"Clancy, Tom - Op-Center 05 - Ballance of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Clancy Tom)

what's at stake here. To be distracted like that is
inexcusable."
The statuesque Martha and her slight assistant,
Aideen Marley were holding a pole in the aisle
near the front door of the bus. Aideen's full,
round cheeks nearly as red as her long hair, she
tore absently at the moist towelette she
clutched in her right hand.
"Do you disagree?" Martha asked.
"No," Aideen said.
"I mean, good lord!"
"I said no," Aideen repeated. "I don't
disagree. I was wrong. Totally and completely
wrong."
Aideen believed it, too. She had behaved
impulsively in a situation that she
probably should have ignored. But like Aideen's own
overreaction a few minutes before, this dressing-down
from Martha was excessive and punitive. In the two
months since
2 OP-CENTER
Aideen had joined Op-Center's Political and
Economics Office, she'd been warned more than
once by the other three staff members to avoid
crossing the boss.
Now she saw why.
"I don't know what you needed to prove," Martha
went on. She was still bent close to Aideen. There was
anger in her clipped tone. " "But I never
want you doing it again. Not when you're touring with me.
Do you understand?"'"
"Yes," Aideen said contritely.
God,
she thought,
enough already.
Aideen had a flashback to a brainwashing seminar
she'd once attended at the U.s. embassy in
Mexico City. The prisoners were always dunned
by their captors when they were at their weakest emotionally.
Guilt was an especially effective doorway.
She wondered if Martha had studied the
technique or came by it naturally.
And almost at once, Aideen wondered if she were being
fair to her boss. After all, this
was
their first mission together for Op-Center. And it was an
important one.
Martha finally looked away-but only for a moment.
"It's unbelievable," she said, turning back.
Her voice was just loud enough to be heard over the powerful