Gideon's Sword Read Online Free PDF

short period of time.
The author strongly recommends that Thresher Encryption Standard EVP-4 not be adopted in its current form.
    That was it. Proof that his father had been framed. And then murdered. Gideon Crew already knew all about the man who had done it: Lieutenant General (ret.) Chamblee S. Tucker, currently CEO of Tucker and Associates, one of the high-profile defense industry lobbying firms on K Street. They represented many of the country’s largest defense contractors, and Tucker had leveraged himself to the hilt in order to finance the firm. He was raking in huge bucks, but they managed to go right back out the door thanks to his extravagant lifestyle.
    By itself, this document meant little. Gideon knew that anything could be counterfeited—or be claimed to have been counterfeited. The document wasn’t an endpoint; it was a starting point for the little surprise he had planned for Chamblee S. Tucker.
    Using the remote computer he had previously hijacked at the General Services Administration, Gideon stripped the document of its classification watermarks and sent it to a dozen large computer databases worldwide. Having thus secured the document from destruction, he sent an e-mail directly from his own computer to [email protected] with the document as an attachment. The covering e-mail read:
General Tucker:
I know what you did. I know why you did it. I know how you did it.
On Monday, I’m sending the attached file to various correspondents at the Post, Times, AP, and network news channels—with an explanation.
Have a nice weekend.
Gideon Crew

7
    C hamblee S. Tucker sat behind an enormous desk in the oak-paneled study of his house in McLean, Virginia, thoughtfully hefting a four-pound Murano glass paperweight in one hand. At seventy years old, he was fit for his age and proud of it.
    He shifted the paperweight to the other hand, pressed it a few times.
    A knock came at the door.
    “Come in.” He set the paperweight down with exquisite care.
    Charles Dajkovic entered the study. He was in civilian clothes, but his bearing and physique shouted military : whitewall haircut, massive neck, ramrod posture, steely blue eyes. A grizzled, close-clipped mustache was his only concession to civilian life.
    “Good morning, General,” he said.
    “Good morning, Charlie. Sit down. Have a cup of coffee.”
    “Thank you.” The man eased his frame into the proffered chair. Tucker indicated a silver salver on a nearby side table with coffeepot, sugar, cream, and cups. Dajkovic helped himself.
    “Let’s see now…” The general paused. “You’ve been with Tucker and Associates for, what, ten years?”
    “That’s about right, sir.”
    “But you and I, we go way back.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “We have a history. Operation Urgent Fury. That’s why I hired you: because the trust built on the battlefield is the finest trust that exists in this crazy world. Men who haven’t fought together in battle don’t even know the full meaning of the words trust and loyalty .”
    “That’s very true, sir.”
    “And that is why I asked you to come to my home. Because I can trust you.” The general paused. “Let me tell you a story. It has a moral but you’ll have to figure it out on your own. I can’t be too specific—you’ll see why.”
    A nod.
    “Ever hear of John Walker Lindh?”
    “The ‘American Taliban’?”
    “Right. And Adam Gadahn?”
    “Isn’t he the guy who joined al-Qaeda and makes videos for Bin Laden?”
    “Right you are. I’ve come into possession of some highly classified information regarding a third American convert—only this one is far more dangerous.” Tucker paused again. “This fellow’s father worked for INSCOM when I was there. Turned out the man was a traitor, passing information to the Soviets. You may remember the aftermath: he took a hostage over at the old HQ. Our snipers took him down. His kid witnessed it.”
    “I recall that incident.”
    “What you don’t