by Bob Blanton
“Well, do you think we impressed them enough?” Blake asked over the comm.
“We weren’t trying to impress them; we were trying to stun and demoralize them,” Samantha said. “And yes, I think we did a good job.”
“Did you see how crowded that place was, it’s like a rabbit warren,” Natalia said.
“We weren’t that crowded on the asteroid mission,” the twins said. “And their air smells funny.”
“Well, they don’t have the water to bathe regularly,” Samantha said. “And their air systems don’t seem to do as good a job filtering as ours do.”
“Why is that?” Natalia asked.
“Power,” Catie said. “They’re limited by how much power is available. We are capturing so much more solar power than they do, even without arrays.”
“Plus, we have a fusion reactor,” Blake said.
“Well, I’m having a bubble bath tonight,” Samantha said.
“Are you going to send Colonel Bradley a picture of it?” Catie teased.
“We’re trying to demoralize them, not excite them,” Samantha said with a laugh.
“Why are we trying to demoralize them?” Natalia asked Catie on a private channel.
“We want to make the point that we own space,” Catie said. “Kind of rubbing their noses in the fact that we’re so much more advanced than any other country.”
“Ohh,” Natalia mused.
Chapter 28
Board Meeting – Dec 2nd
“This meeting is called to order,” Marc said. The board was meeting on the space station in the meeting room across from Marc’s office. “I know everyone wants to hear from Kal about our protesters, but let’s take care of our normal business first. Sam.”
“I have lots of good news,” Samantha said. “Portugal, India, and Spain all recognized us within three weeks after the press conference. New Zealand and Australia recognized us just two weeks ago, followed by France and Germany.”
Samantha paused while everyone applauded. “As you know, we had a little mission to visit the ISS at the initiation of France. We took the opportunity to really show them who’s in charge up here,” Samantha said. “Of course, that means that Delphi Station is an open secret.”
“Can we let Sophia write about it in the Gazette?” Catie asked.
“We’ve got a request from Leslie Walters to come and do a story, so it’s leaking fast,” Samantha said.
“Okay,” Marc said. “Time to unveil. Catie, tell Sophia to go ahead, and Sam, invite Leslie.”
“What about the asteroids?” Catie texted to Marc. Marc gave a subtle shake of his head. “What else, Sam?”
“We’ve opened clinics in Bangladesh and the Bahamas. We should be opening one in Bosnia next month,” Samantha said. “And our miners have formed a corporation, more of a co-op,” Samantha continued. “It was the first one formed since we became a nation. Now for some complications, they’d like to have a station built close to the asteroids, so they can cut their commute time.”
“Oh joy,” Marc said. “We’ll put off addressing that until we get some of these other issues under control.”
“I think that will be alright,” Samantha said. “They didn’t expect it to happen anytime soon.”
“Liz, what do you have?” Marc asked.
“Ring two was completed three weeks ago, and we started the third ring. It will be done sometime next week,” Liz said. “Then we’ll need to stop the station and attach both rings two and three. The station will be stopped for a little over a day,” Liz said.
“That will be a good test of how well everyone followed instructions about arranging their things for microgravity,” Kal said. “Any stuff they have just lying around will be sucked up against the return air vents.”
“I suggest we remind everyone of that,” Marc said.
“Done, Captain,” ADI said.
“Go ahead, Liz,” Marc prompted.
“We’re getting ready to manufacture solar panels,” Liz said. “Just setting things up now; the Zelbars are characterizing the manufacturing process.” Liz nodded to Nikola.
“Yes, we are,” Nikola said. “It is looking excellent. We have made some improvements to the manufacturing process you were using for the thick-film superconductor, doubling its efficiency. Now it is simply a matter of tuning the plasma field for the polyglass.”
“Thank you,” Marc said. “Now for one other item of business before we turn the meeting over to Kal. This morning, we activated the mine on the second North Korean ballistic submarine. We were able to time it such that the submarine was well inside the second drydock at Sinpo. The shipyard has suffered major damage.”
“It was a significant blow to their submarine capability,” Admiral Michaels said. “It even managed to damage the new submarine they are constructing in the adjacent drydock.”
“Okay, Kal, what have we learned?” Marc asked.
“I’m sure everyone is aware that we had a third round of protests yesterday,” Kal said. “There were three different groups; Mr. Flowers apparently decided to stay home.”
“That tells us something,” Blake said.
“We think so,” Kal said. “Our two entrepreneurs have been getting financed somehow. Five of our guys got paid to show up at their rallies and make noise. It was quite the negotiation to see how much they would pay.”
“What?” Liz asked.
“Yeah,” Kal said. “We think they got a fixed amount of money to organize their protest, so the less they paid each person, the more they cleared. They must have had a required number of protesters.”
“Any closer to figuring out who’s paying them?” Marc asked.
“Not yet,” Kal answered. “We think Cohen is the key. Any progress there, Sam?”
“Catie and I are meeting with Rabbi Gabay and Rabbi Margolis after this meeting,” Samantha said.
