by Jack Gardner
“And what happened to those who were shot? And to the guy who shot them?” Eddie was really bursting with curiosity.
“Two were killed and the third injured, he was taken away in an ambulance.”
“What third?” Wondered Eddie, as if the detailed description he just received was too complicated for him.
“The big guy, the one who stood right here.” The waiter pointed to the exact point he remembered. “The one with blood squirting out of his hand.”
“He was the last one, right?”
“Yeah, the two others fell right away. Didn’t move, looked totally dead. Then the man rose from the chair you’re sitting on and walked down the street,” and he pointed south.
“Really amazing,” Eddie was not exaggerating, “and you really saw their guns?” He added admiringly. Another point he had to clarify.
“I saw two and the gun of the guy who took off. Only that they were weird.” He was looking for the right words to describe how weird they were. “One had a kind of pipe on the gun with holes around it, and the other, too, but without the holes.”
“And the guy that left? Was his handgun weird, too?”
“Not really. He had a regular gun, the kind you see in the movie. A rifle with a short barrel.” ‘I can’t learn a lot about it from this,’ Eddie thought as the waiter went on.
“And when he shot in the end, I saw a long flame coming out of the barrel.”
“You mean the last shot?”
“Yeah, the one that made the big guy fall, the one who was wounded.”
Eddie felt lucky once again. Even in his wildest dreams, he couldn’t expect anything better. Now he’ll go somewhere quiet and start analyzing what he heard. There was one more thing that could help, even though Eddie didn’t really believe it. The target used the café’s phone and the number he dialed could be an important lead. There were ways of ensuring that the dialed number would not show in the call log, but maybe… ‘It’s a one in a million shot,’ thought Eddie. On the other hand, had he asked for the phone number, it might seem suspicious. You should never disregard waiters’ intelligence. He decided to locate the number on his own.
He looked at his watch, made a sound of surprise that it was so late, and cut short the idyllic relationship he had developed with the waiter. He tipped well, shook the waiter’s hand, and walked south, just like his target did three days earlier.
18
The official name was The Forum for Heads of Secret Services, and it included the Head of Preventive Services; the Head of Intelligence Services, known as the Bureau; the Commander of Military Intelligence; and the Head of the Committee on National Security, who reported directly to the Prime Minister. The Forum convened regularly once a month and then according to need in a state of emergency. It was small in scale, but the Forum was the most efficient way of centralizing intelligence information collected from all said sources.
As secret as it was, the structure of the forum included all kinds of checks and balances needed to assure the security of a democratic country. At the end of each Forum meeting, a protocol classified as Top Secret was prepared that included the list of subjects discussed during the meeting. Extremely sensitive subjects would be allotted code names. Each subject had two kinds of addenda: one for the protocol and one that was classified. When an addendum was classified “protocol,” it would be included to the full protocol of the meeting. An addendum classified as “secret” would only be mentioned, but not added to the protocol. The Forum’s discussions were Top Secret, and so each Forum member was prohibited from reporting those parts of the discussions that were mentioned in the protocols under code names even to their direct superiors—unless those subjects were the superior’s responsibility. The top tier superiors, the Minister of Defense or the Minister of Interior Affairs, could receive the confidential information only directly from the Prime Minister, and according to his discretion.
The subject of trust was sensitive, and much effort was invested in order to promise that the advantage of concentrating and coordinating information, which was collected and classified as important by the different intelligence offices, was not lost due to problems of leaking and security violations. Reading through the protocols that were kept secure in the Forum’s secretariat office would have constrained the heads of intelligence services, all very busy people, to spend countless hours in the Forum’s offices, which was not possible. So, each one of the offices appointed a manager whose role was to care for these sensitive protocols. The Bureau official who held this role was the Head of Operations.
A reading of the past six months’ protocols would have revealed a strengthening tendency toward the political solution the Prime Minister advanced in relation to peace agreements with the hostile countries across the border. A central point of this approach was the handing over of all territories occupied in past wars in exchange for peace. This policy was confronted by a strong and active opposition, which stood against the ceding of territory, and was not willing to compromise. This kind of opposition convinced the Prime Minister to understate his intentions until the time was right to realize these decisions. It was only natural that the partners in secret who were there to assist the political echelon in this process would be people who do not have a declared political affiliation on these matters.
It was customary for the top posts in the different structures of the intelligence services to be staffed only according to professional considerations. Therefore, the political tendencies of the people selected to man these positions were not scrutinized. And even if these kinds of inspections were held—especially as the result of natural curiosity and the custom in every intelligence service to examine and accumulate any kind of information available—this happened only while these men were recruited for their positions, but definitely not later, as the years went by and they advanced in seniority. This was mainly rooted in the agreement that these men are top officials and are therefore completely apolitical. They were not allowed to state an opinion concerning national affairs, unless that opinion was purely professional, and were clearly not allowed to partake in any kind of political forum.
