Sometimes her customers would turn off their phones completely or not bring any electronics. When this happened, she got excited, because it was up to her own detective skills to help her country and not some technical wizardry. She had to figure out how to gain his trust and steal his secrets.
So far, she had dealt with four such customers. One of them was Rasim Al-Manna, who had introduced himself as Ibrahim, and never talked about his work.
Irina decided to meet him immediately after two of the girls from her team, simple informants, told her that Ibrahim kept asking them sneaky questions to figure out if they were trying to extract information from their clients. First and foremost, she had to protect her team and she decided to meet the potential intruder herself.
So when Rasim called the agency looking for a tall, red-haired Russian beauty, she decided it was time to face the threat. Somehow they actually liked each other and started dating on a regular basis, and after six months, he was engaged enough to give Irina some details of his family and personal life.
However, he was also discreetly enquiring about her colleagues and model friends, if she suspected any of them were working with the Russian secret service. If the Arab Emirates secret services had found out, she could easily face expulsion from the country.
Irina said nobody had ever questioned her, but she met lots of interesting subjects and maybe Rasim was interested in hearing a few stories.
In Moscow, Major Olga Kirillova, her superior, disapproved Irina’s boldness. She was taking too many risks. The most dangerous one, was falling in love. So they agreed that Irina would leave the Arab Emirates before the beginning of 2013. She was needed in Egypt more, at the time.
When Irina met Rasim a few days before the Christmas of 2012, at the Intercontinental Dubai, she thought it would be the last time. She was about to leave the room, waiting for one last kiss from Rasim, when he took out a small envelope. She felt pills inside and it totally threw her off course. She stared at him with a puzzled expression.
“Darling, you know I do not use this crap, and you don’t need chemicals either....”
“Oh, habibi, don’t get me wrong. I am giving you this small Christmas gift because I need to know what it is, exactly. Our experts are lost. Maybe some of your geniuses at the Moscow headquarters in Lubjanka square can sort it out.”
“I am not sure we can start working together.” Irina said sadly.
“I know you can present it in the right way to your boss. You have been helping me for a while, after all. You can tell your boss that your courage has saved your organization and yourself. I think it is time to proceed. Or start a brand new career in another country.”
Irina switched on the phone. Rasim frowned, but she quickly reassured him, “Do not worry. I am calling Emirates to book my return ticket to Dubai next January.”
Chapter 14
The limousine was waiting at 5:45 AM on a cold January morning, in front of the Long Island mansion of Charles Daniels, the executive vice president of Pfizer, who was in charge of with finding new pharmaceutical developments. One of his predecessors had invented Viagra and made the company a fortune back in the nineties. Charles was getting paid several millions a year to achieve a similar breakthrough, but after two years into the job nothing of the likes had come up yet.
Pressure was increasing and he was desperately hoping to find at least a hint to the next big pill during the trip he was about to start. He boarded the limousine at 5:50 AM and the driver headed towards Teterboro airport, where a Netjets private flight was waiting to take him to South Korea.
He had received some extremely promising reports on a new molecule for oncology and tumor control applications, developed by a South Korean research group. It was now time to check if the production process was in line with the US Federal Drug Administration regulations or if the extensive use of stem cells and other human cell sub-products, potentially banned the drug in the US.
He was still reviewing the reports on his tablet when the limo stopped in front of Teterboro terminal. He left the car and entered the departure area, preparing for the security checks. The real advantage of flying private was not so much about the extra space on board, which was offset by a bumpier ride, nor by the schedule flexibility, which ate into personal life. For Charles, it was all about avoiding the security lines that built up, even for business and first class passengers.
He was shocked when, after passing his carry-on bag through the X-Ray machine, the young officer asked him to enter a small room without windows and a plate on the door stating ‘US Customs and Border Control’.
The officer closed the door behind him and stayed outside. Inside the room, behind a rather old desk, sat a man in his late thirties, who sprang up from his chair and invited him to sit.
“Dear Mr. Daniels, let me begin by saying that you are not under any type of scrutiny. On the contrary, we are seeking your help or, better, trying to help you. We ask only a few minutes of your time before you continue your long trip to South Korea.”
The opening remark dispelled any apprehension Charles had, letting his assertive side take over.
“First of all, who are you? You do not even wear an identification badge, and this would be reason enough to call a lawyer and sue the government agency you belong to. Second, how do you know I have a twelve hour flight to Korea in front of me? Have you hacked into my emails or calls? If you are the CIA or the FBI or God knows what, I hope you have all your papers right, or else every extra minute you keep me here will mean another lawyer I am going to throw at you.”
“Mr. Daniels, we are asking for your help and we have to do it discreetly. If you want to bring your lawyers, that is your decision, but then we will ask you in court to publish what you are doing with the South Koreans. Anyway, we need your help on this.”
He handed to Charles a small plastic bag with two pills with the T stamped on top. Charles did not move, watching the border officer with an inquisitive eye.
