by L. Todd Wood
“Minister Javadi, it is good to see you as well. Yes, you caught me. It has been a rather wonderful few days seeing a close friend, a female one at that.” He smiled briefly and the Iranian returned a knowing grin. “Thank you for returning to address this matter so quickly. Obviously it is of prime importance to the Russian Federation.”
“General, I am afraid I am the bearer of bad news. You were correct in your assertion that Iran did have an operative inside your territory who attempted to glean information on one of your bio weapons programs. When I mentioned gaining access to this research in our first meeting, I had no idea that a part of my government was literally on Russian soil committing espionage. We do not do that to our friends. I am authorized to tell you that one of our operatives has gone rogue. His name is Ahmed and he is in our Revolutionary Guards intelligence division. They are the elite troops in Iran and given large latitude in their activities. He and his team put together this operation obviously without the knowledge of our leadership. I am authorized to offer you our most heartfelt apology and an offering of sorts, that is if you wish to take our suggestion of how to settle this matter between our two great nations.”
“I’m listening, Minister. Tell me please what you propose.”
“Ahmed, as I said, has gone rogue. This is what I can offer.” Minister Javadi leaned forward over the table between them and almost whispered to the Russian general what he had been authorized to offer in exchange for continuing the weapons contracts and deliveries.
Connor and Fabian landed at the small airstrip in the middle of nowhere to refuel. They had been flying for four hours and were about halfway to their destination. Connor took the chance to walk out into the landscape beside the airfield and take in the scenery. The ground was almost uninhabited by wildlife and seemed to be almost a barren slate that covered the soil. Stubborn plant life pushed their way through the openings in the earth but insects and smaller wildlife were scarce. Looking upwards, Connor took in the mountains in the distance and noticed the terrain sloped up to them steadily. The snowcapped peaks of the Andes dramatically backstopped the Patagonian scene.
Fabian walked up behind him now that the aircraft was refueled. “The flora and fauna change rapidly as you close in on the mountains, meaning, it gets more dense, more vibrant, more full of life. Out here, it’s almost a desert.”
“It’s beautiful. I love it!” remarked Connor.
“Yes, it is that. They say the first European explorer to reach this area, Magellan, named it Patagonia because he thought the indigenous people were giants. The name came from some monster in a story that was popular at the time. That’s the rumor anyway. Come on, let’s get in the air. We still have a lot of flying to do.”
“You haven’t told me where exactly we are going, Commodore Ramos.”
“We can go over it in the plane. There’s only so much daylight in the day and I don’t want to do this landing at night. As they say, I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good, once, as I ever was.”
“Ha, I used to love night time landings. But you’re right, it’s a young man’s game.” The two walked back to the Otter, started the engine, taxied to the end of the runway and took off into the wind. Fabian gave an advisory notice over the radio that there was an aircraft on takeoff to the south. There was no one in the area to hear it.
President Chahine sat in the situation room at the White House. His advisors were seated around the table as a uniformed officer of flag rank was standing at the opposite end from where the president was seated, awaiting instructions. The man was nervous as the information he was about to present was quite shocking. “General, please begin the briefing,” he ordered.
“Mr. President. We have been given information by the Iranians that points to a weapons lab being operated in the Bariloche region of Argentina. Shockingly, we believe, again per the Iranians suggestion, that an elderly Nazi scientist, formerly a Soviet spy in Berlin during the war, is leading the effort to develop these weapons. The man, known as Anatoly Ivanov, was previously doing the same work in the Russian Federation, deep in Siberia at a similar facility. However, he was kidnapped by forces unknown.
The President interrupted, “Didn’t we get word of Mr. Murray heading to the same general area just recently?” he asked firmly.
“Yes, Sir. That information was passed on to us through another Iranian contact who received it from a mole deep in the Israeli Mossad. We cannot verify any of this information however.”
“Well, it seems to be too much of a coincidence, don’t you think? It seems the verification from two sources that there is something in Argentina adds credibility, no?”
“Yes, Mr. President. It would seem so,” responded the general.
“Who do we think is managing this laboratory and forcing this scientist to work there against his will?”
“We do not have information on that Mr. President. Although, we do have theories. Some of our team believe it is the Islamic State. There are other theories but that is the one that is receiving the most attention at the moment. The Bariloche region is crawling with former Nazis who escaped via the ratlines to Argentina after the war. The Juan Peron regime actively encouraged this migration. It provided fascist Argentina with money, prestige among the anti-Semitic world at the time, and scientific know-how. This current facility has not been on our radar; that is, at least until the Iranians recently provided a possible location to us. We have known and followed other operations or facilities in the region for decades but frankly the stories coming out of Bariloche simply haven’t been a priority since the early 1980s. Elderly Nazis just don’t threaten the United States that much anymore. However, this story is different. Iran has been very helpful to us by providing this information unsolicited. Without it, we would not be in a position to act.”
