“Back up,” interrupted Skip again, while he was struggling to remove the shell of a giant fried prawn. “You mentioned you needed security agency intervention, but now you are calling for the Armed Forces. I may agree with the idea, but what exactly do you have in mind? And then, how do you plan to rebuild your network? I don’t think you want to destroy your business forever.”
Mr. Lee smiled. This Texan was not dumb at all, even if he was awful at removing shells from seafood. He continued to expose the plan.
“Mr. Ross, we are thinking about using the fifth secret clause in the Sino-American security treaty, the one that grants Taiwan access to all US weapon systems, public and secret, in case of a danger to their territory. And the system we are thinking about to use is Zeus.”
Skip nearly choked on his prawn. So this Chinese tycoon was aware of the existence of Zeus and thought he had the right to ask for it to be put into action?
“Mr. Lee, with all due respect, assuming there is such a thing as a fifth secret clause in the Sino-American security treaty, you know that Zeus requires presidential clearance on our side to be triggered and head-of-state authority from a foreign country before requesting its usage. Do you think you can arrange all that? And do you know that we will have just a few hours?”
“Oh, we know very well that the system was developed in the aftermath of 9/11 to re-program the route of commercial jets, in case no other option was feasible. All major plane makers, which is to say Airbus and Boeing, provided the NSA with backdoors and activation codes, to seize control of their planes when necessary. So your clearance procedure can indeed go through within hours, provided the right evidence is given.”
“Alright,” Skip said. “You seem to know the procedure. I expect you to follow it properly the day you decide to invoke it. However, you have not answered my second question, how do you plan to re-organize your business after your get rid of your unloyal partners?”
“This is the easiest part,” Charles jumped in. “Thanks to your cooperation and the knowledge of George, we can now make the pills on our own. We strongly believe that in a few years from now, we can evolve the drug into a fully legal one, with obvious benefits for the US…and China, of course.”
“That’s why you left Pfizer, you did not want to share the profits with your old employer,” noted Skip sarcastically.
“It’s the animal spirits and free initiative that made our country great, Skip,” George responded. “Now we have the opportunity in front of us to bring this ground-breaking discovery under an American roof, on equal footing with our Chinese partners. Personally, I hope it becomes legal sooner, rather than later. True, illegal stuff has much higher profit margins and creates alot of opportunity for the black market, but I am counting on you to help us bring this out in the open.”
Skip looked at the clock. There were five minutes to nine. Between prawns, small talk, and the main topic, time had flown. He stood up, shook hands with Mr. Lee, and concluded the meeting.
“Gentlemen, let me summarize the interesting conversation we had tonight. I agree we need to send a strong signal to stop the Russians and the Arabs meddling with weapons of mass destruction. You will always have us on your side for this. For the rest, let me be very clear; if you get into trouble with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI or even a county sheriff during your um...new business venture, don’t even think about mentioning my name. I will side with them. Finally, I have to admit that prawns are not that bad, once you manage to peel them.”
He left the restaurant, followed by Mr. Lee and his platoon of bodyguards. Charles and George remained alone at the table, looking at their empty glasses of wine.
“We did not tell him that the Telomerax we are going to make is not the original one, but a derivative,” said George.
“Forget about it, he would not have understood at all. It took me one entire day to listen to the explanation of Dinesh on how and why the two drugs were different. The key point, is that the cocaine interaction and the anti-aging effect is maintained. By the way, thanks again for joining our venture. Without you, we would have never made it. Were things so bad with your old team?”
“Well, you know, it’s a bit like your own situation. Why did you make the decision to leave Pfizer? You were powerful and respected, after all.”
“Because I increasingly felt I would be better off outside. I felt more and more out of sync with my team mates. And then a new opportunity showed up to leverage my knowledge, and..”
“You see?” interrupted George, as they walked out of the restaurant. “Just like my case. On a more personal note, after more than ten years away, I was really missing San Francisco and Silicon Valley. This is my hometown after all, even in the foggy rain of November.”
A car slowly stopped by the roadside, and the driver waved to Charles. He said goodby to George, opened the door, and entered the car.
“Hi Sally, how are you doing? I was just about to tell George that you were one of the reasons I left Pfizer, because you cannot work in a place where you are dating your assistant, but he did not let me finish the sentence.”
“I am always great when I am with you, darling! How did your dinner go?”
Chapter 24
Tarek and Valerio did not like the way things were going. Ever since the birth of Aurora, they felt the team had started to break apart.
The relation with George was becoming more of a business one than the friendship it used to be. Just within the last year and a half their correspondence had faded to a few emails per month about updates on the Telomerax production and diffusion. They had not met in person since 2015.
Louis and Dora had isolated themselves in their villa on the secluded hillsides of Zurich, with Louis completely absorbed in his studies on the new variant of Telomerax.
Helena was the only one who kept the friendship alive. She regularly called Tarek and Valerio, using her secure internet connection.
