TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: GAMES OF STATE

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: ACTS OF WAR

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: BALANCE OF POWER

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: STATE OF SIEGE

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: DIVIDE AND CONQUER

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: LINE OF CONTROL

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: MISSION OF HONOR

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: SEA OF FIRE

TOM CLANCY'S OP-CENTER: CALL TO TREASON

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: HIDDEN AGENDAS

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: NIGHT MOVES

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: BREAKING POINT

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: POINT OF IMPACT

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: CYBERNATION

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: STATE OF WAR

TOM CLANCY'S NET FORCE: CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Created by Tom Clancy and Martin Greenberg

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: POLITIKA

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: RUTHLESS.COM

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: SHADOW WATCH

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: BIO-STRIKE

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: COLD WAR

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: CUTTING EDGE

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: ZERO HOUR

TOM CLANCY'S POWER PLAYS: WILD CARD

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL ^(r)

A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with Rubicon, Inc.

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley edition / December 2004

Copyright (c) 2004 by Rubicon, Inc.

Splinter Cell, Sam Fisher, Ubi Soft, and the Ubi Soft logo are trademarks of Ubi Soft in the U.S. and other countries. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (c) 2004 Ubi Soft Entertainment S.A.

All rights reserved.

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eISBN: 9781101003725

BERKLEY ^(r)

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BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

The "B" design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author and publisher wish to acknowledge the work of Raymond Benson, whose invaluable contribution to this novel is immeasurable. Many thanks go to Ubi Soft Entertainment personnel Mathieu Ferland, Alexis Nolent, and Olivier Henriot for their cooperation and support. Finally, a big thank-you each goes to Joe Konrath for his input and to James McMahon for his expertise.

1

IT'S like being in a state of nonexistence. A vacuum. Darkness and light at the same time, and no sense of gravity. There's no air, but I know I'm breathing. Certainly no sounds are present. I see and feel nothing. There are no dreams.

That's what sleep is like for me. I'm blessed, I suppose. I can will myself to sleep anywhere, anytime. I didn't train to do it. It's always been that way, ever since I was a kid. I simply tell myself, "It's time to sleep now." And I do it. I'm sure a lot of people in the world would envy this talent. I don't take it for granted because in my business I have to catch sleep in the strangest places and at the oddest times.

I feel the pulsating pressure on my wrist. It gently pulls me out of this dimensionless world, and I slowly regain the use of my senses. I feel the warm metal against my face. I hear far-off nondescript echoes.

The OPSAT attached to my wrist continues to wake me. There's a little T-shaped rod that protrudes from the flexible band when the silent "alarm" goes off. The rod rocks back and forth, nudging my pulse, telling my body that it's time to rouse. When I first saw it demonstrated, it reminded me of a James Coburn spy movie from the sixties in which he played a secret agent who could stop his heart on command. This apparently put him in some kind of hibernation. He had a wristwatch with the same kind of T-shaped rod that poked him until he woke up. I remember laughing in the movie theater when I saw that. It was too ridiculous to take seriously. Now look at me.