting adventure — a hunting trip against game that was dangerous, but not overly so, with a conclusion that had fitted very well indeed with his prewar outlook and expectations.

The stories had provided a vivid contrast to the gloomy TV coverage of Vietnam that led off every evening news broadcast then, and with the enthusiasm of his newly reaffirmed religious identity, David had decided on the spot to emigrate to his Jewish homeland as soon as he graduated from high school. His father, who'd served in the U.S. Second Armored Division in the Second World War, and on the whole found the adventure less than pleasing, had been even less happy by the possibility of his son's going to an Asian jungle to fight a war for which neither he nor any of his acquaintances had much enthusiasm — and so, when graduation came, young David flew El Al to Israel and really never looked back. He brushed up on his Hebrew, served his uniformed time, and then, like his