The Dreadful Renegade: A Thrilling Espionage Novel (Techno thriller, Mystery & Suspense) (7 page)

When Eugene asked if anyone had practical suggestions the members of the task force unanimously agreed that there were only two operational items: find out more about Nagib and Alia in order to understand where they were heading and increase the surveillance on all Iranian diplomats that were involved in illegal activities on US soil. Eugene's determination to contact David and the Israelis grew stronger and he started thinking of covertly inviting David to the US to unofficially advise him unbeknownst to the committee.

June 18
th
, Pasadena, California

              Nagib and Alia discussed their options. Unknowingly their conclusions were quite similar to the discussions that took place at the meeting of the second task force. Nagib said that the information they had on the memory stick was worthless unless they could find a suitable partner who will help them take revenge on Israel or its strongest supporter – the United States of America. Alia repeated her objection to do anything that would harm the USA as it was a haven for her parents. They were in agreement that the most likely buyers of the advanced designs were Iran, Pakistan and North Korea, but did not rule out powerful organizations like the Islamic State that may be able to get hold of the fissile materials. Nagib had read the scientific literature and knew that with the proper facilities a nuclear device could be constructed even with materials extracted from irradiated nuclear fuel. After some deliberation on the pros and cons of each of these options they decided to focus on Iran and the Islamic State as these two entities were considered as dire enemies of the Jewish state of Israel. Alia said that they should not rule out Pakistan because it had a strong incentive to improve its nuclear arsenal as a means of retaliation to its much bigger neighbor, India. She added that she had read somewhere that there were strong anti-American feelings in that country, and there were rumors that even inside the government there was a powerful anti-American faction. Nagib said he knew nothing about this but they should not rule out this possibility. 

The simplest way to make contact would be to go to one of the many mosques or Islamic Community Centers, ICCs for short, in the Los Angeles area, but as Alia was a Christian and Nagib had drifted far away from his original religion and now saw himself as an atheist, this approach could be dangerous. Furthermore, like every American, and certainly every Muslim in America, they knew that after 9/11 these places were normally under surveillance by the DHS and FBI. They also realized that the religious institutions were riddled with informers and planted agents so they decided to stay away from anything that was identified as a conspicuous Islamic center. There was a large community of former Iranians in Los Angeles but some, especially those that arrived in the late 1970s and early 1980s, were sympathizers of the Shah, some were fully Americanized and some were even Jewish, so finding the right contact would not be easy and could even be dangerous. Alia suggested that they travel to New York and try to contact official members of the Iranian UN delegation but Nagib said that those would probably be under close surveillance. Then they considered crossing into Mexico on the way to Cuba or Venezuela where it would be easier to find Iranian representatives and where the US law enforcement agencies could not operate freely, if at all. They ruled out this option as they believed that the border crossing would be too risky because they were sure that extra precautions would be taken to block this route.

That evening, while watching the news on TV in their motel room they were glad to see that there was no mention of their action and their photos were not shown. During a commercial break a short advertisement promoting tourism to Turkey was shown. Alia excitedly told Nagib that this would be the ideal place to make contact with Iranians and with Islamic State operatives. In addition, many Americans travelled to Turkey so they would not stand out there. The problem then was getting out of the US without being apprehended. They knew that it would be impossible to get an airline ticket and board a plane in an American airport because their description and passport information would be flagged. They did not have the contacts or the cash needed to purchase forged passports, so they figured out that their most promising route would be to cross into Canada and try to make their way to Turkey, indirectly, from there. 

