Deadly Ties

by Aaron Ben-Shahar

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  As soon as Bonnie was appointed minister of science, he was called over to the government secretary, who explained to him what the ministerial post entailed and what it included as far as its authority was concerned. He further told Bonnie that in accordance with previous government decisions, cyber was under the minister’s purview.

  Bonnie, or we might call him by his full, official title, his excellency Minister Binyamin Pladot, was perplexed about his responsibility for cyber. ‘It has become such a buzzword,’ he told himself, ‘but what does it actually mean?’

  Well-versed in such matters, the government secretary noticed the minister’s embarrassment and self-awareness at being clueless about this subject and told him he would schedule a meeting with the official in charge of cyber in Israel in order to get better acquainted with this issue and with what was required of the minister as part of his post.

  The following afternoon the esteemed minister spent with the cyber official, an electronics engineer by training and a long-serving intelligence man until he retired.

  “Cyber,” explained the expert, “is about a virtual world, which nowadays encompasses most human activity. Its importance in the framework of our modern world keeps growing. Information security is a basic element of cyber, being essential to preventing information getting destroyed or stolen by hostile elements and being used by them. Without such security, any unwarranted party is capable of paralyzing power stations, disrupting airports, undermining emergency services, and, in fact, sabotaging any internet-based activity throughout any country.”

  The expert continued his review. “Being in control, in the lead, when it comes to cyber, is essential for any government and any branch of government, as well as for any business. Information security, an integral part of cyber, is also vital to individuals, for without it, anyone could break into bank accounts and empty them, invade our privacy and wreak havoc on our daily lives.”

  At the end of his review, the cyber official and the minister concluded they would meet with the heads of cyber in Israel’s intelligence organizations as early as possible to broaden the minister’s knowledge and to increase his involvement in the field. During one of these meetings, in the course of updating the minister, one of the cyber chiefs told him about a pilot they were about to launch at a particular date. They were going to hack into Tehran’s traffic lights system.

  *

  International cyber conferences were as frequent as they were common. Their stated objective was to enable countries, organizations and individuals exchange information in the framework of this field, and the Israeli minister of science took part in many of them. A cocktail party was held during one of these meetings that took place in Geneva, Switzerland. The minister happened to come across the cyber chief from Iran, who probably didn’t recognize him. Nevertheless, as diplomatic protocol and prevailing norms dictated, they exchanged calling cards. When Bonnie returned to his hotel, he pulled out the Iranian official’s card.

  ***

  A week after that conference, Bonnie went to Thessaloniki to visit Claudia. On his way to his apartment, he bought a cheap cellphone in a small shop and inserted another SIM.

  Claudia was glad to see him and thanked him for the visit and for the box of Israeli dates he brought her, “Ah, you remembered how much I loved the dates you brought me once.” She seemed older than her actual age and far from her best. She told Bonnie she had spent a long time in the hospital and that her medical condition is not good.

  Indeed, this was not the same Claudia as before. Walking was difficult for her; she bent over and could not sit or stand upright, and when she spoke, she was faint and erratic. It saddened Bonnie to see her like this. Nevertheless, one could still tell how beautiful she had been in her youth and how glad the visit made her.

  Before they parted, he asked whether he could leave his cellphone there so that he could receive a message from an acquaintance of his, “on official business.” Claudia gladly obliged.

  He sent a text message from this cellphone to the number on the Iranian cyber official’s business card: “I would like to meet Mehdi Mohammadi.”

  He then connected the cellphone to the charger, hugged Claudia goodbye and off he went. He wished her the best of health and returned to Israel.

  A week later, he returned to Claudia’s apartment. At the entrance to her building, he met a neighbor who told him, sobbing, that Claudia had passed away two days earlier. At his request, the neighbor let him enter the apartment using the key she had. She walked in with him and noticed the sad look on his face as he sat in the armchair he recognized from his previous visit. “Yes, she was a dear soul,” she muttered in somewhat broken English and gave him a glass of water.

  Bonnie noticed a white dress with fine embroidery on a hanger in the open closet. The neighbor followed his gaze. “This was Claudia’s favorite dress,” she told him. “She asked me to give it to my niece after she was gone.”

  Before taking his leave, he picked up his cellphone, explaining he had forgotten it on his previous visit. One quick look at the screen was enough for him to see he had received no reply. He said his goodbye to Claudia’s neighbor and went off to the nearby park, where he took out the SIM card and discarded it, then removed the batteries and threw them separately into the lake at the center of the park.

  He couldn’t help feeling sad as he rushed to catch his flight back to Tel Aviv.

  ***

  Ten days passed. Bonnie had another business trip. London this time. He took a taxi to Piccadilly Circus between meetings, where, in an old office building, on the second floor, he found the office with the sign, ‘Electronic Reporting Centre,’ and walked in. This office provided various services, including anonymous email boxes. In exchange for a hefty fee, one could send and receive messages without either party’s true identity ever coming to light. The inbox was available on a daily basis, using a unique, one-time coded password that was deleted the moment the message went through. The staff at the Centre took great pride in the fact that although the odd cyber expert did manage to track the Piccadilly address of the actual premises, no one had ever managed to crack the code and uncover the identity of anyone involved in the message exchange itself.

