by D S Kane
He smiled at her. “How are you today?”
She spoke through the wiring in her mouth, not moving her jaw. “Okay, I guess. Still obsessing about what almost happened to you and Ann. Still looking for a way out.” She knew Lee could see the obvious look of desperation on her face. She faced away and wiped her tears on the sleeve of her robe. “Maybe it would be better if I left you and Ann. I have a feeling that we’re still in danger. If I left it would be safer for you both”
Lee’s face showed his shock. “No. That isn’t a solution to anything. I’d rather die with you than live without you. Besides, we’re totally broke now. The Wailea hotel charged us everything you had left in your bank account. We had to pay to keep the Yakuza from coming after us. So, you don’t have the funds to hide away alone.”
She frowned. He’d rejected their best option. “Let’s take Swiftshadow from Washington to somewhere less corrosive. Or maybe I should just sell it to Avram. We need to leave. You know what they say: in Washington, if you want a friend, you better buy a dog.”
Lee thought about it. “But where will we go?”
Cassie pondered this. She was tiring fast now. “Let me think about it. You also.”
But Lee wasn’t finished. “After I take Ann to school, I’ll come back and drive you to the hospital. I want to be there. Look, I know how confused you are right now. It will be a while before any of this makes real sense to us. Maybe we should move away, but we can talk about it later. I think we have to do the best we can together.”
He gently reached for her and touched the bottom of her chin. And he didn’t wait for her to reply. He took her hand. “You and Ann and me; we’re a family now. We need to recognize that, at least. And you and I love each other. More than that, I know we’re in love with each other.”
Her eyes grew wide, and then narrowed to slits. What was this all about?
Lee didn’t let her have the luxury of her suspicions. He fell to his knees. She watched him produce a small black felt box from his pocket. He opened it, exposing a small silver ring with the world’s tiniest diamond at its top. “Cassandra Sashakovich, I’m hopelessly in love with you. Please be my bride. Marry me. Please.”
Her eyes popped wide open as she watched him, shocked by the obvious. She tried to speak but her lips wouldn’t move.
Lee waited patiently, knowing her so well that he could distinguish exactly what she was thinking, her entire process of contemplation. He knew that in her heart, the only private place where deliberation had no currency, she was joyous with his proposal. He waited patiently to hear and counter all the objections that her ordered sense of logic would certainly now give voice.
She moistened her lips, preparing to speak. There were so many things she wanted to say. Her thoughts and feelings were as strong as an approaching storm driven by heavy winds. Seconds passed and she looked at Lee, at the ring. A voice inside her told her not to try and sort all of it out before she answered him.
Time to feel? Time to think?
Time to choose.
Appendix A — Glossary
AFI. Intelligence branch of the Israeli Air Force
aleph. Lead kidon, the assassin leading an execution mission for the Mossad
Aman. Intelligence branch of the IDF (Israeli Military Intelligence).
asset. A civilian in a foreign country who claims to have valuable contacts or information useful to a case officer. The primary objective of most case officers is to develop in-country assets.
ayin. Tracker (surveillance) for the Mossad.
backstopping. Fake identification papers.
bat leveyha. Female agent for the Mossad.
better world, send to a. Euphemism for murdering an enemy agent.
blind dating. Meeting place chosen by an agent to meet his or her handler
bodel. Courier for the Mossad
BP. Israeli paramilitary Border Patrol
Bug-Lok. Also called DeathByte, the device is a nanobug that can be ingested or injected into a subject. Bug-Lok was developed by the Ness Ziona in Herzliyya on contract with Gilbert Greenfield’s intelligence service. When ingested or injected, the nanobug then finds its way to the medulla oblongata of the subject and attaches itself to the neural bundles that carry visual and auditory signals into the subject’s brain. The nanobug transmits these signals to the nearest local area network and from there onto the handler who gathers video and audio of the subject’s activities in addition to the subject’s GPS location. Bug-Lok can be fitted with a tiny concentrated ricin dose to kill the subject, activated by a remote when the handler no longer needs the subject.
burn notice. A termination notice for an official operative or an NOC; the burned spy has his or her bank accounts confiscated and identity documents redacted, and, in extreme cases, is subject to a terminate-on-sight order.