June 19
th
, Washington, DC

David Avivi passed through the passport control at Dulles International Airport, collected his luggage and handed his customs form to the officer and was waved through without any delay or even a second glance. He had been briefed by Dr. Eugene Powers that his presence in Washington was informal and that he should contact him on his private cellphone after settling down in his hotel. The Israeli embassy was informed that David would be in Washington on semi-official business: on the Israeli side he was sent on a mission by Haim Shimony, the Head of Mossad, but as far the US intelligence community was concerned he was there as a private individual. If his presence would be exposed an embarrassing scandal could develop so very few people at the embassy were aware of his visit. David went to the car rental desk and was told that his reservation was upgraded from his nondescript compact car to a red four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler. To the surprise of the agent at the car rental desk David said that he preferred an intermediate size car and was told that a Chevrolet Cruze would be ready for him in 10 minutes. He took the Washington Dulles Access Road to I-495, headed north and then switched to the I-270 getting off the highway at the Montrose Avenue exit and made his way to the Hilton hotel in Rockville. He preferred this location, far away from the center of Washington, DC, yet readily accessible by the Twinbrook Metro station. This would be an ideal place for meeting with Eugene without drawing unwanted attention. He called Eugene, who was just leaving his office, and they arranged to have dinner in a small Mexican restaurant that was a short walking distance from David's hotel.

On the phone, Eugene did not tell David exactly what documents were downloaded by Nagib, only hinting that they were pertinent to nuclear weapons. David said that the disappearance of the ex-Palestinian scientist with highly classified documents was considered to have possible implications on the security of Israel and Mossad took this situation very seriously. Before leaving Israel David had been briefed by "the Fish" and was given a thick file that the ISA had gathered. It included information on Dr. Nagib Jaber, his family, his childhood friends and particularly on his brother's criminal and terrorist activities. The file noted that the two brothers had been very close although their interests in life differed radically – Nagib had been the studious, rational cool headed type while Yassir was hot-headed and dropped out of school early and then became deeply involved with the Palestinian cause. The ISA had also constructed a thorough record on Alia's relatives and had a report of her visit to her grandparents. David had all the data on his laptop and it was in encoded format so that no unauthorized person could access it.

When David arrived at the restaurant Eugene was already seated at the bar and sipping an ice cold Corona beer in a chilled frosty glass. David sat down beside him and ordered the same. The cool beer was especially welcome considering that outside it was one of the 90/90 days (90 percent humidity and 90 degrees Fahrenheit) Washington was noted for. While seated at the bar they chatted about the weather, family affairs, the flight and the tourist attractions but once they were seated at their corner table and ordered their dinner they got down to business. Eugene told David about the disappearance of Nagib and Alia and said that they had probably copied secret files that contained highly classified information. David tried to find out what kind of information but Eugene refused to elaborate and said that it was very sensitive and could affect not only the US national security but also destabilize the world. David could put two and two together and reckoned that the files may include technical details of modern nuclear weapons, but kept this thought to himself.  Eugene then told David about the task force and its two main objectives – discovering the motivation and possible targets - and frankly related his idea to involve the Israeli intelligence agencies and the objections of the other committee members. He explained that it was his own initiative to invite David as his own private consultant and therefore discretion was called for. David said that his participation was approved by the Head of Mossad in person but he was directed to keep a low profile and refrain from doing anything that would deleteriously affect the delicate US-Israeli relations. So by the time they finished their dinner the ground rules for cooperation were set, and now came the time for serious discussions.

