Kill Them Wherever You Find Them (32 page)

Lebanon was inching closer to civil war, with
the Sunni Muslim population's growing tensions over Shi'a support
of the Hezbollah involvement in the internal affairs of Syria. The
Hezbollah had been pouring into Syria to support a hated despot
whose majority population was trying to overthrow him in an
extended, deadly civil war.

The Hezbollah was supported financially and
with weaponry by the Shia's Islamic government of Iran, the primary
financer and promoter of terror in the region. Al-Mazan, the
dictator of Syria, belonged to a minority religious branch related
to Shi'a Islam. He was a willing puppet of Iran as was his father
before him.

More importantly, if his government were to
be toppled, the Iranians would have to find another way to get
rockets and other weaponry to the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Syria was the most direct route, Al-Mazan being only too happy to
allow unquestioned, even assisted, access through his country.

At all costs, Iran and the Hezbollah had to
keep Al-Mazan, or at least another member of the minority Alawite
Islam branch - which Iran accepted over the Sunni majority - in
power in Syria.

Syria was in no position to wage any kind of
foreign war, much as they would like to blame the internal uprising
on "Zionist Spies and Revolutionaries" to divert public attention
from the realities of the Al-Mazan government. This attempt at
misdirection failed. The Syrian people were more intelligent and
in-tune with the true problems in their country to be fooled by
trumped-up allegations and propaganda.

The Royal Family of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia was disliked by the regular Saudi people. They were seen as
so rich as to be out-of-touch with the subjects of their kingdom.
The excesses and sometime depravities of the ruling family
facilitated and even propelled the birth of Al-Quieda; which
eventually spun off smaller and sometimes deadlier groups.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan had
significant problems with poverty and the initial influx of people
from the areas now known as the West Bank and the Gaza. The West
Bank was part of the Kingdom of Jordan before the war of 1967 that
allowed the Israeli military to claim it as a buffer zone, as they
likewise did with the Gaza Strip that was part of the Egyptian
Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai area was still as dangerous and lawless
today as was the old Wild West of the early American frontier. The
exodus of people from the West Bank into the Kingdom of Jordan in
the War of 1967 had three components to it:

First: Some Israeli soldiers encouraged the
people to leave their homes not only for their own safety but also
so that they could contain the area against snipers and other
threats. So yes, the Israeli Army had some complicity in the
partial exodus of the people now known as "Palestinians," a name
identified group of people never self-applied before 1967. Before
there was a State of Israel the area was referred to as
Palestine
based on a name applied by early Romans to the
area. Even the Romans refused to recognize the well-established
Jewish Nation within their empire. How history is prone to repeat
itself!

Second: Some leaders of Arab countries as
well as influential religious Imams wanted to create a flight of
refugees for the world to see and thus demonize Israel, a country
they tried to destroy with weapons. Unsuccessful, they turned to
the media as a form of weapon, a highly successful tactic used to
this day. The faithful and fearful, being told they would be
annihilated by the Jews if they remained, took shelter in Jordan
and other countries.

Generations later, most of the slums created
by these refugees would see no improvement in health and human
services by their host countries. In fact, most of the host
countries - the small and less affluent Kingdom of Jordan being, to
their credit, a notable exception - had not allowed assimilation
into the population so that the world would continue to take pity
and blame the Israeli government for their generations-long
poverty. Generations later, descendants of these initial refugees
were refused citizenship in the majority of countries into which
they were born. The refugee crisis is largely perpetuated by Arab
countries.

Rarely mentioned is the fact that over half a
million Jews were expelled from hostile Islamic-controlled
governments since the establishment of Israel.

Each war since the War of Independence
witnessed a fresh persecution and expulsion of Jews from Islamic
nations hostile to Israel. This had never become newsworthy to the
international media because Israel took in all of these refugees,
fully integrating them into society.

In modern times, other than the aftermath of
the Nazi Holocaust, there had never been a Jewish refugee problem
precisely because there was finally a country with a Jewish
identity, where any and all Jews were welcome home.

Third: Many people evacuated of their own
accord, having nothing to do with either Israeli or Arab
motives.

No, the Kingdom of Jordan, led by a truly
great and admirable king – as was his father before him – had
enough internal problems to deal with. Complicating matters were
the thousands of refugees from the Syrian civil war pouring into
Jordan. They were doing the best that they could under difficult
circumstances.

Iraq was still trying to recover from years
of war, during and after the ouster of the tyrant Saddam Hussein
and his two sadistic sons. There were signs of stability and hope
that the country would become strong, under the rule of the people.
This was yet to be seen, though unlikely. A new militant Islamic
group, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, was doing their best
to decapitate a large swath of land and population in the northern
part of Iraq. If the Taliban had a more evil and monstrous twin, it
would be ISIS.

Other countries such as Kurdistan and
Afghanistan had their own internal problems to deal with, including
spates of ongoing terrorism on their soil – both domestic and
foreign in nature.

One common denominator was that all of the
Arab countries had concerns over the growing strength and influence
of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While not an intelligence analyst
by any means, Jeff felt he could rule out all countries in this
matter except for Iran. On the other hand, it was possible that
Iran was funding a group of a mixed and loose confederacy. It was
even possible – albeit unlikely – that Iran had nothing whatsoever
to do with this.

Whoever was behind it, Jeff's concern for the
safety and welfare of his family mounted exponentially as he
learned the reason for his sudden recall.

The remaining three Stauffenbergs were due to
arrive in Tel Aviv in a few days. Jeff would meet them at the
airport with a security detail embedded among the people milling
about the airport itself, complimented by the nine Mossad agents on
the flight returning home to Israel themselves.