C-6. A more powerful and concentrated form of the C-4 explosive.
Chinese Secret Intelligence Services (CSIS). Chinese version of the FBI.
CHIPS. The Clearinghouse Interface Processing System, used by money-center banks to settle all outstanding transactions between them at the end of their day.
Collections Department. Intelligence Department abroad
cutout. An intermediary, usually an innocent person, either a volunteer or paid by a covert operative to deliver or retrieve something valuable such as a message or a gadget, from a covert operative or an asset.
DARPA. Defense Department’s agency for advanced research projects, charged with development of weapons systems.
daylight alert. Highest priority alert.
DDOS. Distributed denial of service; a brute-force method of bringing down a website, by overloading it with traffic. Rarely used successfully by any except the most desperate and skillful of hackers.
dry cleaning. Counter-surveillance techniques.
ECHELON. An identity-tracking system developed by contract programmers and used by the United States as its primary terrorism prevention system prior to 9/11. There are currently in excess of forty systems developed since 9/11, used by the NSA to track the identities of US citizens and foreigners.
EFT. Electronic Funds Transfer, the basic term denoting a non-check payment.
EMP. Electromagnetic pulse device that unleashes a high-energy discharge that fries all electronic devices within its range.
exfiltrate. Retrieving an agent from hostile territory.
Farm, The. A camp in Virginia used to train CIA case officers and the case officers of intelligence services friendly to the United States.
FISA. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC, also called the FISA Court), was established and authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests by federal law enforcement agencies.for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United States
FSB. The Russian internal security and counterintelligence service, created in 1994 as one of the successor agencies of the Soviet-era KGB.
false flagging. An operation falsely made to appear mounted by another country.
fumigate. Sweeping an area for electronic bugs.
GNU Radio. Developed by Eric Blossom, a free and open-source software development toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement software radios. It can be used with readily available low-cost external RF hardware to create software-defined radios, or without hardware in a simulation-like environment. Prior to his involvement with software radio, Blossom was the cofounder and CTO of Starium, Ltd., where he oversaw the design and development of a line of cryptographic equipment for the commercial marketplace. He is also the founder of an international consulting company called Blossom Research.
go bag. A lightweight luggage carrier used by covert operatives to carry travel essentials, including emergency clothing and sundries, weapons and ammunition. When not being used, it is typically stored, fully loaded, near a door or under a window for fast access. A mission bag, in contrast, is used to c
arry all the tools and supplies, including weapons, for a covert action.
heth. Logistician for the Mossad.
honey trap. Sexual entrapment for intelligence purposes.
IDF. Israel Defense Forces; the Israeli army
katsa. Case officer for the Mossad.
KGB. Soviet Union’s secret police, the Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopanosti was established in March 1954 in Moscow and was attached to the Council of Ministers, but operated independently. With over 500,000 employees, it was the largest spy agency in the world.
kidon. Operative specializing in assassination for the Mossad. (plural: kidonim.)
Krav Maga. Israeli martial art developed by Aman and used by IDF and Mossad. Now taught to many of the global spy agencies.
MI-6. Also known as Great Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service
Mossad. The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations; originally called the Institute for Coordination; called “the Office” by those who work there
neviot. Surveillance specialist for the Mossad
NI. Intelligence branch of the Israeli navy
NOC. Non-official cover; the status of a contractor working with the CIA in-country and without sanction or cover from the Agency.
NSA. National Security Agency; formed under the Truman administration and used as the technology management arm of the United States government.
Office, The. The name of the Mossad used by most of its case officers (katsas).
qoph. Communications officer for the Mossad
RAID. Redundant array of independent disks; used as a physical non-cloud device for backup of high-value data.
RSA. An encryption algorithm, or key, used to safely send messages between parties on the Internet
safe house. Apartment or house used covertly for base of operations
sayan. A helper for the Mossad. (plural: sayanim.)