“Mr. Daniels, all I can tell you is that we do not know what these pills are. We know that there is a company out there that is able to manufacture them, and that they are related to a project developed by two biotech startups, NuAge and Ambrosyan, that shut down around six months ago after some of the key investors left the ventures. You might have heard about them. I can also tell you that some of their investors and designers were involved in an industrial espionage story where foreign powers were trying to get their hands on this. The startups claimed to be active in research for life-extending drugs, but we have evidence that part of the team was also involved in military projects. We have finally managed to get some of the production, we are talking about roughly ten pills, but our labs have not been able to tell us what exactly this drug is, except that it is not a synthetic hallucinogen and is extremely well engineered.”
Charles Daniels slowly extended his arm and picked up the bag. “Then why give it to us? And where are the other eight pills?”
“Because we need your know-how to help us understand what exactly we are dealing with. If it is a threat, we will need your help anyway. If it is not, there is maybe something inside you might find useful for your business. It is the US government’s priority to make sure American businesses have the upper hand over global competition. And to do things fairly, we have sent some of the samples to your competitors; Merck, Gilead, and the like. We do not favor certain US businesses at the detriment of others.”
Charles put the bag back on the table, took a post-it from his bag and wrote an address on top. He then put a twenty dollar bill next to it.
“Alright, Mr. Government, I am going to trust you but I need cover as well. You will send the pills via top priority FedEx to this address, in the name of the officer that is sitting outside. I noticed he is wearing a valid badge, I will take a picture of it before leaving. If the package does not bear his name in the sender address, it will be trashed. Consider the twenty bucks as my personal contribution to cover unexpected shipment
costs. We will need at least three months to get some results, I guess you can find a way to contact us.”
“I think we are all set, Mr. Daniels. Your plane is waiting for you. And thanks again for your patience and attention. You can call me Skip.”
As Charles walked past the departure gate onto his private jet, Skip felt satisfied to begin his revenge against the CIA.
He had been an idiot. He had fed them all the information he had found, including the research on Sean’s girlfriend and the whereabouts of the two Israelis. The reward was that he had been summoned one spring day to Langley. He would never forget it. It was April 25th, with Greg Russo interrogating him.
Greg argued that the Israelis had some merit. They had found out that Sean was a cover up and that it was the same person as George McKilroy.
Greg had worked hard to persuade the Israelis that Homeland Security had not been able to figure out in two years, what they realized in half a year. Anyway, it was too late now. Sean had disappeared, and his girlfriend and many of his business contacts had followed suit.
And one of the key reasons of the disappearance was, of course, the warning Skip gave that the Mossad was after him. “Sometimes good intentions lead to bad outcomes,” commented Greg, as if he was teaching Spy 101. Had it not been for Skip’s blatant mistake, Sean would probably been in jail now. What did Skip know exactly about drug traffic? Had he consulted the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency? Even if the Israelis had found out something, they would certainly not share information now.
Greg refrained from directly confronting Skip because the rest of the work was very straightforward. However, it was clear that the enquiry had to be stopped and transferred to the CIA. In any case, Sean and his friends would most likely not show up on US or Israel soil ever again.
Needless to say, Skip got demoted while Greg got promoted. Skip knew that Sean had a valuable secret, though, and if he could not help protect it, surely some other American would. The CIA could never have complete control over the United States.
Chapter 15
The Sunday meeting had just finished the assessment of the Syrian situation, and everybody was shutting down laptops and untangling the mass of power cables. Everybody except Eyal, noted Yaakov, a clear sign he had another topic in mind. He approached Eyal and invited him to his office.
“What’s going on, my friend? Are you not comfortable with our intelligence about the jihadist groups, in the Golan Heights?”
“Not at all, I just had a thought. Do you remember the Sean Ewals story? Did you really buy the CIA’s version of it?”
“Still thinking about that? It’s been more than six months now. Anyways, no, I did not buy it - at least not all of it. I do not see what else we can do though. Greg Russo showed up in person the last time we had the review meeting in Cyprus, he is reporting to the Deputy Director of Operations, so if we think he is a liar we would have to get to the CIA director, just one notch below the President. Which, for us, means placing a call to our foreign minister. And remember they have us on the plank with the two researchers. Is it really worth the trouble?”
“I don’t know, it’s quite strange. First, they confirm our discovery, that Sean is George McKilroy. Then they pretend it is not their cover, but someone else’s, and come up with all the narco evidence, which I have to admit is quite credible, with the girlfriend and the fake burial company. For some reason, though, this billionaire decided to start doing business with drug traffickers and changed lives. And obviously, the business is linked to the companies he was working with, even if we do not see a clear connection. It’s all about these life-extending drugs. What sounds strange is, if it is not from the CIA, why didn’t Greg try to cooperate more openly with us? Are they covering organized crime? There is something they do not want to let us know, but what? I got the feeling, they wanted to drop it and made sure we also dropped it.”
“Indeed,” continued Yaakov, “because from their side they found out that in the Israeli companies Sean was working with, we had two experts in drones and biotechnologies under cover. So they suspect we are passing some sensitive war technology to the narcos. It is not true, but we do not want to enter this conversation with the Americans now. Just like when we started developing nuclear weapons and fighter jets, we have to complete the mission first and then tell our friends.”