“Due to the signature achievement of my presidency, the nuclear deal with Iran, we now have a very good relationship with the Islamic Republic and their leaders. I expect more information sharing and no, this is not surprising. I expected such cooperation in due time. Go on with your briefing. Why is this bio weapon so dangerous?” I know the answer but I want the rest of the room to hear this.
“Sir, the information we have gleaned is disturbing. This information is highly classified under TS SCI procedures. Everyone in the room has now been cleared to be read into this program. I’m mentioning this to make sure everyone here understands the penalties for releasing this information.” He stopped talking for about ten seconds to make the point.
“During WWII, the United States was cooperating with the Soviet Union to develop weapons of mass destruction to use against the Nazi regime. These weapons were quite terrible as we all have come to understand. However, some of them were more terrible than others in our opinion, the biological warfare weapons in particular. Luckily the computer power to unravel and map the DNA of the human body was not yet developed in sufficient capability to finalize the development of one certain agenda, even though the knowledge of the human body was much farther along than most people are aware of. The information is still highly classified as I have said. This scientist, Ivanov, was secreted out of Berlin to the USSR right before the end of the conflict. It has been his life’s work to develop this weapon. We believe he was kidnapped to finish constructing the greatest weapon ever known to man, the ability to target one race or even one certain family or person specifically for death or illness via a genetically modified virus. The ramifications of such a weapon are sure to shock everyone in this room. In short Mr. President, Iran has given us the most probable location of this laboratory which has been in operation for several years. We have been surveilling, by satellite, the mountainous area for a facility matching the required parameters for a few days now, given Iran’s information. So far the profile of one particular area, its activity and potential, matches what our expert team determined to be the necessary characteristics of such a lab. We believe we have found it.. It is located deep in the Bariloche mountains
. That is why this meeting was called Mr. President, to finalize a way forward to neutralize this threat to mankind and especially the United States.” The officer stopped talking and let his words sink in around the room. There was complete silence for a few seconds.
Then the president spoke. “I would like to prepare a targeted action against this facility once we are in agreement on its purpose and have verified to a respectable probability it is what we think it is. However, I am inclined to believe what our Iranian brothers are telling us. We cannot let this capability go unchecked or fall into the wrong hands. I want options within 24 hours on how we can use direct action to put this facility out of business and capture the research for ourselves. I understand that is a difficult undertaking but that is what I want. I will use this capability myself, one way or another, to destroy the Jewish State. We have to acquire the technology, before someone else does and uses it on us.
“Yes, Mr. President, the general replied. The rest of the national security staff began to ask the briefer questions; however, the Sultan had made his point.
Ahmed drove calmly to the safe house. He really did not want some inquisitive American policeman opening his trunk and finding the Argentine officer’s wife. The Iranian operative did not want to spoil any of the fun he dreamed that he would be having over the next few hours. The woman had put up quite a struggle. He even had scratches on his face and arms. He definitely didn’t want a policeman seeing those. So Ahmed drove ever so carefully, obeying all the traffic laws. He had been taught years before that police agencies loved to use traffic violations to catch suspected criminals. Therefore, it was imperative to deny them this option to apprehend you.
She had been quiet the entire drive. Ahmed hoped she was not injured. He had been quite rough with her. Either way, it didn’t matter. He had already extracted the family’s financial information. This was his part of the deal. He would get the Mullah’s their scientist but he would get the money. That was the way it was going to work from now on. As soon as he dropped off this woman at the safe house for ‘safekeeping’ for a few days, he would start his search for Murray and the weapons laboratory. On the way, he would start the process to transfer the money to his offshore accounts with the account credentials given. If he needed to, he would go back for the woman to have her do it over the phone for him, with a gun to her head of course.
Ahmed finally spotted the home in a sparsely populated neighborhood twenty kilometers outside the center of the city. He pulled into a garage which immediately began to close behind him. He knew the drill. He had to authenticate himself before being allowed entry into the facility. Ahmed went through the motions with the biometric apparatus and the outside door was electronically opened. He stepped inside and was visually identified a second time by personal in the house. He was allowed entrance through the final door and stepped into the home.
“The woman is in the trunk. Bring her in and make sure she is secured somewhere safely. I don’t want her getting away or making any noise.’
“Yes, Sir,” the agent in charge replied as he went out to the garage to do as instructed. “Oh,” the agent added. There is someone in the main room waiting on you.” The agent turned and went through the exit to retrieve the woman. Ahmed stepped further into the facility.
As he passed through the threshold to what used to be the living room of the house, but now housed a meeting area for Iranian intelligence, Ahmed as grabbed from behind and thrown to the floor. A bag was placed over his head while his hands were cuffed behind him. He was dragged to his feet and thrown into and tied to a chair. His mouth was gagged. Once he was secured, the bag was ripped off his head. What he saw surprised him.
“Hello, Ahmed,” said a man with a Russian accent and dressed in the uniform of a Russian soldier. The man studied Ahmed’s face and then continued, “I guess you didn’t expect to see me now did you?”