All in all, these men were “beyond all doubt” in anything related to the possibility that they would interfere in any kind of way in the political process. Only that reality has its ways of surprising, and painfully doing so, especially where conceptions were prefigured.
The Head of Operations began working for the Bureau as soon as he finished his B.A. He studied international affairs and strategy and graduated with honors. He was an officer in the military. Not a high-ranking officer, but still much appreciated by his superiors. So much so that at a certain point he was courted by heads of the army, who wanted him to follow a military career. He wisely refused them, stating that he would like to study first so that after he receives a degree he could choose which national office he would like to dedicate his abilities to.
He would consider the option, so he told them, of having the military pay his tuition, in which case he would be happy to return the favor by spending a number of years in their service, but he would not commit beyond that. The military, an organization that can easily recognize a talented man who wants to keep his options open, did not comply. The recruitment officer explained his decision by the fact that the system will enjoy this man’s services in any case, and the military cannot change its rules whenever it is convenient for a certain person.
And so the man, who left the military against the opinion of his superiors, managed to do so in a friendly way, toasting goodbye with his commanders—a positive character trait which he was smart enough to build on in years to come. Later on, he received the education he wanted and decided that the right place for him to develop his skills while serving his country—and while helping himself—was the Bureau. In his interview and the security clearances he passed, he was in fact asked a number of times about his political tendencies, but he answered in a way that did not disclose anything but a pronenes
s to the center and a promise to act honestly and truly for any political party that will take office by democratic elections. This was the answer they expected and this was the answer they received.
And so they did not know that the man was politically right wing and verging on the extreme—which made him constantly examine, from his privileged position, the way in which the nation’s interests are influenced by the intentions and actions of those who govern it. During the past six months, the Head of Operations was consistently exposed to information that went against everything he believed in and that, sadly enough, in his view, gained a large number of advocates among his hated, one-sided strategic partners. This was all very worrisome and incredibly frustrating to a man who faced this information while his hands were tied from acting according to his worldview.
But were his hands indeed tied?
It is hard to determine when exactly he had the idea that he could actually affect the situation insomuch that he could change it. It is reasonable to assume that this happened when he discovered, in his usual sophisticated manner, that his opinions had an ally within the Bureau. Even more so: whether it was luck or fate, this ally was no other than his deputy. This led to conspiring talks, which began with affinities, continued with true concern as to the fate of the nation that is wrongfully led on a dangerous path that would surely weaken it, and ended with the decision to try and influence the events from their powerful position and while using the unrestricted, unsupervised resources they had at their disposal.
Once they made the decision, they had the best tools to realize it. The conspirators’ operational plan was in fact based on their ability, or their hope, to determine who will be the opposition’s next candidate for prime minister. They believed there was only one suitable candidate who could turn the wheels in the desired course. In order to assure his election, the opposition had to win against the governing party in the upcoming election. Their candidate would do the rest once he took office. Then the state policy would make a 180-degree turn in the right direction and the national interests would be preserved and even strengthened.
The plan had three stages. The Head of Operations was happy to discover that his deputy already had an original idea as to how to fund this plan. He also had an exact strategy, detailed and genius, to realize it.
That was the first stage.
The second stage was to use those millions of dollars in order to bribe their candidate’s way to head the opposition party before the election. Here too, the deputy proved his extraordinary abilities in finding and recruiting the right man to convince the leaders of the party.
The third and final stage was winning the election and turning over the government to the right wing opposition. This stage was planned for the six months prior to the election. Then they would use the information they had and their proved abilities to manipulate in order to influence the voters and win the general election.
The first stage, the securing of funding, was thoroughly successful. Or, it would be right to say at least just successful, except for one small incident. The second stage of the scheme was started in unison and was going according to plan.
The conspirators determined that even though the engine leading the mission seemed to have a small problem in it, they would do all that is required to solve this problem so that the train of events that they set in motion could move on.
19
“Gil, do you still want that meeting? Then yes, come up now, the boss is available for a few minutes.” Sonya, assistant to the Head of Computing, administered her boss’ schedule very efficiently.
“Yes, I have to see him. I’m coming up now,” the programmer seemed very nervous. He opted against taking the elevator, rushed up the stairs, and was at her desk within a minute. Sonya studied his clothes, criticizing his slacker style in her mind and thinking to herself that these computer nerds could use a mirror every once in a while. Like many programmers, Gil wasn’t very preoccupied with personal grooming. He wore a yellow T-shirt tucked into old ragged blue jeans that barely covered his sneakers, which used to be white and were now gray. He had large-frame glasses of the kind that was fashionable about three years earlier, and, to top it all, he had a goatee.