They left the restaurant and took a stroll through the quiet neighborhood speaking in low voices. They passed Congressional Plaza and reached a sports pub and bar. They found a quiet table, far away from the TV screens that were showing some reruns of college football games and ordered another beer. There was no one seated near them and they felt that they could talk more freely. David summarized the information collected by the ISA. Nagib had left Palestine over a decade earlier when he was in his early twenties, and had never returned there. He had never been in trouble with the Israeli or Palestinian authorities but his brother, Yassir, was a notorious terrorist in the eyes of the Israelis or a revered martyr in the Palestinian view. The two brothers admired each other's lifestyle and achievements – Yassir regarded Nagib's scientific career with great pride and Nagib respected Yassir's total dedication to Palestine. David said that Nagib did not follow in his brother's footsteps and was not involved with any terrorist organization even after his parents' home was demolished by the Israelis. The ISA noted that this was exceptional because Arab youths that went through similar experiences usually were short tempered and sought revenge. The psychologist employed by the ISA emphasized that this type of behavior, lack of reaction, would be frowned upon in Palestine and Nagib would be considered as not man enough had he not lived abroad. The psychologist added that in Arab culture "revenge should be served cold", namely the longer a person waited to avenge an offence the better. He said that it could not be ruled out that Nagib had waited for the proper circumstances to exact his reprisal and seized it when presented with the opportunity. David said that when he asked the psychologist what form the retribution could take the answer was that the longer the open sore festered the more venomous it became. The ISA did not have much data on Alia's family and only said that her parents, like many other Christians who felt unsafe under the Palestinian Authority's rule and immigrated to a place where they hoped their children would have a better future. Many took up residence in South America, especially in Chile and Peru, and others moved to the United States or European countries like Germany or Scandinavia, usually joining family members that had preceded them. There was record of Alia's visit to Israel and Palestine a few years earlier but her grandparents were no longer alive and her remaining uncles and cousins refused to cooperate. Eugene thanked David for the update and said that it may be the key to understanding Nagib's behavior that was supposedly out of character. He noted that none of his friends or colleagues had ever heard him say anything against Israel or criticize the support it received from the US. They recalled that Nagib's doctoral advisor, Professor Jack Chen, was a former Israeli that had helped Nagib with his career and was the guest of honor at his wedding with Alia. So it was unclear what Nagib had in mind and what he really thought about Israel.      

David asked Eugene if the task force had developed any insights about possible targets and was told that there was a general feeling that he would try to sell the classified data to an entity, sovereign country or clandestine organization that would help him take revenge. They did not believe that he did this solely for money and considered that he would want to be involved personally in the final act. Although Eugene did not say it in so many words, David was now more convinced than ever that the classified material involved nuclear weapons, and as only a memory stick was taken he knew that it could only be technical information like blueprints or schematic designs. He therefore suggested that there were a very small number of entities that would be interested in the stolen files. Eugene agreed and said that the task force decided to focus on Iran and the Islamic State movement. David concurred but said that North Korea or even Pakistan should also be considered, not because they had any direct conflict with Israel, but because they could use some advanced designs to improve their own arsenal of nuclear weapons and their stature in the world. Eugene reacted by saying that he had not mentioned advanced designs but David responded that he had figured it out and did not want to force Eugene to divulge classified information. They agreed to meet again the following evening and David returned to his hotel and had a good night's sleep despite the jet-lag.

Early the next morning David called Eugene on his private phone and told him that he had to leave the US as some crisis regarding a Mossad operation in Europe was developing. David didn't mention that a Mossad collaborator inside the German police had alerted his Israeli girl-friend, who was actually a Mossad agent, that there were rumors of an operation by a fanatic Muslim faction, with ties to the Islamic State, against the moderate Muslim Ahmadiyya community that was seeking to hold a joint rally with the Jewish community for Peace-in-the-Middle East. 

June 19
th
, Oregon

It was close to one thousand miles from Pasadena to Portland, Oregon, and Nagib and Alia once more took turns driving and napping. They had left Pasadena the previous evening, avoiding the rush hour traffic, and made good time travelling along Highway 5, stopping briefly at the outskirts of Sacramento for coffee and services. The old Nissan they got from the used-car dealership in Pasadena did not cause any trouble despite their concerns about the 5-50 guarantee. They did not want to check into a motel and waste too much time so they continued north until they reached Medford, OR, where they parked in a quiet corner of a rest area and took a nap. Alia lay on the back seat and Nagib tilted the driver's seat as far as it would go and within minutes he was snoring as if he had no worry in the world. When dawn approached they woke up, had a steaming cup of coffee and continued north to Portland. As they passed through Eugene, OR, Nagib muttered a juicy expletive. When Alia asked him what came over him he said that the town's name reminded him of the guy from the NNSA who had interrogated him and appeared not to believe him.  When they passed close to Lebanon, OR, Alia started laughing and when Nagib asked her why she was so happy she said that they were almost home as they were just close to Lebanon. Nagib joined her laughter and was pleased that she took the whole affair in her stride. As they reached Portland they debated whether to check into a motel there or make an extra effort and cross into Canada before resting.