  Bonnie leased an inbox and got a message through to the Iranian cyber official. He noted it was addressed to Mehdi Mohammadi. His message said as follows:

  “Don’t go out into the streets of Tehran this coming Tuesday between eleven am and 12 o’clock.”

  The following Tuesday at precisely eleven am all hell broke loose. Tehran was in a traffic frenzy due to the failure of its entire traffic lights system, which remained fixed on red, rendering all vehicles at a standstill. Infamous for its traffic jams and impossibly overcrowded roads, Tehran ground to a halt and remained paralyzed. Police cars, ambulances, official cars and dozens of thousands of vehicles of all kinds simply could not move an inch. The city’s control center, the local police and the engineering department all attempted to get to the bottom of the malfunction, but to no avail.

  At twelve noon precisely, the traffic lights came back to life, but it was only after long, grueling hours of endless traffic that the situation improved, but it was already late at night.

  The following day, Bonnie received a message via his London service: “Beijing. The Fifth cyber conference. Hotel Nuo.”

  ***

  China was outpacing the rest of the world. Knowing full well that leadership in cyber meant controlling the flow of information around the world, the Chinese government guided its specialists to focus less on what ‘cyber’ meant and more on controlling it, citing it was for anyone to arrive at their own interpretation, but being at the top of that field would lead them to dominance over each and every facet of data, resulting in global dominance. With this in mind, China invested billions of US dollars in cyber, both directly in thousands of Chinese cyber
R&D companies and through knowledge and know-how acquisition from foreign sources, not always in ways that were above board.

  Following instructions from the top, Chinese cyber experts attended each and every conference, wherever it would take place. Such conferences served not only the Chinese but also anyone and everyone involved in the cyber sector worldwide. Over time, these conferences had grown into lavishly decorated street fares attracting all those who wished to buy, sell, exchange, spy, steal, learn or whatever.

  The Chinese are great believers in ‘the bigger the better,’ and the global cyber conference at Beijing certainly lived up to the expectations of those who knew this, with some ten thousand participants, practically anyone who had any stake in this field. They put in an appearance, which was acknowledged by the hosts, who offered them an imperial hospitality that was hardly what a people’s republic should have entertained, but for the fact that it was, after all, China. Beijing’s finest hotels likewise regaled the conference goers with a royal-like program of entertainment, an expensive personal gift for each guest in the room and fabulous yet free meals. The Chinese went out of their way to endow the conference with a festive, buoyant atmosphere, fully intending it to work in their favor.

  Israel, considered a world-class power in the field of cyber, was an honored, prominent and sought-after participant, whose delegation included dozens of representatives, led by none other than Science Minister Binyamin Pladot. Even prior to his departure, citing he had heard this was a good hotel, the minister had asked his office manager to book him a suite at Hotel Nuo in the center of Beijing.

  “I feel like indulging myself after all the hard work I’ve had these past few days,” said the minister. “Please let the Chinese organizers know they can accommodate the other members of our delegation in all the other hotels according to what’s available.

  ***

  It was five o’clock when Bonnie heard a knock on the front door of his lavish suite at Hotel Nuo and opened the door, only to have one of the hotel staff serve him an envelope. Bonnie received it, tipped him and went back inside. He opened the envelope as he sat in the armchair at the suite’s sitting room, only to find one sentence in English: “Six o’clock at the bar.”

  Bonnie took a seat at a side table at five to six, making sure he put some distance between himself and the few others at the hotel’s bar. Even before receiving the Chivas Regal he had ordered, a man of average height sat next to him. The man sported a fancy suit. Bonnie also noticed the cyber conference badge on the man’s lapel, with the name ‘Mazi Nazimi.’

  “I see there’s no point ordering you a glass of whiskey, but perhaps I might order you something else?” Bonnie asked.

  “Thanks. I’d love a bottle of soda,” the stranger replied in a reserved voice. “I understand you wanted to meet. What about?”

  “Who is us?” replied Bonnie. “I asked to meet with a particular person. I know for a fact he is in Beijing.”

  “This particular person is busy today, so he asked me to inquire what this is about.”

  “I have a highly personal matter to discuss with your man, and I believe a meeting will prove very important for him.”

  The man’s face remained blank. He was obviously examining Bonnie’s intentions and trying to figure him out. Bonnie also took notice that the bar, which was nearly empty when he came in and sat, was now packed. For a moment there, he considered smiling, as it was clear to him the entire meeting was being recorded, complete with images and even close-ups of his face.

  The man glanced at Bonnie and then suddenly got up and left the place without a word.

  Bonnie realized there were fewer people at the bar now. ‘Time for another shot,’ he told himself.

  Not long after he had made it back to his suite, Bonnie heard another knock on his door. ‘Good thing I have some spare change,’ he thought as he received an envelope from the hotel’s errand boy through the open door.