Sonya pointed at the door to the office of the Head of Computing and said, “Walk in, he’s waiting for you.”
Gil knocked on the door, opened it hesitatingly, and saw the boss inside. He waved his hand, signaling him to walk in.
Yonatan, the Head of Computing at the Millionaires said, “Did you ask to see me?” in a formal, far from friendly voice, and a gaze that seemed like it was looking for faults or hinting that this is not the right time for personal discussions about raises, vacation time, and so forth.
“It’s probably nothing, but I thought I’d better…” the programmer sounded unsure of himself.
“You’d better what?” So it’s not about money after all. The boss leaned back and waited.
“I thought I’d better tell you, but I really do think it’s nothing.”
The boss’ eyes focused on him through his fashionable frameless glasses.
The programmer began fidgeting. “We have a thousand nine-hundred and sixty-four kiosks…”
“If you say that is the number,” said Yonatan, who liked people who can get to the point.
“There’s this small procedure that counts the number of daily communication activities. Every time a kiosk sends or receives information it is noted in that station’s counter. So I know how many times every kiosk communicated each day and it helps us plan our resources accordingly.” He looked at his boss and saw that he generated some interest.
“Sit down, did anyone offer you a drink?” This wasn’t going to end so quickly.
“Thanks, I’m okay,” the programmer sat down and went on, “On Thursday, I looked at the daily list—I routinely do it at the close of busy communications days—and there it was…”
“There what was?” The boss interrupted him, running out of patience.
“Two calls that did not belong to any kiosk. It seems that the kiosks’ code was not received by the central computer.” Now that he dared convey this information, Gil suddenly regretted bringing this up and disturbing his boss. If there was a logical explanation for it, the boss will think of him as a crybaby who runs to him before thinking, which will probably interfere with his chances of being promoted.
“But we receive their codes twice,” the manager challenged him, “once at the beginning of the call and a second time after the numbers from the form are transmitted, right?”
“That is right, which is why…” the programmer felt he was getting sweaty. He hesitatingly sent his finger to swipe off his forehead and accidentally touched and stained his glasses.
“What is the probability that a code will not be received twice in a row?” Asked the manager.
“Until now, I would say totally improbable.”
“How long were these two calls?”
The programmer could breath again, he knew the answer to this question. “The first, fifteen seconds and the second, thirty-one seconds.”
“Do we know when these calls took place?”
“Of course. The first at 12:05 p.m. and the second at 12:50 p.m.”
“12:50 p.m., so more than six hours before the lottery closed,” the manager calculated out loud, “it’s probably nothing, but maybe you should check your system, just to be sure.”
“I checked the system dozens of times and never saw anything like this.”
“Check again. Run a demo call at night from an interior station and see if this can happen again.” Yonatan was a very thorough person, and had his job for a reason. “And by the way, you did good by coming to talk to me. Update me about the results of your demo test.”
Relieved, Gil thanked his boss and left the room. Only that deep down inside he was convinced that even if he simulated a thousand demo tests, he would never receive a wrong result.
20
For
the first time, Eddie felt a dilemma during an operational activity, a dilemma springing from the fact that the details given to him by his supervisors were not consistent with what he discovered in his own investigation. This was definitely an unusual thing and Eddie did not know how to manage the situation. At first, he thought that he would ask for clarification. The general rule was “there is no doubt in case of doubt,” and since he had a doubt, he felt that he should go back to his supervisors, present his uncertainty, and ask for an explanation. On the other hand, he could not help but notice the fact that the system did not want to say more than it had already said. Therefore it was better to wait.
The target was guilty of serious offenses—guilty, not suspect, as one would expect to hear—so why is it so hard for him to accept this information as an incontestable fact? He was explicitly told that this operation was top secret. He was directed to contact the Bureau only when he found the target or had verifiable information that would lead to the target. There was no option of consulting sessions. As far as he was concerned, this was a mission one received and performed, no questions asked.
There is no doubt, thought Eddie, that even if his doubts are realized in the end, he is still at a very early stage of his investigation and things may change in the future. And since he was a thorough man, he knew that any distraction that may steer him away from the right course should be avoided. Deep down inside, he felt that the distance between his target and himself was getting smaller even if he was still far from him. A feeling, as positive as it may be, is not a fact, but gut feelings were part of the equation here. At the end of the day, he decided to wait. For now. If and when the contradiction would grow so much that it is intolerable, he will pause and reevaluate the situation.
