Hi-Tech Hijack (32 page)

The observation post placed by the land force identified the doors opening and Alfonso, Isabella, and the guard emerging. Word was sent to Colonel Johnson, who informed all the troops that the action that had been scheduled to begin at 10:00 p.m. is now being pushed forward to 9:00 p.m.

The helicopters that landed and waited several miles away silently started their engines. When the signal was given, all three land companies turned on their vehicle lights. Each third vehicle, those of the company commanders, had been equipped with a huge floodlight. All the lights were aimed at the building and the cluster of people outside it. Seconds after the lights came on, the sounds of the helicopter engines were heard, and before the dazed bunch knew what was going on, the chopper carrying the commando warriors landed inside the fenced-in area about one hundred feet from the building. The three other helicopters stayed in the air several dozen feet above ground covering the warriors storming the scene and making sure no one fled it.

The Navy Seals jumped out of the helicopter before it even touched the ground and raced toward the building. The first six charged at the group of people who were standing outside dazed and confused by all the light and noise. They disarmed the eight guards using only the butts of their riffles before they even had a chance to react or resist.

“Stay still, and you will not be hurt!” yelled one of the commando soldiers, and Nir, who exited the chopper last, repeated the instruction in Arabic while following Lieutenant Colonel Rossini, his deputy Major Jack, and a third warrior into the building.

Alfonso heard the shouting outside, and in the mere seconds it took for the soldiers to enter, he understood this was not the help coming to sort out the electricity problems. In the blink of an eye, he came to the obvious conclusion that those men outside were there to free Eddie and Reuben, uncover PSSIC secrets, and learn his own role in this.

“We’re in danger,” he said to Isabella in Spanish and tried to move toward Eddie and Reuben. There were two guards standing between them and him, and he pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. The guards moved aside, but Lieutenant Colonel Rossini had already entered the building and spotted Alfonso. He lunged at him trying to push his arm to the ground.

A single gunshot was heard followed by someone crying, “I’m hit!” in Hebrew. Rossini knocked Alfonso to the floor and released the gun from his hands. Reuben, who had been shot, fell to the ground.

Major Jack fired a few shots in the air and shouted, “Everyone lie down on your stomach with your arms stretched forward.” Nir was right behind him, and repeated the command in Arabic, not that the frightened bunch felt it necessary to wait for a translation. Isabella lay down beside Alfonso and found herself next to Reuben. Blood from his wound started to flow in her direction. Isabella quickly took out the syringe she had in her lab coat pocket, inserted the needle into it, and jammed it slowly into Reuben’s right leg. The pain of the gunshot wound in his abdomen was so intense he didn’t even feel the syringe that was full of the substance Isabella had intended to inject into the monkey’s flesh. The soldiers quickly moved from one person to another collecting all rifles and hand guns. It took them less than a minute.

Nir ran toward Eddie who was sitting in his chair blindfolded and cringing, but then he spotted Reuben, his brother-in-law, lying on his stomach and kneeled down to pick him up. There was blood all over his abdomen. Nir turned Reuben on his back, pushed away the guards who were lying around him, and yelled, “We need the doctor and the medic! Call in the second chopper.” One of the soldiers tossed him some field dressing, and Nir pressed down on the source of the bleeding.

In the meantime Rossini and his men handled the rest of the group. They removed Alfonso and Isabella hunched and shaking from the building and put them into the chopper. They handcuffed and blindfolded them. Jack removed Eddie’s blindfolds and led him to the chopper:

“We’ll un chain you later. I don’t want to waste any time right now.”

“The head guard has the keys. He’s the one with stripes on his shoulders,” said Eddie as he ran to the helicopter and was aided up by another soldier. Two minutes later, one of the soldiers came in with a set of keys and released Eddie’s cuffs. Eddie was going to get straight back out into the building, but the soldier stopped him.

“Orders are for you to stay and wait here,” he said.