Shabak. Also known as GSS or Shin Bet; responsible for internal security and defense of Israeli installations abroad, including embassies, consulates, and other organizations
slick. Hiding place for documents
souk. A middle eastern marketplace, usually an open-air farmer’s market that also sells craft items.
STF. See Liquid armor.
surveillance detection route. A method used by covert agents, walking back and forth several city blocks, looking in the reflective surfaces to discern if they are being followed, Often abbreviated “SDR.”.
SWIFT. The Society for Interbank Financial Telecommunications, a European agency that sets standards for global financial messages used by banks for near-real-time settlement of electronic funds transfers. The transaction types (debit memo, credit memo, etc.) have numbers to identify them; e.g. MT100 is a credit memo sent by one bank to another to indicate payment via real-time book entry.
Tze’elim. Israel’s Urban Warfare Training Center in the Negev Desert.
Va’adet Rashei Hasherutim. The committee of the heads of service in Israel’s intelligence community. Mossad is a prime member.
Vory. Russian criminal brotherhood, compatriots.
Wahhabi. Puritan doctrine of Islam, founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792) in Saudi Arabia.
wash. Recycling of a valid passport obtained by theft or purchase.
yahalom. A covert computer hacker, or cybercriminal working for the Mossad’s Yahalomin unit.
zombie patriot. A person with a terminal disease who decides to sacrifice his or her life to earn money that might benefit loved ones.
Appendix B – Character List for the Spies Lie series (alphabetical)
Harry Aimes. An aging retiree, dying of cancer but lacking medical insurance coverage. Facing a death that will leave his aging wife homeless, he decides to become a “zombie patriot.”
Lee Ainsley. Director of Information Security at Gilbert Greenfield’s unnamed intelligence service in Washington, DC. He has a crush on Cassandra Sashakovich.
Hazret Ali. Tribal leader in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
Yigdal Ben-Levy. Call-sign “Emah” or Mother. Ben-Levy is the Associate Director of the Mossad, a spymaster who also runs liaison between them and Aman. Ben-Levy runs the dirtiest black ops missions. His niece, Aviva Bushovsky, died one year ago.
Elizabeth Rochelle Brown. Call-sign Butterfly. Hacker living in Woodbine, Iowa. Self-proclaimed as the best hacker on earth. William Wing claims the same thing about himself.
Aviva Bushovsky. Call-sign Sweetthing, alias Lisa Gabriel. Under cover, she became engaged to Jon Sommers. She was a Mossad bat leveyha, niece of Yigdal Ben-Levy. Aviva died in a car bomb set in the parking garage in Herzliyya where she’d left her car to meet Ruth Cohen for lunch.
Lieutenant Benjamin Chan. A direct report to Xian Wing, Benjamin’s mother was English, and hence his Western first name.
Norman Cisco. Currency Custodian at the Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan.
Ruth Cohen. Call-sign Toots, alias Ruth DeWitt. Cohen rose through the Mossad’s ranks from bat leveyha (honey pot) to kidon (assassin) to katsa (case officer), and became Station Chief, Berlin, Germany. Years ago, she and Jon Sommers were lovers.
Sir Charles Crane. Call sign Mastercollector, a British spymaster at MI-6, whose career was almost terminated by Jon Sommers’ parents, Abel and Natasha Sommerstein.
Michael Drapoff. A kidon reporting to Yigdal Ben-Levy.
Lester Dushov. A katsa reporting to Yigdal Ben-Levy.
Simon Fiernen. A cover identity for Yigdal Ben-Levy.
Bob Gault. Call-sign Snakecharmer, works as a case officer at Gilbert Greenfield’s unnamed intelligence service in Washington, DC. Gault is overweight and unpromotable, but he is also an effective operative.
Oscar Gilead. Director of the Mossad, to whom Yigdal Ben-Levy reports.
Major Ralph Giondella. American Tactics Commander, hired by Avram Shimmel for Kravgruppe, a mercenary organization.
Gilbert Greenfield. Director in Charge of an intelligence agency in Washington DC so secret that it is “unnamed.” Aliases include Herr Flouber and Ellbert E. Friend.