“And taking into account that Sean has disappeared into thin air, the assessment is to archive the whole story until some new evidence comes up, if ever,” Eyal completed. “We have no other choices, I agree, yet we should keep our eyes open.”
“What is frightening you so much? You know, Sean never showed up again since you gave him the warning….looks like your scare tactics worked out, at least here.”
“I am just lining up the evidence. We have stumbled across a group powerful enough to operate on a global scale, with access to large financial resources, and the latest biotechnology research. This group has been able to get the protection of big name organizations like the CIA or the narcos, or both, which means they have resources or information that are of real value. And for some reason they have gotten in touch with Erez Yisrael. After two years of research, they are still elusive and we have no clear idea of who they are, what they do, or what they want. Good for you, if you can sleep at night!”
“Well, I would put them two notches above the Syrian jihadists on the danger scale, and 14 notches below the Iranian nuclear program,” Yaakov said with a half smile. “Now, if that makes you feel better, I must issue a note to all our agents and sayanim to report tu us anything unusual or new they find in the drug markets. Deal?”
“Deal,” ended Eyal, “I need a double shot espresso now.
Chapter 16
The sun was setting behind the mountains that surrounded the lake of Silvaplana, Switzerland on the evening of July 26th, 2013. Dora and Louis were walking the final meters to the Piz Corvatsch refuge, where they had booked a room for the night. Beyond them, the massive Piz Bernina was already glowing in the pink sunset light.
“You hike remarkably fast for a seventy-nine-year-old, Louis. Oh sorry, I mean, Richard”.
“And you are without any doubt the most beautiful sixty-year-old the world has seen so far, Dora, whoops, Heidi. The birthday cake is waiting for us!”
The cake had exactly thirty candles, which Louis blew out in a puff after they finished dinner.
They had decided to celebrate this birthday alone, leaving their new circle of friends from the Zurich business community behind.
After a final round of schnaps, the high-proof German drinks, Dora changed the subject to business.
“So how was the trip to Hong Kong? You have not told me anything since you came back yesterday and I can’t control my curiosity any longer. I guess it went well seeing that you got home safely I did not find any anonymous threat letters in our mailbox.”
Louis appreciated her patience. She had given him all the time he needed to mentally process the meetings from the previous week, with Mr. Lee and his team, made up of the Italian from London and the Mexican from Los Angeles.
Mr. Lee had insisted to have the periodic progress meeting with Louis. He had been wanting to meet Louis in person for several months.
Eventually, Helena and George settled for one of the many luxury hotels of Hong Kong.
“He spent the first half an hour asking me questions about my boyhood and the early stages of Telomerax,” said Louis. “I got the impression that he was genuinely curious, at times even amused. Then he left the floor to one of his partners, the Mexican named Guillermo, who gave a presentation on the current diffusion of Telomerax.”
“Basically, they have around a thousand clients on Telomerax. They started from top-notch cocaine users that wanted to pull out because the drawbacks were starting to outweigh the benefits and the results have been amazing. All of them continued with cocaine usage and accepted to pay a hefty amount for Telomerax.
They roughly get one million dollars per u
ser for every year, which, when you deduct the cost of the reduced amount of cocaine and the supply of Telomerax, makes up for a profit of almost nine hundred million dollars a year.”
“Louis, you were feeling greedy when George asked for five thousand dollars per pill! We should ask for more!”
“I think it will go in the opposite direction. Mr. Lee and his team know their customers. They are spread across the world, roughly a quarter of them are Asians, a bit less than half are North Americans, and the rest are Europeans and Middle-Easterns - mostly consisting of rich entrepreneurs, financiers, celebrities, a few politicians. Now they want to expand the market five-fold every year, reaching more than two million customers by the end of 2018.
This means they need to bring down the cost of the cure to less than one hundred thousand dollars per year per person. So they want the price to drop, to at least one fifth of the present value. If everything goes according to their plan, they will make one hundred billion dollars in revenue, and a ninety billion dollar profit, in the next five years. The planet will see the first legion of one million immortals, although most of them won’t be aware since the pill is marketed only as a remedy to cocaine side effects.”
“One million people on Telomerax? In less than five years?” Dora asked, skeptically.
It was bigger than anything she had ever imagined.
“Yes, it is huge. There is something that scares me more, though. Mr. Lee and his friends do not see this mainly as a ticket to immortality. They see Telomerax as a vehicle to bring the planet, or at least vast parts of it, to cocaine addiction, almost a fully legal one. And they are not aware of superintelligence.”
“This means that in the long term, or even in a few years time..”
“…we might have a serious conflict with these gentlemen. Nonetheless, for the time being, we have no choice but to follow them in the drug use expansion. I will have to extend the production facility. The only deal we made was Mr. Lee agreeing not to expand in territories like Africa, India and the Middle East, where there is no activity right now.”
The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084 Page 13
