Kill Them Wherever You Find Them (25 page)

"I think Brian and Samantha would miss their
friends though see this as an adventure. As I said before, I know
Lynn would eventually come around – but I don't know that this is
something she'd actually want. I won't pressure her into it."

"Well, think about it. You are well enough to
travel, I believe. We will be sending you back to Colorado for
well-deserved rest and to spend time with your family. Bring it up
as casually as possible. We'll continue to have Mossad agents keep
a watch over your family, even while you are there. I can't
possibly emphasize enough your integral part in
The Project
,
how important it is for you to maintain safety and security
protocols. Being back in America and the familiar surroundings of
home and society may make you feel safe – don't be lulled into a
false sense of security. If word of
The Project
and your
part in it ever got out you and your family would be in imminent
and lethal danger."

"Oh, I won't. In some ways none of this seems
real – as I said before, it's like I was in a dream. The potential
danger to my family isn't lost on me. Here in the facility I have
always felt safe. Outside, especially in my more familiar
surroundings back home, I think I'll feel that my family is
constantly exposed."

"That is good. Even the agents assigned to
you can't foresee and protect you from every possible hostile. Rely
on instinct. Observe every safety precaution that you can. I would
caution you, though, to not keep looking over your shoulder - in
other words don't do or say anything that would draw attention to
yourself."

"I feel like you're not telling me
something."

"You'll find out soon enough, best from me.
It appears a building in Los Angeles has been attacked. We know it
is the same strains of Ebola and Anthrax that are to be used
against Jews."

"When did this happen?"

"We learned about it from the American Center
for Disease Control. A sample of each was sent to us for study. We
were able to confirm both. The Defense Minister and Prime Minster
are considering giving the American government information we have
on the diseases and the terrorists but are concerned that they may
take action before we can implement the final phase of
The
Project
. If they do, the terrorists would most likely strike
prematurely – before we are ready. Should that happen the Israeli
people would be decimated – as well as countless numbers of people
around the world. The consensus is that it's a risk we can't
take."

"I can't believe this. I thought we had
months remaining."

"We believe the attack was most likely an
accidental release of one of the bio agents. At this point it
remains an isolated incident."

"Is there a casualty report?"

"From what we have learned, every person
known to be in the building at the time, residents and visitors,
have all died. What's unnerving is that a postal carrier was in the
entryway – just inside the building but also separated from the
lobby by another set of doors. He can only have been there but a
few minutes, at most, as it has been confirmed that mail was only
delivered into two resident boxes that were then closed and locked.
The door to a third box was open but remaining mail in his bag
confirms that he had yet to fill it. The fact that he was unable to
put mail into the third box indicates that he succumbed to death
within minutes from time of exposure."

"Who discovered this and were there
fatalities outside the building?"

"From what the Americans have found, there
were no casualties outside of the building itself. A resident
returning home after work – she works a night shift – was unable to
open the front doors to the building. Annoyed that it was blocked
she peered in through the window to locate the obstruction. Seeing
the body of the postal worker on the ground she called emergency
services. Had he not been blocking the door she would have been
another victim."

"Does my government know that this is part of
the greater conspiracy and is related to
The Project
?"

Table of Contents

18. In the Multitude of
Counselors

"Where no counsel is,
the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is
safety
- Holy Bible, Proverbs 11:14 (Motto of the
"Mossad")

Jerusalem, State of
Israel

Efraim brought to the
attention of his
immediate superior certain irreconcilable discrepancies in Avi's
international travel report, versus the report submitted by his
Mossad shadows when he left the State of Israel on vacation.

A high-level analyst, Efraim's report and
footnoted concerns were then forwarded to
his
superior,
finally landing on the desk of the Mossad Chief, Isser Shiloah.
Efraim's report coincided with that of an analyst in the Shin Bet
who had detected similar discrepancies with local trips reported by
No'am.

Though the discrepancies in the latter's
report were more difficult to discern, the pattern of the two men
was clearly similar.

Comparing their reports with those of the
Shin Bet operatives assigned to protect them, it became evident
that Avi and No'am never eluded their shadows at the same time. It
was evident that each man was most likely meeting the same person
or persons by the very fact that they had not yet ditched their
security detail at the same time. It was unclear if they were aware
of each other outside of
The Project
itself.

In short order a discernible, and damning,
pattern of evasive maneuvering was established between the two men.
How they were able to elude their Shin Bet - and Avi's
out-of-country Mossad - shadows wasn't yet clear but it certainly
was impressive. Not trained in espionage, it became apparent to
Isser that they must have been coached – he ordered additional and
heavier counter-espionage measures be taken not only on them, but
additionally throughout the entire
Project
.
Counter-espionage measures were to be made slightly more obvious,
not so much so that the employees of
The Project
would be
concerned – or even notice – rather so that agents of hostile
governments would take note of the change and know that Israel was
on the alert.

The two directors of Israeli Intelligence
jointly reached the conclusion that, while the terrorists were
certainly approved – if not fully sponsored – by their respective
governments, they did not believe that any of the three governments
involved; the PLO/Hamas, Egypt, and Iran, were directly involved.
The directors agreed that while their governments almost certainly
gave tacit approval, it was doubtful that any of the governments
knew the full scope.

Just as hostile countries in the Middle East
had failed to eradicate Israel largely due to infighting, with each
hostile country wanting bragging rights by being the one to wipe
out Israel without having to share fame with others, the same could
be said of terror organizations within these countries.