“Okay, we need to get on top of this,” Marc said. “I think there’s something else going on besides protest.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” Samantha said.
◆ ◆ ◆
Samantha and Catie met the two rabbis in a diner next to the wharf. It was an unlikely place for the rabbis to be, which is probably why they picked it.
“Hello,” Catie said as they joined the rabbis at the booth in the back.
“Welcome, Ladies,” Rabbi Gabay said. “Please be seated.”
Catie and Samantha took the seats facing the rabbis and away from the other diners. The rabbis were obviously clever enough to realize that the two women would be the ones most likely recognized. The rabbis had taken the added precaution of wearing simple clothes rather than the old-style suits they typically wore.
“Thank you for meeting us,” Samantha said as she looked at Rabbi Margolis.
“Rabbi Margolis’ English is not so good,” Rabbi Gabay said.
“If you will interpret for him,” Catie said, “our comms will interpret for us.”
“They can do this?” Rabbi Gabay asked with surprise.
“Yes, test me,” Catie said.
Rabbi Gabay smiled at her. “You are a lovely young lady, but Hebrew is a complicated language. I can do both interpretations,” he said in Hebrew.
“Thank you for the compliment. But I think things will go faster and simpler if you let our comms interpret for us,” Catie said.
“Oh, so they do understand Hebrew,” he said in Hebrew.
“And Russian, if Rabbi Margolis prefers that language. Yiddish also,” Catie said.
Rabbi Gabay turned to Rabbi Margolis, “which language would you prefer to talk in?” he asked.
“Yiddish is not as obvious as Hebrew or Russian,” Rabbi Margolis answered.
“Yiddish it is,” Catie said.
“I want you to understand what is going on so that my people are protected,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“Of course,” Samantha said, and Rabbi Gabay translated.
“Our families are being threatened,” the rabbi added.
“We can protect your families while we get rid of the trouble makers,” Samantha said.
“Not our families here, well, them as well, but our families back in Russia,” the rabbi explained.
“Oh, I understand,” Samantha said.
“I’m sure you can see why we have no choice,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“Who is threatening them?” Catie asked.
“The Russian government,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“But who here in Delphi City?”
“There are three men and two women who came with us, they are not Jews,” the rabbi said. “We did not discover this until we were already here. Here is a list of their names.” The rabbi slid a piece of paper across to Catie.
“Thank you,” she said. “How many people are there back in Russia being threatened?”
“There are dozens of people,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“How many dozens?” Catie asked.
“Eighty or ninety people,” the rabbi said.
“Five Lynxes,” Catie said. “Where are they?”
“In Russia.”
“But are they all in the same area, or in different cities?” Catie asked.
“The same area,” the rabbi said. “One city, and two towns close by.”
“We can get them out,” Catie said.
“The Russians will never allow this, they like to keep part of the family in Russia as leverage,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“We won’t ask them,” Catie said. “Can you get a private message to them, something in code?”
“We are Jews, we lived in Russia, we have a secret code,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“Okay,” Catie said. “Find out exactly how many people and where they live,” Catie said. “We’ll come up with a plan.”
“Are you sure?” Rabbi Margolis asked.
“Our head of security is very good, and we have very talented people on the force,” Catie said. “They’re getting bored, they love a challenge.”
“Have you done something like this before?” the rabbi asked.
“Something like this, yes,” Catie said. “But some of the people on our team are ex-special forces, they’ll have done this before. Here take this,” Catie said as she slid a comm over to the rabbi.
“I have one of your comms already,” the rabbi said.
“I know,” Catie said. “This one is paired to your earwig as well, but it’s special. Whenever you make a call on this comm, it will connect with the other phone and be untraceable, and it won’t be possible to intercept the call,” Catie explained.
“It seems you have done something like this,” the rabbi said.
“We’ve had issues,” Catie said. “Being able to make a truly private call has proven to be very advantageous. We will go over the plan with you before we do anything.”
“Until then, tell your people that there will be no repercussions from us,” Samantha said. “They should just keep doing what they’re being told.”
“Please get us the information as soon as possible,” Catie said.
“B'ezrat HaShem,” Rabbi Margolis said.
“With God’s help,” the comms translated.
◆ ◆ ◆
On Wednesday, Catie, Samantha, and Kal met with the rabbis again. This time they met in the back of a pizza parlor. Catie knew the owner, so they got the back room where they would have privacy.
“Hello,” Catie said as the three of them entered the room. “This is Kal, our head of security. He’s going to go over the plan for getting your people out of Russia.”
The two rabbis stood and shook hands with Kal. “So, you have a plan,” Rabbi Gabay said.
“Yes,” Kal answered. “We think we have a workable plan that we wish to propose.”
“By all means,” Rabbi Gabay said as Rabbi Margolis nodded.
“What we are proposing is to divide your people into three groups based on their proximity to each other,” Kal said. “Then we will collect each group separately and take them to a location on the Baltic Sea that is closest to them. We’ll meet them there with a submarine.”
“You have a submarine?” Rabbi Margolis asked.
