Datasets:
BlinAI
/
Testo

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
 Community
1
text
stringlengths
0
4.23k
The man smiled. "We will see. My olives. Please."
The young waiter hurried away, scattering two flies off the tabletop with a quick swish of the towel he usually kept draped over his forearm.
The tall man checked his watch, looked up.
Toward the tip of the Sounion headland.
ODYSSEUS
Nolan stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'd like to close these proceedings with a few strictly personal thoughts." He began a slow-paced orbit around the table....
"Family disputes are frequently put aside when the neighbors become a threat." Gaspard smoothed his tie.
"Yes, so they are, Mr. Gaspard. But the wise family learns an important lesson from the experience: that it has the ability to lay aside old squabbles and to ...
Medina of Brazil smiled and brushed his pepper-and-salt moustache. "An apt metaphor, but the purpose?"
"The purpose is to take this as an opportunity for action, Eduardo, not re-action. All our talk has been framed in the anticipation of dire necessities. Defen...
Gaspard released a slow, exasperated sigh. "Impressive propaganda."
Ching's response was quiet but swift. "I do not think so, Mr. Gaspard. It is true that we started this meeting with fear in our minds, but who is to say that ...
CIRCE
He heard the noise of the waiter approaching, did not open his eyes, but let the sun continue to shine full upon his face. He heard the expected plate of olives...
A ceramic jug. Just below the rim of its wide mouth, red wine oscillated from side to side.
He looked up. The waiter's hand-lowering a glass to the table-stopped. So did his smile.
"Just olives. I gave no final order for wine."
The waiter opened his mouth-but then closed it, picked up the jug, half-bowed himself away from the table in haste.
When he was gone, the tall man smiled and picked up an olive. He rubbed it against his teeth, feeling it slide smoothly back and forth. He pressed harder: the...
ODYSSEUS
Nolan walked to his chair before he spoke again. "One of our American presidents stated that a house divided against itself cannot stand. What he knew is that u...
Ching lowered his head slightly, as if staring at the table in front of him. After five silent seconds, he began to speak, without raising his head. "Mr. Corc...
Caine was surprised-and misled-by the unprecedented Sino-American solidarity for only a moment before he realized what it really signified: Ching is going to ...
And Caine could tell, by looking around the table, that the tactic had worked. Scattered nods, thoughtful stares at the tabletop, a few smiles. Even Gaspard, ...
Nolan stood. "Honored delegates, these proceedings are concluded."
CIRCE
Using thumb and forefinger, he extracted the fourteenth and final pit from between clenched teeth. He let it fall to the center of the plate: the impact upon th...
The waiter looked up, wary.
"I am finished," the tall man said. He rose, reached into his pocket, scattered the fistful of remaining euros across the pit-littered plate.
He turned, spied the second story of his duplex above the other buildings, walked in that direction.
Chapter Twenty-Four
ODYSSEUS
Nolan, Caine, and Downing emerged into a stiff breeze. Nolan squinted up the slope, leaned into the ascent. "You have a knack for this, you know."
Caine looked at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"You asked me not to be coy, yesterday. Now I'll ask the same of you. You're good at this, and people saw it. You're going to be on a lot of watch lists."
Downing smiled ruefully from Caine's other side. "You're caught well and good, and only yourself to blame."
"Thanks."
A light tread behind them: Downing turned, veered away from Caine. Ching nodded his appreciation as he stepped into the vacated space. They walked on. And on....
"Mr. Riordan, I hope when you are speaking to the media that you will not include any political speculations."
"Why? Are you afraid I will reveal what was said here?"
"No: I fear that you will reveal what was not said here." Caine turned toward Ching-who looked him full in the face. And smiled: it was possibly an invitation...
Nolan's voice came from the other side: the tone was casual, pitched so as not to attract notice as Demirel passed them. "Nothing to worry about; Caine knows ...
Walking between these two men, calmly discussing undisclosed manipulations of the global power structure, left Caine with a feeling of greater otherworldlines...
The silence indicated assent.
Caine uttered the insight as it arose. "And since the DWC was given the first slot, that implies that there had to be some kind of arrangement regarding the s...
"Let me guess: since China is first, Russia insisted upon the second slot. That provides Moscow the opportunity to immediately correct any 'imbalanced' decisi...
Ching's smile was broader. "He has promise."
Nolan shrugged. "He learns quickly, I have to admit."
Undaunted by their needling, Caine unfolded the rest. "Next will be TOCIO. Japan needs the political clout that will come from an early Proconsul slot in orde...