Abdul Hassain. Abdul was hired by Pesi Houmaz to torture and murder Cassandra Sashakovich in Riyadh after first determining if she had learned of the Houmaz brothers plans to attach the United States. He raped and impregnated her, before Cassandra was able to kill him in self-defense.
Judy Hernandez. A personal trainer at the YMCA in Manhattan, where she met Cassandra Sashakovich. Briefly, they were lovers. When Cassandra founded the Swiftshadow Consulting Group, she hired Judy as its office manager.
Achmed Houmaz. Youngest of the brothers, Achmed was left to run Arab Oil Corporation after Tariq was disowned by their father and Pesi followed Tariq from the family. Achmed resides in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Pesi Houmaz. Second in command of a Muslim Brotherhood offshoot group headquartered at its training facility near Upper Pachir, Afghanistan. Pesi is the brother of Tariq Houmaz. Pesi resides in Saudi Arabia.
Tariq Houmaz. Leader of Muslim Brotherhood offshoot terrorism group, located near Upper Pachir, Afghanistan.
Maulvi Muhammed Khalis. Hazret Ali’s mullah, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
Nomi Klein. Cobbler (document forger) working for the Mossad in the South Bronx, New York.
Misha Kovich. Cassandra Sashakovich’s uncle and Kiril Sashakovich’s brother. Worked for the KGB until the fall of the Soviet Union, then worked for the Russian mafiya transporting weapons and money between Moscow and Vladivostok.
Lily Lee. A girlfriend of William Wing, she lives in Hong Kong. She is also a call girl and her father owns an upscale restaurant, Star Luk restaurant in Hong Kong’s harbor.
Major Jacques LeFleur. French North African Battle Operations Specialist, hired by Avram Shimmel for Kravgruppe, a mercenary organization.
Clyde MacIntosh. Case officer, MI-6, reporting to Sir Charles Crane.
Adam Mahee. Stanford University adjunct faculty, and project manager and contractor in Silicon Valley.
Sharon Marconi. Louis Stepponi’s girlfriend, who is, like Louis, a professional assassin.
Debra McCandless. Treasurer of Stillwater Technologies, Inc., a Silicon Valley chipset developer in San Jose, California.
Mark McDougal. Director, unnamed intelligence agency, Washington, DC. McDougal is Bob Gault and Cassandra Sashakovich’s boss. McDougal reports to Gilbert Greenfield, who runs an agency so secret that it is “unnamed.”
Major Alister McTavish. British Tactics Commander, hired as a mercenary by Major Avram Shimmel.
Samuel Meyer. Call-sign Uncle Sam. Associate Director of the Mossad and liaison to Aman, successor to Yigdal Ben-Levy. Meyer graduated from Harvard Law School.
Lev Robinson. Scientist, and mole, working on Bug-Lok nano-device at the Ness Ziona in Herzliyya.
Shula Ries. Call-sign Viper, Mossad kidon who reports to Yigdal Ben-Levy. Ries is more than just a honeypot for the Mossad. She is lethal with any weapon and has no conscience.
Lev Robinson. A Ness Ziona scientist who works on Bug-Lok, and was turned into a mole by Sir Charles Crane, an MI-6 spymaster.
Cassandra Sashakovich. Call-sign Swiftshadow, Multiple aliases, including Chandra Paklorri, Chrissie Card, Darla Kidon, Denise Hardcastle, Susan Blumenthal, Elaine Teman, and Emily Fishcallow. Former NOC and hacker at Gilbert Greenfield’s unnamed intelligence service in Washington,
DC. She has gone black, outed by a mole within the agency, and was hunted by the Houmaz family.
Kiril Sashakovich. Cassandra’s father, professor of economics at Stanford University, and former econometric planner for the now defunct Soviet Union.
Natasha Sashakovich.Cassandra’s mother, member of the Half Moon Bay, California city council, and former case officer for the KGB.
Gunda Schlein. Finance Manager, Dreitsbank, Munich. Schlein’s brother is held by MI-6 to compel her to spy on Jon Sommers. But Sommers has also tried to double her.