“They are small,” Kal said. “I’m suggesting five separate submarines and three separate rendezvous points. That will minimize the traffic and the chance of setting off any alarms as we take them there.”
“Good,” Rabbi Margolis said. “How will you get them there?”
“We want to collect the adults on Friday afternoon,” Kal said. “We’ll substitute our people for the adults, so we minimize the confusion when we collect the children that night.”
“How will you collect the children?” Rabbi Margolis asked.
“We want the parents to introduce our person to the children over a videoconference. Then our agent will swap with the parent during the afternoon and meet the children at their home. That night, they will take the children out to a waiting car a few blocks away,” Kal said. “Our people are trained for this kind of thing; we want to minimize the number of civilians involved at each stage.”
“And you want to do this on the Sabbath?” Rabbi Margolis said.
“It’s the best day; everyone expects you to stay in all night and the next day, except for synagogue,” Kal said. “We want things to look as normal as possible for as long as possible, so we can get everybody out. We need to move all your people with just three small teams.”
“But on the Sabbath?” Rabbi Margolis said.
“When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, I’m sure they didn’t stop on the Sabbath,” Kal said.
“Are you comparing yourself to Moses?” Rabbi Margolis asked.
“No, Rabbi, but I am comparing Russia to Egypt and the Russian Jews to the Israelites,” Kal replied.
“Oy vey,” Rabbi Margolis said. “We can do this. What do you want us to do?”
“We need to set up the video calls with each family,” Kal said. “We need to know clothing sizes for each adult and for the older children.”
“This we can do,” Rabbi Margolis said.
◆ ◆ ◆
Kal met with the lead pilots together to go over plans before they started the recovery mission.
“Just to review,” Kal said. “We have the four original Foxes flying cover outside of Russian airspace. They should have a minimal radar signature. Then we have the five new Lynxes with the space engines and a fusion reactor. They fly in and submerge here just south of Kotka in the Gulf of Finland. They will proceed on the surface until they’re within one hundred kilometers of their designated rendezvous, where they will submerge and proceed underwater.”
Kal pointed out each location on the map. “Once they’re off of their rendezvous point, they will wait until they get a signal from one of the vans that will be bringing the refugees. We’re putting a quantum relay in each Lynx, so we have communication while they’re underwater. When they receive the signal, divers will exit the cargo hold and deploy the lift bags we’ve had made. When inflated, they will allow the Lynx to surface and remain floating.”
“What’s to stop it from popping up right away?” Jason asked.
“The cargo bay will be full of water. Until that’s pumped out, the Lynx will be too heavy to float, even with the lift bags,” Catie explained.
“Okay,” Jason said.
“Once the divers are back in the hold, they’ll have the water pumped out. When the Lynx surfaces, they can open the hold again without it flooding. We have two Zodiacs in each Lynx so we can transfer our targets in minimal time. Once everyone is aboard, the Lynxes will submerge, then deflate and jettison the lift bags.”
“How do our people get out?” Liz asked.
“They’ll just work their way to Finland and Poland, where they’ll take a commercial flight to Paris. We’ll pick them up on our regular route,” Kal explained. “They’ve all been making their way to Saint Petersburg since Tuesday.”
◆ ◆ ◆
All over the Saint Petersburg area, J
ews were preparing for the Sabbath. The women were shopping for the meals they would prepare before sundown. The men were visiting friends as they made their way home from work or stopping to run little errands. All of the ones on Kal’s list had been instructed to leave their children at home if they were old enough, or with a neighbor, if they were too young to be left alone. Each child was told what and whom to expect. The ability to use their phones to do a quick video chat enabled everyone to be prepared.
As the men entered one of the shops, they were wearing conservative clothes. When they left, they were wearing brighter, more colorful clothes and were accompanied by another person similarly dressed to look like one of the locals. Their heads were covered with the hood of their parka to guard against the cold. But before they left, one of Kal’s men had already left the shop wearing the Jew’s original parka. They continued to make their way to the home of the person they replaced.
The same thing happened with the women. One of the women would enter a shop to purchase the food for cooking the Sabbath dinner. Before she left, she would exchange clothes and shopping items with one of Kal’s women. So when they exited, they were each wearing the other person’s clothes and parka. The Jewish women would then discreetly get into a waiting car and be driven off to a rendezvous with a van that was waiting to gather a full load of people before heading toward its next rendezvous.
When Kal’s people reached the home of the person they were impersonating, they entered the house as usual. If the family had young children staying with a neighbor, they picked them up, and the children having been schooled on who would pick them up, quietly accompanied them to their home.
Once it was dark, Kal’s agents spirited the children away. The small children were each strapped to the chest of one of the agents, while the older ones were carefully schooled on how to walk and act. They walked a couple of blocks before entering cars that would take them to their parents. They left the house via a backdoor or window, quietly making their way so as not to attract attention.
As they exited the city, the cars stopped at various locations, and their passengers were spirited to a van. It was critical that not too many vehicles were seen to approach the three rendezvous points. They couldn’t afford to arouse suspicion.