  “Eight o’clock in the lobby.” That was all the note said.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The weather in Beijing had changed. A cold front was upon the city, complete with a storm. At five to eight, Bonnie stood in the lobby, berating himself for sticking to his habit of always coming five minutes early to any appointment. There he was, in his thick, black, warm coat, his head covered in a Chinese fur hat with slits for the eyes, ready for what he was sure would be an excursion out of the hotel.

  Bonnie did not have to wait long. ‘Here’s another person with a habit of showing up five minutes early,’ he realized, looking at this man wrapped in a similar coat. The man asked Bonnie to follow him, then opened the back door and invited him into a Mercedes with dark windows waiting right outside. ‘Ah, so he’s the driver.’ The passenger Bonnie met in the back seat was wearing a huge coat and sunglasses though it was already dark outside. Sitting far away from Bonnie, he kept silent. The driver started the car.

  And then, during the ride, the man turned to Bonnie in perfect English with a note of apology, “Do you mind if I search you?”

  Not the least surprised, Bonnie acquiesced.

  It was a thorough inspection, complete with a mobile magnetometer.

  The Mercedes pulled up near a restaurant. Bonnie could make out its name, ‘Jia,’ as well as other Mercedes cars parked outside and uniformed Revolutionary Guard men patrolling the entrance.

  Not only was Jia fancy and expansive, it featured a high ceiling, black marble floors, red tables and gilded curtains. The high ceiling was covered with blue silk carpets with red stripes crisscrossing them. The place was packed with diners who were the epitome of the wealthy. Bonnie did not fail to notice the men in the crowd who kept watch, always looking around.

  A beautiful hostess greeted Bonnie and the other man. Her long-gilded dress, adorned with Chinese dragons in fabulous colors, complemented her ivory face and small, full, bright red lips. The tall man who had accompanied Bonnie leaned over to her and whispered something in her ear, upon which she smiled, showing pearly white teeth, and instructed Bonnie and the other man to follow her. The hostess led them to the far end of the restaurant, where she pointed at a highly decorated oak door and quietly stepped away.

  The man who accompanied Bonnie knocked on the heavy door. This was followed by a murmur of reply from inside, upon which the host invited Bonnie in and made himself scarce too.

  Bonnie found himself in a beautifully decorated and furnished room with an exquisitely carved nut-tree dining table superbly done with Chinese carvings. It was set for two, featuring fine glittering bone china and handmade silver and gold cutlery.

  Once Bonnie got used to the dim light in the room, he noticed a man that seemed tall even though he was sitting across the table. One glance, and Bonnie was on the verge of fainting. He did not need a second look to know this was his biological father.

  Bonnie tried to breathe normally, despite his excitement and trembling. ‘Ever since that letter, I simply lost my peace of mind. I’ve been searching for a safe haven for all this time.’

  Mehdi Mohammadi was sitting in front of him, stiff and frozen, his eyes firm. ‘He doesn’t have a clue.’ Then, for an instant, once he noticed Bonnie’s blue eyes, a thought did run across his mind, but he cast it aside. His entire body language bespoke power and resolve.

  “Are you all right?” he asked Bonnie as he realized the other man was about to keel over.

  “Yes, I am fine,” came Bonnie’s reply as he thanked Mehdi for the glass of water, he poured him from a crystal carafe.

  “What brings the science minister of the Zionist government here to meet me?” Mehdi asked in a cynical tone, while demonstrating he was well-informed. “Since when is it that you people are willing to meet us ‘terrorists’ from Iran?”

  For Bonnie, Mehdi’s cold tone and stern face were a source of strength that helped him focus. He had yet to regain his voice, and his hands
were still trembling, but he was able to get hold of himself. He produced the pink slip of the report he had received from the institute back in Vienna and handed it over to his father.

  TEST RESULTS

  “The DNA test showed that the two blood samples taken from X. and the sample delivered to us from Hypocratio Hospital in Thessaloniki are completely identical.”

  The strength and resolve Mehdi exhibited faded like dew in the sun. It was now Bonnie’s turn to pour Mehdi a glass of water. ‘I sure hope he doesn’t faint on me now.’ Mehdi did not thank him for this gesture. His body shrank and he lowered his head. Both men were now sitting across from each other. Nothing but silence passed between them over the beautiful table.

  Mehdi’s face was pale as marble, whiter than his beard. Bonnie’s face was white too. He had never been paler.

  Suddenly, Mehdi got up. He did not say a word. He left the room while still clutching the pink slip of paper Bonnie handed him.

  Alone in that room, Bonnie was shocked. He agonized, then couldn’t hold himself any longer. The weight of this encounter overpowered him, and he burst into an uncontrollable tumult of tears and audible sobs.

  The hostess came in, anxious and nervous. Concerned, she turned to the grown man who was weeping like a baby. “May I be of assistance?”

  Bonnie managed to collect himself enough to gesture he was fine. He helped himself to another glass of water. The large carafe contained enough water for a third glass.

  The hostess left Bonnie to fix her makeup, rendered slightly less perfect by a tear she could not help shedding. She dried her left cheek and upon returning to her guest noticed Bonnie had left her two one hundred-dollar bills for the dinner no one had actually eaten. Looking forward to his flight back to Tel Aviv, he hurried back to his hotel.