The most obvious and closest example is the
PLO that was fractured with infighting between the Hamas and Fatah
factions. Yet another case was the fighting between Sunni and
Shi'ite Muslims – especially within Israel's northern neighbor,
Lebanon.

The Hezbollah, headquartered in Lebanon and
comprised of Shi'ite Muslims, was teaming up with the Syrian
military to fight the Sunni Muslim minority rebels. This wasn't
going over well in Lebanon with both religious factions in her
population. There had even been murders of Shi'ite men in prayer by
Sunni locals because of the aid Hezbollah was giving al Fiyed's
government in Syria.

Isser was well aware of the terrorists'
attacks planned on the State of Israel and global Jewish targets,
he being one of the few people with knowledge of the full scope of
The Project
. That there was a connection between No'am and
Avi and the terrorists' plans was clear, but how deeply it went and
how much they were involved wasn't yet apparent.

To arrest and interrogate them prematurely
would alert the enemy as to how much the Israeli government already
knew. On the other hand damage control was required to minimize
information being leaked to the enemy.

Knowing where each man was going when they
gave their Shin Bet shadows the slip was critical to finding their
handlers. Avi and No'am had to be traceable without suspecting
anything.

To this end a radioisotope, Barium-133, was
slipped into their food by operatives in the cafeteria of each of
their respective facility locations. This enabled highly sensitive
hand-held devices to track them within a couple of city blocks.

In each of their homes outside the
Project
facilities a similar device was inserted inside the
walls to signal an alert as they entered or exited, assuring they
would not be able to slip away undetected.

As a further precaution, Barium isotope
trackers were placed within the walls at the points of ingress and
egress of each of the two locations of
Project
buildings
where No'am and Avi worked.

In the weeks leading to the first
landing
of
The Project
, a more precise picture
presented itself. Isser remained dumbfounded that one person was
able to slip through the tests administered to weed out potential
risks to
The Project
at the very onset. The fact that two
were able to work such a deception was unacceptable. Heads would
roll; Isser knowing his might well be the first on the chopping
block.

The Mossad made sure that their successes
were "leaked" to the world media – or at least the assumption of a
successful Mossad operation was broadcast. Failures were rarely
leaked but, when they were, it was to ultimately benefit the
Mossad. Between the nature of
The Project
and the enormity
of the success of the enemy, this was one failure that never would
see the light of day.

Isser had frequent contact with his
counterpart at Shin Bet to coordinate their efforts and monitor the
situation with Avi and No'am. When Mona returned to Iran they
already had a thick dossier of all of her movements and contacts
within Israel, Europe, Turkey, and Iran.

Though not quite as radical as her sister,
she was nonetheless the far more dangerous of the two. Isser and
the Shin Bet chief, Meir Halevi, knew what lay in store for Mona on
this – her final return trip to Iran.

Due to their ability to track No'am and Avi,
their knowledge of Mona led them straight to her cell of operatives
within the State of Israel. The local cell was soon linked up the
chain to confirm the information they had on the hierarchy in Iran,
Egypt, and the West Bank.

With deep-cover Mossad operatives established
in Egypt and the West Bank, they were amassing information on enemy
sleeper agents in several countries.

The scope of the terror operation was
breathtaking in its boldness and size. Isser and Meir both knew
that the very size of what was being planned would bring with it
errors, small and large, due to the human equation.

This was simple psychology. The more people
involved with something secretive in nature, the more likely
mistakes would happen. Errors would occur either out of ignorance,
jealousy, moral ambiguity, a breakdown in lines of communication,
and divisions of loyalties - especially where different
nationalities were involved. Sometimes sleeper agents living among
their targets began to befriend and identify with the target more
than their mission, a kind of reverse Stockholm Syndrome.

When the accident happened in the apartment
building in Los Angeles, the terror organization went into a frenzy
of activity in an attempt to cover their tracks, instructing the
remaining sleeper agents in Los Angeles to go "dark."

With the city in chaos and all telephone
communication – cell and landlines – jammed, combined with
transportation traffic in a state of gridlock, it was impossible to
reach everybody. The very size and global nature of the planned
terror attack was its own Achilles Heel.

Israeli intelligence enjoyed a strong
partnership with the American intelligence communities, assuring
information flowing between the two countries. Neither country was
under the illusion that the other offered 100% of everything
available. Indeed, neither could, as too much information would
reveal sources and methods which would put ongoing operations in
jeopardy along with the identities and lives of the agents
themselves.

Yet enough information was shared between the
two countries to form an alliance against common enemies, a
reliable partnership that transcended the personalities of whomever
was leading the Knesset and occupying the White House.

The American Centers for Disease Control and
it's counterpart within the State of Israel were also sharing
information regarding the bio weapon in the Los Angeles apartment
building.

What was unclear at the present was how this
accident would affect the timeline of the terrorists. Would the
terror leadership panic and go-for-broke with attacks being
imminent, or would they delay to give themselves time to
regroup?

Between the two leaders of the terror group,
Ghasem and Abd, Ghasem was the more analytic and likely to keep a
cool head. If he prevailed the known timeline for the intended
strike date, still a few months away, would remain unchanged.
Despite his dominant hand commanding personality it would be
imprudent to discount Abd.

Though his psychological profile showed him
to generally be deferential to Ghasem, he had his moments when he
acted on his own. Highly intelligent and not given to emotional
outbursts or undue fear, Abd's psychological profile indicated that
under stress he would be more likely to make decisions and act
unilaterally, if communication with Ghasem were cut off for any
reason.