The second chopper arrived and landed on the other side of the building. The doctor and medic carrying a stretcher rushed in, accompanied by some Green Berets. Within minutes and still fully conscious, Reuben was loaded unto the chopper with an IV in his arm. Nir came with them, and the helicopter took off immediately toward the military hospital at the Riyadh airbase.

The Green Berets helped the Seals gather all the guards and workers in the corner of the building. At the same time, two soldiers took the head guard to open the entrance gate, and one of the Bradley personnel carriers entered and parked next to the building. The soldiers took out rucksacks loaded with explosives, detonators, and fuses and prepared them to be lowered underground.

Eddie, watching them from inside the chopper, jumped out, and approached Rossini. “You’re going to blow up the facility. Let me lead you down.”

“It’s all right, young man. We have exact blueprints of the area downstairs.”

“But you don’t know what’s in every room.”

“Correct, but I can’t let you go down there. My mission is to get you home safe and sound. What you can do is take a look at these blueprints and tell me what’s in every room.”

Two commando soldiers spread open the underground blueprints under the vehicle headlights, and Eddie leaned over to take a look. He marked the lab rooms, Alfonso and Isabella’s apartment, and the rooms where he and Eddie had been held. “The lab rooms are most important. Don’t touch or open any containers. Some have extremely dangerous Ebola cultures in them. I suggest you take the computer from Isabella’s room—it should have all the information gathered so far. It would be great if you could also take Reuben’s laptop and mine. I think Alfonso’s computer is at the apartment. There could be some useful information on that as well—not necessarily scientific, but significant from an intelligence point of view.”

“Good thinking about the computers. The CIA would love to know more about this organization.”

“Umm, there’s one other little thing. There are some caged monkeys down there. It would be nice if you could let them out.”

“We’ll see how we are on time. We have to be out of here in fifteen minutes,” said Major Jack.

“Try, if it’s not any danger to you, of course,” said Eddie.

Led by Major Jack, four commando men carried the explosives and went underground. Lieutenant Colonel Rossini and another soldier stayed up with the Green Berets who in the meantime blindfolded all the other people.

Jack reported to Rossini over the radio about his progress in the maze of underground rooms and hallways. At some point he said, “I found all the computers just like Eddie said—Isabella’s, Alfonso’s, and the laptops. As for the monkeys, I think they’re done. It’s so hot down here I think they’ve passed out or died. We’re having a really difficult time breathing down here ourselves.”

“Then hurry. We can’t have anyone passing out because of the monkeys,” said Rossini.

A few more minutes passed before one by one the soldiers started to emerge sweating and breathing heavily. Jack appeared last, rolling an electric cable toward the Bradley. The wire was attached to a generator. The electrical cable was a backup to the wireless system that was meant to set off the charger placed in one of the rooms in case Wi-Fi shielding was in place.

“Ready to explode,” Jack shouted. “Everyone step away from the building.”

The detainees were taken away from the entrance to the farther side of the fenced area. The building doors were closed, and Rossini signaled for Jack to turn on the generator. A few tense seconds passed before a dull sound was heard, followed by the earth under their feet shaking. Some cracks appeared in the entrance building and the door shook and trembled, but remained closed.

“Very good,” said Rossini to Eddie, standing next to him. “The shock was contained inside. There’s definitely not much left of the labs down there.”

“Yeah.” Eddie sighed. “Three years’ worth of research and development are now evaporated.”

“You’re not sorry we showed up and killed your research, I hope?” said Rossini, smiling.

“Not at all. Life is more important. I hope Reuben’s all right.”

“We’re going on board the chopper and will be in the base near Riyadh in half an hour. That’s where our hospital is.”

Rossini signaled for the commando men to retreat to the helicopter. As planned, the Green Berets stayed behind to guard the detainees until after the chopper took of9f. Once it did, they joined the rest of the Bradley company that sped back to Al-Yamamah, leading Colonel Johnson’s land force.