Ahmed tried to talk but the gag wouldn’t let him. “You don’t need to talk. You see, I don’t really care what you have to say. The truth is Ahmed, your bosses now consider you to have gone rogue. They have turned you over to us, I mean to Russia that is.”
Ahmed looked around and tried to find a familiar face. There was none. The station keeper came back in the house with the woman but he ignored Ahmed. He took off her bindings and allowed her to use the restroom. The window was frozen shut of course. She could go nowhere. Ahmed turned his gaze back to the Russian, trying to figure out what he wanted. So, my gig is up, Ahmed thought. I wonder what happens now. He furiously tried to free himself from the restraints, but it was no use. Why has Allah done this to me? What does he want from me? Is this my destiny?
The Russian began speaking again. “You see Ahmed, you are a spy. You are also, unfortunately, a spy who ran an operation on Russian soil. That is not a very smart thing for you to have done Ahmed. Russia doesn’t like that, doesn’t like that at all. Your government wants to buy weapons from us very badly. You almost destroyed that opportunity. They are not happy at all either. It seems your little team did this and some other things without your leader’s permission. So, they told us that we could do what we wanted with you. So, you see, we don’t want any information from you. You don’t know anything that your superiors have not already told us. At this point, we only want to videotape you. Is that alright with you, Ahmed?”
Ahmed shook his head in the affirmative. Maybe I will get out of this in one piece after all. Maybe I will be able to enjoy those stolen millions after all as well.
“Well that is very kind of you, Ahmed,” the Russian said. “We thank you for giving your permission.” He motioned to another Russian who was in the room and they began setting up a video camera to film the Iranian operative. He actually relaxed a little. They must want to show they can capture and Iranian, he thought to himself. No big deal, we do it all the time. They will not hurt me it seems, only film me.
“Oh, Ahmed, I forgot to tell you one thing. Yes, we are going to film you, but unfortunately for you, we want to make an example out of you. So, we are going to hurt you very badly before we kill you. First I am going to gouge out your eyes. Then I am going to cut off your nose and ears. Then I am going to cut off some other parts of your body and stuff them in your mouth while you are still alive. Then we are going to show this video to the world so no one will dare run an operation on Russian soil again.”
Ahmed began to shake in his chair with fright as he struggled to free himself as the Russian moved forward with a switchblade. Ahmed’s eyes darted between the Russian’s knife and the bonds holding his wrists and legs tightly to the chair. Ahmed remembered growing up, when he had been tied to the chair before, when his father had beat him. He had tried to get free then as well but always realized it was hopeless in the end. This time he knew there would be no escape.
The Russian bent down to pull tight the zip ties which held Ahmed’s limbs to the wooden extensions of the chair. The man then put his arm in a vice grip around Ahmed’s head, so it wouldn’t move as he worked.
The cameras began filming.
Chapter Twenty
Natasha and Peter sat around the table once again in the conference room in Tel Aviv. There were others in the room, high ranking officers of the Mossad and several others who were of lesser importance.
The topic was Murray.
“He is in danger,” said Natasha. “Besides the fact he is my husband, he needs our support!”
“We have more important things to think about Natasha. You must understand. The survival of the state of Israel is more important than one man,” said one of the higher ranking men at the table.
“I understand that,” said Peter. “However, are there not very important intelligence targets surrounding his presence in Argentina? This bio weapon has to concern you all. If there was ever a weapon that could destroy the Jewish State, this is it!”
“Yes, it concerns us,” said the man. “However, it is not the priority at the moment.” He turned to the briefer standing by the
view screen and suggested he continue.
“Hamas is massing in southern Syria and Lebanon.” He turned on the screen and maps showing troop concentrations started to populate the presentation. “We know their capabilities in Lebanon since we faced it in the last conflict. However, this time they will be much stronger with hardened, bloodied fighters from the Syrian civil war. They are now also a much more mobile force with tanks and other armor available to them, either captured by the rebels, or supplied by the Russians.
“Hezbollah has also built up its base in Qusair, a Syrian town near the Lebanese border. Here they are stockpiling heavy weapons such as over 60 Russian-built T-72 tanks and Shahabs and Fateh-110 ballistic missiles. Qusair is now essentially an Iranian military base inside Syria and continues to be heavily fortified and militarized by the Mullahs.
“However, our most pressing concern at the moment is the continued militarization within the Syrian parts of the Golan Heights. The old capital of the region, Quneitra, seems to be the focal point for artillery and missile units. We see an attempt to link up the Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon with the Golan units, creating a northern front in an attack against Israel that stretches from the Mediterranean to the Syrian desert. As you know, we killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers and other technicians in the area during an airstrike a few years ago. Since then, however, the Iranian influence has only grown. In short, we face a massive, coordinated attack from Iran, Iranian backed militias such as Hezbollah, and linked Hamas militants in the territories. It is a threat we have not seen since the Israeli, Arab wars of the 20th century.