Rather than the housing in Jerusalem and flat
in Tel Aviv, they would have to stay in the family residence area
established within the perimeter of the facility itself, at least
until after the second
landing
had been completed. After
that, when the threat would be eliminated, they would be free to
move into the regular housing while the aftermath of the
landing
in Phase II ran its course.

During this second phase, Sami would take
high school classes with a small group of other children her age,
while Brian would begin his college studies via online distance
learning. Neither would be happy, it would be difficult to explain
to them why they weren't allowed to leave the confinement of the
facility border without explaining why. Teenage years were
difficult enough, for children and parents; this was going to make
the living situation nearly impossible. The good news was; at least
for Lynn, Jeff would be around most days.

Having to stay on the facility grounds for
months on end would be a trial for all four in the family, but
mostly for Lynn. Perhaps she could be employed in some way at the
facility so as to stay busy. Already gardens were popping up around
the makeshift homes.

A gym and movie theater were near completion
as well as a community center complete with bowling lanes and
indoor tennis and racquetball courts. A small park, complete with a
diving pool was also nearing completion. A primary and high school
buildings were the first non-resident buildings to be completed –
Jeff appreciated the priority being placed on education over
recreation.

These, though, were Hebrew language
institutions. Sami would mix with the students for such things as
physical education and any other way she could be integrated.

All total, it could work, if they gave it a
fair chance. With all activities and living quarters and needs such
as food provided free, it was a sweet deal – as long as you could
overlook what essentially was being held in captivity.

After the meeting, Rachael told Jeff that
they should meet in her office. The look on her face caused Jeff to
wonder if more bad news was in store.

Table of Contents

24. Time Stands Still

"The best thing about
the future is that it comes one day at a time."
- Abraham
Lincoln

Somewhere In The Negev Desert,
State Of Israel

The fortunate handful of
employees of
The
Project
who were able to go home and enjoy a long overdue
vacation found themselves recalled to their various facilities for
a critical meeting.

Because every member of the facility's 24/7
three shifts a day staff was required to attend the overflow was
accommodated in additional rooms with two-way, closed-circuit audio
and visual equipment outfitted in each; allowing for an open flow
of communication, despite physical separation of walls.

There was an uncomfortable silence with few
questions following the disclosure of the events of the last couple
of weeks. Once the gravity and reality of what they had just heard
fully sank in, salient questions and comments flowed, albeit with
the composure and careful thought one would expect from a select
audience such as this: from janitorial staff to lead scientist
alike.

Rachael and the others gathered in the large
conference room of this facility of
The Project
were
dumbfounded by what they were hearing. Similar meetings were in
progress at the other two facilities that comprised the totality of
The Project
.

Everyone wondered what could be so important
as to be recalled back to work like this. Most had misgivings,
realizing that whatever it was something critical had happened or
was about to happen.

Nobody was prepared in the slightest for the
revelations that one of their top scientists – himself the lead of
one of the facilities, as well as an important aid to General
Ashkelon - proved traitors leaking information to a hostile nation.
Then, with that still filtering its way through the devastated
thoughts of the assembled, they were told of the sudden passing of
General Ashkelon.

Rachael knew that something was amiss with
Avi after Jeff
landed
, completing a successful first phase
of
The Project
. She intended to report her observations a
day or two thereafter, but on further reflection she felt them to
be unfounded and without tangible evidence. Besides which, the days
of clinical observation and follow-up with Stauffenberg required
her time and undivided attention. She regretted second-guessing
herself now, but doubted she could have changed anything anyway -
given the fact that Avi and No'am must have been under observation
before her suspicions first arose.

Time seemed to stand still, nature itself
frozen, the earth ceased to rotate on its axis, as they tried to
absorb each bit of devastating news. Later in the day, each
facility would be introduced to Lt. General Isabella Aharonson, the
new Chief-of-Staff who would be overseeing
The Project
under
the Prime Minister.

Having come to know both No'am and Avi
personally, though not well, over the last few years she felt a
certain, albeit illogical, sense of personal betrayal that went
beyond the overall betrayal to colleagues,
The Project
, and
the citizens of Israel. Dr. Siwel realized that what Abrams and
Ben-Levi had done was in no way directed at her specifically. Yet
this feeling of personal betrayal was an emotion not easily shaken.
Had she not met the men and spoken with each of them more than
once, especially Dr. Abrams, she thought that she might not feel
this way.

No details as to the "how and why" of the
motives and actions of the two men who betrayed
The Project
were given. Nobody expected them to be. Rachael looked over at
Moshe and Jeff, both looking already tired and emotionally drained.
She knew Stauffenberg was home in the United States with his
family. He must have recently returned. She would have a chance to
speak with them later. Rachael was eager to ask Jeff if his family
would be joining them in Israel soon. Given these discomforting
revelations she hoped the answer would be in the affirmative. She
turned her attention back to the speaker.

~ ~ ~

Some 30 kilometers from the facility headed
by Dr. Moshe Levin, the recently appointed head of the combined
military forces of the State of Israel, Lt. General Isabella
Aharonson, addressed the employees at the Quantum research and
development facility, formerly led by Dr. No'am Abrams. She would,
within a day, make an appearance to the other facilities to calm
nerves and keep the program on track, a program that now had to be
accelerated.

This facility, Isabella knew, ought to be
informed of the infractions by her, personally. Difficult as the
information would be for the others, it would be far more difficult
for this specific group. The psychological and morale damage done
by learning that one of their own, the man they trusted to lead
their critical work, had sold them out, would be incalculable.