The Chinook made its way to Riyadh accompanied by the two Apaches. Silence fell over the compound—a stark juxtaposition to the noise of helicopters and vehicles that left minutes before. The detainees started moving in disquiet, trying to remove each other’s blindfolds. It would take several more hours before the morning guards would arrive to find the cuffed bunch huddled around the cracked building.

The monotonous sound of the helicopter’s propeller making its way north toward Riyadh had a certain calming effect on Eddie. He had so many questions that needed answering, but an overwhelming fatigue took hold of him, and he simply sat there quietly staring at the Seals who were also silent, every man with his own thoughts.

At 10:30 p.m., the helicopter landed at the American airbase near Riyadh. A civilian vehicle with a diplomatic license plate of the United States embassy waited for the soldiers that led Isabella and Alfonso inside. The vehicle immediately left the base and headed back to the American embassy in Riyadh.

A military vehicle took the soldiers and Eddie to rooms that had been prepared in advance where they could rest and freshen up. The soldiers also changed back into US military uniforms. Eddie wanted to go see Reuben. Jack volunteered to give him a lift to the hospital, which was in a different section of the base.

“Keep in mind we’re leaving for Tel Aviv before dawn. John Foster, the head of CIA, should be here any minute, and he wants to question Eddie.”

“Let us know when he gets here. Tell him to come to the hospital and interview him there,” said Jack, and he showed Eddie to the Jeep that took them to the hospital.

At around eleven o’clock, George and the two techs returned, happy and cheerful, back from dinner to the southern PSSIC compound. By the time they got back and had received confirmation from Israel about the successful outcome of the operation, Amit had everything back in working order—the generators were reconnected with the command board, the grid was back on, and the communications center was back up and running.

“There was some sort of malfunction after what felt to me like a small earthquake over on the north part,” he told the team, reversing the chain of events. “I shut down power temporarily, which caused the communications to crash, but I was able to get everything back in order, and I think it is ok now. Though the indications lights show that the air-conditioning in the southern part isn’t working. I asked the guards at the main gate if they felt the tremor too, but they were too busy watching TV. Maybe it was just me.”

“Don’t worry. In the morning when people arrive at the north compound and turn on their air-conditioning, the indication lights will start working again. This has happened before,” said George.

“I hope you had a good time,” said Amit, changing the topic of conversation.

“It was great. Thank you from all three of us,” said George. “We really appreciate the gesture.”

“It was my pleasure. Did you book a cab for me for one a.m.?”

“I did. It’ll be waiting for you at the hotel to take you to Riyadh. There’s hardly any traffic this time of night, so it shouldn’t be more than a two-hour drive to the airport. You should be there by three o’clock, two hours before your flight to Rome.”

“Great. Let’s go then.”

One of the techs stayed on for the rest of the night shift, and George and the second tech took Amit back to the hotel at Al-Yamamah.

When they got to the hotel, Amit wished them good night and went up to his room. Ten minutes later he got a call from reception saying there was a car waiting for him. He went down with his little trolley suitcase, asked the receptionist to cancel his taxi that was booked to take him to the airport at one o’clock, and exited the hotel lobby straight into the American embassy vehicle that was waiting outside to take him to the Riyadh military airbase. There was no intention of leaving anything to chance. The plan took into account the possibility that once the action was revealed, there could be a state of emergency declared in Saudi Arabia, and the border police would be checking everyone like a hawk, especially someone who came into the country only a few days before and was now leaving.

The American military hospital at the Riyadh base was only a two-minute drive away from the base airport.

Someone at the front desk told Eddie and Jack where the operation rooms were.

“He’s been in surgery for quite a while now.”

Outside the operating room stood an armed guard who saluted at Jack and said, “I’m sorry, no one’s allowed in.”

“Tell them I’m here with the second Israeli.”

The guard dialed and handed the phone to Jack who spoke briefly with someone inside and told Eddie, “I just spoke to Nir who was with Reuben right until they took him in to surgery. They found an entrance wound and exit wound, and the bullet seemed to have missed any vital organs. They’re working on stopping the bleeding. They should know more within the hour.”