Her video calls almost always ended with the latest mischiefs of Aurora. She had managed to recover fully from the cancer and it was clear that her focus was now on her child. She never said where she was calling from - all that Valerio and Tarek knew was that it was somewhere in Brazil, where she could count on the protection of the narcos clans.
Tarek and Valerio, however, regularly met in person at least once a year, thanks to the fact that Tarek took his family to London during the Christmas shopping season. In December of 2015, they were sitting in front of their beers in a deserted pub near Canary Wharf. It was a Saturday afternoon and all the surrounding office blocks were empty.
Tarek gave a generous tip to the waitress before lighting a cigarette. As he expected, nobody came to enforce the no-smoking rule.
“How are you doing, Valerio? I am already tired of our annual Christmas shopping week, even though the boys are old enough to take care of mom at Harrod’s and I can spend my time with friends..”
“Being tired of London means being tired of life, Tarek,” Valerio rebuffed. “You have many more trips in your future, and most people would give anything for the gift we have.”
“Ah, yes, our gift. Let’s call it that. Do you think we are on the right track? I honestly have a bad feeling.”
“It is more than a bad feeling, look at this.” Valerio put in front of Tarek some printouts for him to read.
“Hmmm...some Asian millionaire in Taiwan went a bit too far with his cocaine party and the end result was a shoot out with more than twenty dead, including the party host?”
“That is the official story on the Taiwanese news, translated by Google. But even the original, in Chinese, fails to mention the most important details that I got thanks to my connections in the newspaper industry. First, it was not a normal shootout, like the ones that happen all the time in New York City. It surprisingly was the host, that all the sudden lost control of himself and started killing his guests by all possible means: from guns, to knifes, and even his bare hands. The casualties include the first three cop
s who were called in to try to stop him.
Second, the party was only partially based on cocaine. The guy is one of the first customers of Telomerax in the region, at least according to the latest list of customers that Mr. Lee and George gave us six months ago. So I tried to contact George to find out more. After more than two weeks, he called me back as if he was doing me a favor and pretended that Telomerax has nothing to do with it. As if this guy had indeed moved to the Russian version - you can call it Telomeraski if you want. So, yes, it is definitely spinning out of control.”
“Now I understand why Rasim is growing uneasy...” said Tarek “He might have a part in this. You know, he has been giving huge amounts of pills to the Russians, but I thought he did this simply to build his fortune. But apparently Russians have added their own sauce..”
“..and the whole thing is morphing into something no one was expecting,” Valerio completed. “Jesus, the only thing I do not regret about this whole thing is that I told the Pope three years ago.”
“Not even the Pope can solve our problem, Valerio. I do envy you a bit though, for this special, last resort outlet you have to discharge your soul…when you remember you have one..” Tarek laughed. “Did you hear anything from the Vatican again? What are they doing with the information?”
“About one year after the new Pope took office, he called me on the phone. I was right in the middle of a client meeting, when I saw the number from Rome. I picked it up, and a voice told me they are going to put me in contact with His Holiness Pope Francis. I was surprised, but not too much, since it is known he often calls personally when he is touched by some special story. I knew I had told Benedict XVI special information.
I automatically wondered how to make sure the conversation was confidential, as I do with every important call, so you know what I said? ‘Please confirm that the following discussion will not be wiretapped or recorded in any way.’ I felt like an idiot, the moment I finished the sentence.”
Tarek was doing his utmost not to burst into laughter, and Valerio continued.
“I think he also laughed on the other end of the line, however he responded respectfully by saying he had discussed my case with his honorable predecessor, and he was praying for me.”
“That’s it?” asked Tarek, who was regaining control over his laughing fit and getting interested in the story. “I mean, it is not every day you get put on the Pope’s list of special intentions but did he give you any advice?”
“He mentioned he was trying to see what he could do with the information, he thanked me again because this would help him finalize his decisions, and he stated we had to rely on God’s grace to get answers on difficult matters. This, in practical terms, meant a lot of prayer and discussion with those he trusted within the Church.”
“So he is sharing the secret inside the Church,” Tarek pointed out. “If he shares this with more than a dozen trusted people, we have a very good chance that someone betrays him and uses it for their own interest.”
“That’s exactly what I thought, but I did not dare bring it up. I am sure he is also fully aware. But if you look at what he is doing and saying in public, it seems he is really trying to refocus the Church away from any specific moral or political positioning, and return to the basics.”
“Alright,” concluded Tarek. “So we have His Holiness, Pope Francis, on our side with all his Swiss guards, that everybody knows have about as much strength as an ant. What is next?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” said Valerio “at least he comforted me, even with a one-minute call. In the long run, it will help to be on good terms with the Pope. And unlike Galileo, we have time to see things unfold.”
“Well, we definitely could use some faith now,” said Tarek. “Back to other business, Rasim has been called by George to go to Taiwan in about one month from now. George said that Mr. Lee wanted to reassure the local head of the drug dealers that we, alone, sell quality products.