“I hope we can take him back home with us.”

“Not sure if the doctors will agree to that.”

“I wouldn’t leave him here. The Saudis may want him to stay for an interrogation about the circumstances of his injury, and who knows where that may lead.”

“He’s in American territory. But let’s just wait and see how things turn out. We can ask Foster, too. He’ll be here soon and can make that decision.”

“Make what decision?” They heard someone speak and turned to the door to see a man of average height with an energetic stride and content smile walk toward them. “Kudos on a job well done.” He shook Jack’s hand, then turned to Eddie and shook hands with him. “Congratulations on being released.”

“Thank you and thank you to everyone who had any part in this incredible operation both in Israel and the States.”

“You owe a big thank you to the man without whom I’m not sure we could have pulled this off so smoothly, your friend Amit.”

“So the blueprints are really from his father-in-law’s company?”

“I have a bigger surprise for you. Amit’s here in Saudi Arabia and will be joining you on the flight back to Israel.”

“I can’t believe it!” a shout burst from Eddie. “Where is he now?”

“He’ll be here in a couple of hours. You’ll have plenty of time to hear everything. Eddie, I want to use the time we’re waiting to get as much information from you as possible. I’m not going to ask you to stay in Saudi Arabia of course, so it’s important I get all the information before I go and interrogate Isabella and Alfonso. Jack, they set up a quiet room here for me by the entrance. Let us know when there’s news from the operating room.”

Eddie and Foster went to the room. Foster took out a recorder, turned it on, and started questioning Eddie. “With your permission I’d like you to give me some background about your research and development, and then we’ll go over what happened since you were kidnapped. The rest of the technical background we can fill in later in correspondence, or I can have one of my colleagues in Israel meet with you.”

Over the next half hour, Eddie described to Foster the chain of events until a knock on the door interrupted the session. It was Nir who happily said in English, “The operation’s over. A few small butterfly stitches stopped the bleeding so they didn’t really have to cut him open. Reuben is still sedated, but he’s breathing on his own. Looks like he’s in the clear.”

“That means we can take him home with us,” said Eddie in Hebrew, nodding at Foster. “Talk to him about it; he needs to clear it.”

Nir did and Foster was convinced it was for the best. “We’d have to persuade the doctor. Ultimately, Reuben is under his responsibility now. I need about thirty more minutes with Eddie, if you don’t mind.”

“No problem at all. I’ll be with Reuben in the ICU.”

Reuben’s doctor was surprised at Foster’s request to have the patient ready for flight. “It would be irresponsible. The procedure requires at least twenty-four hours of recovery in the ICU.”

“I’m sorry, but this is an emergency. I understand he’s out of the woods, and twenty-four hours are just a precaution. The danger of keeping an Israeli here, assuming the Saudis won’t take too long to learn what took place here tonight, is a lot greater. We can’t keep an Israeli citizen here without informing the Saudis, and we can’t have him transferred to a civilian Saudi hospital, which I’m sure is what they’ll demand. The only solution is to send him home on the flight that’s leaving in two hours. He’ll be in a hospital in Israel within five hours. Those are the orders,” said Foster, putting an end to the discussion.

“I see. Then we’ll have Reuben ready. I’ll need you to take some things with you on the plane including some oxygen tanks, and I understand one of the team members is a medic?”

“That’s correct,” said Jack.

“I’d like to speak with him and give him some instructions.”

“No problem; we’ll have him come to you.”

“I’ll prepare a short medical record. Whom should I address it to?”

“Dr. Ronit Nevo.” Nir stepped in with a smile.

“Isn’t that Reuben’s last name?” asked the doctor.

“She’s his wife,” said Nir with that same reassuring smile of his.

“Well, in that case I feel much better about the care he’ll be given in Israel.” The doctor smiled, too, for the first time. Hearing Ronit’s name suddenly made Eddie very aware of the extent of the problem he was going to have to face when he got home.