Rasim asked me to go with him, hinting that George would like to see both of us. But I did not get any call from George and I do not have that much interest to pick up the phone. Anyway, I was wondering what was behind this invitation to Taiwan, but now that you told me this shoot out story, things start to add up. But why would George not tell us anything?”
“It looks like he trusts Mr. Lee more than us, or he believes that we sided with Helena after they broke up,” Valerio said. “The problem is, what if he passes completely to the other side? Will we still be part of the team or be put on the enemy list?”
“Valerio, in our business you cannot afford to take risks. If you are not one-hundred percent sure that someone is a friend, it is much safer to put him on the enemy list.”
“George, an enemy?” pondered Valerio.
“Maybe not, or just not yet,” Tarek said, “but you know what? I moved to a new house, and changed a few habits that George knew all too well. He can still reach me, but he no longer knows if I put the house keys under the doormat or next to the garage door. I suggest you do the same. And also, prepare a quick relocation plan to a safe place in case something goes wrong with him or with his new best friends. Just as Helena did.”
Tarek put out his cigarette in the remaining beer at the bottom of his glass, and asked for the bill.
“Now you have to excuse me. In half an hour, my wife will be waiting for me outside Harrod’s, and I am way too far from there. Merry Christmas, Valerio, and pass it on to the Pope if he calls you back for the season’s greetings.”
Tarek patted Valerio on the back and shook his hand, then stepped out of the door into the chilly winter air, and jumped in the first taxi that passed.
Chapter 25
February mornings were unbearably cold in the Negev Desert. Eyal and Yaakov had been flown to the secret weapons test range during the middle of the night, and with them were the top ranks of the Israel Defense Forces. They were about to see the first demonstration of the new biodrone technology that had long been in development and which Eyal and Yaakov had strived to keep secret. They had only a few hours to carry out the test, because Russian and American spy satellites would soon fly over the area and the test had to remain a secret.
As the sun started to rise, the flat rocky plain started to change colors, from pink, to purple, and then yellow. Soon, all the landscape would reverberate in white. In the distance, through the thin and clean air, it was still possible to see the buildings of Dimona, where Israel’s first nuclear bomb had been developed. People realized that the targets were of different nature. Instead of old tanks and transport vehicles, there were a few sheeps, goats, and even a couple of horses closed in a somewhat neglected iron corral.
Then, the loudspeaker asked the attendees to take their places on the stands, as the test was about to begin. Yaakov calculated the distance to the targets - certainly more than a few hundred yards but perhaps less than half a mile. Anyway, too close to test high explosives. The loudspeaker declared that the test had begun, and asked the audience to look out towards the Western horizon. After a few seconds, they could spot a drone. It flew over the animals at a height of about one thousand feet, then it released a small circular device, that exploded about fifty yards above ground. “To use the word explosion was actually an exaggeration,” thought Eyal, “especially for people who had witnessed real wars.”
The noise was more like the uncorking of a giant bottle of champagne. Then nothing happened for a few minutes. Yaakov was about to tell Eyal that the test had maybe failed and they had wasted a good night’s sleep, when the goats and sheep started to fall to the ground one by one. In less than a minute, only the two horses were left standing in the corral.
The speaker declared that the test had succeeded. A few jeeps were waiting next to the stands, for transportation to the corral.
When they got there, Eyal and Yaakov examined the animals. The goats and sheep were undoubtedly dead, without any wound on their bodies so they had to have been killed chemically. Yet the toxin had
to be extremely volatile considering only five minutes had passed since the attack, and they were walking in the area under no danger. The one question left was; why had the horses survived?
People were exchanging glances and unfinished sentences, when Tamir Pardo, the head of the Mossad, appeared and introduced a young lieutenant who would give all the explanations. His name was Avi Eitan. He stepped into the corral and spoke,
“Today you have all witnessed the first live test of our new biodrone. After many attempts, we have managed to insert a microchip, stored with a small but lethal amount of toxin, into the nervous system of a fly. The chip sees everything that the fly sees and can override its brain function to drive the fly in any desired direction. The chip is activated via remote radio control, and in this case it received images of the targets to attack - sheep and goats but not horses. In this experiment, the microchips were activated before they left the drone, and as they started flying around they detected the animals. As soon as the scanners identified the image that it was programmed to attack, it overrode the fly’s brain and forcefully crashed it on to the skin of the selected animals.
The impact released the toxin, a special variant of the nerve gas, Sarin, that penetrated the skin and eventually killed the animals. If you observe carefully, on the surface of the carcass you will see the remains of the flies. But unless you have a very powerful microscope, you will not be able to detect the microchip, if anything of it is left at all.”
“Very impressive, Lieutenant Eitan, and well explained. I can imagine a lot of applications for this but how many can we build? And what is the cost?”
The question came from Gadi Eizenkot, the ‘rav aluf’, or head of the chiefs of staff in Israel.
Tamir Pardo was the only one who could answer. This was a Mossad project, after all.
The Last Enemy - A history of the present future - 1934-2084 Page 17
