The Dreadful Renegade: A Thrilling Espionage Novel (Techno thriller, Mystery & Suspense)

by Charles Z David

  Forty something years earlier - October 8th, 1973 – 10 km East of the Suez Canal

  Sergeant Benny Avivi raised his head and peeped over the top of the protective armor of his vintage World War II half track. He saw a Centurion tank moving rapidly along the dirt road leading from the direction of the Suez Canal to the point on the map that was marked as Tassa, which served as the temporary headquarters of the Israeli forces. Benny could just make out the tactical marking on the side of tank and knew that it was the tank in which Colonel Dan, the commander of his regiment. Colonel Dan had led his unit into battle against the Egyptian forces that had crossed the Suez Canal in a surprise attack two days earlier. Benny exchanged a look with Captain Moshe, his company's executive officer. They had heard the call sign of the regimental executive officer who was now ordering the remaining tanks to hold the line firmly and stop the advance of the Egyptian tanks and infantry. Both immediately understood that the regiment commander was either dead or seriously wounded. The rest of the troops in half track 3B were apathetic or in shock and did not understand what was happening. A few minutes later Benny's company commander led the six half tracks up the hill called Hamotal in the code maps. Benny saw half a dozen Centurion tanks that were arranged in positions facing west and south opposite the Egyptian forces that were now withdrawing back to their original positions after failing to take Hamotal. Benny's crew had recovered by now from their state of shock and got busy carrying the dead and wounded soldiers from the damaged tanks to the half track and evacuating them to the field hospital that was set up at Tassa. Benny noticed thin electrical wires on the ground and was told that they were used by the Russian-made anti-tank wire-guided missiles that caused havoc to the Israeli tanks. The massive use of these relatively primitive yet effective anti-tank missiles had been something of a tactical surprise. It gave the Egyptians an initial advantage and caused heavy losses until IDF tank crews developed countermeasures that greatly reduced the success rate of the missiles.

  March 15th, 1974 – The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

  After five months of emergency reserve duty, 27 years old Benny Avivi returned to his laboratory at the renowned Weizmann Institute of Science where he was a doctoral student in the Chemistry Department. Many of his fellow students did not return to their studies after the Yom Kippur War, also known as the October War. Some of Israeli students were dead, injured, pronounced as missing in action or had simply lost interest in pursuing a scientific career after the sights they had seen in the war. Some of the foreign students left Israel and returned to their home countries where life was not as exciting and wrought with uncertainties. Benny continued his research project and decided that he could do more for his country as a scientist than as another sergeant in armored infantry.

  Benny completed his doctoral dissertation in 1976 and then spent two years as a post-doctoral research fellow at one of the University of California campuses. After returning to Israel he accepted a position in the analytical chemistry department of the famous Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) and eventually became the head of that department. Benny also started a family together with his wife, Anna who held a Ph. D. in electro-optics and was employed at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center as a senior research scientist. As his retirement got close Benny took a Sabbatical leave at the chemistry department of NMSU while his wife got a temporary position as a guest scientist in the physics department. Benny was invited to serve as an external examiner during Nagib's final doctoral examination and thesis defense.

  Benny's eldest son, David had served as a squad leader in an elite Special Forces unit of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and after that studied physics at the Technion before joining the Mossad as an analyst and later as a field agent. He had accrued a lot of vacation time and managed to get special permission to join his parents in Las Cruces for a few months and take a couple of advanced courses in nuclear physics at NMSU. David took a couple of trips to visit the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque and learn about the Manhattan Project and the Cold War era. He also visited the smaller and less famous Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos.

  Two years earlier, July 9th, Albuquerque, New Mexico

  Nagib received an invitation to pledge his allegiance to the United States of America and become a full-fledged citizen. The ceremony was something of a disappointment as he felt greatly superior to most of the other people who were sworn in with his group. These were mainly people with menial jobs and little formal education whose main reason for being awarded citizenship was that their spouses, parents, siblings or children were already US citizens – in what is known as family unification. Nagib did like the proximity of the ceremony to the 4th of July celebrations and saw this as a sign from heaven to carry on with his plan.

  Soon after becoming a US citizen he applied for a job at the two National Laboratories that were in the area - Sandia that was practically in Albuquerque and Los Alamos which could be reached by car in a couple of hours. Getting a job at Los Alamos would force him to leave the good life he had created for himself in Albuquerque but he expected the work there to get him closer to his objective of obtaining access to nuclear weapon designs and to fissile materials. To his pleasant surprise he was invited to interview at both sites. The job offer at Los Alamos was more attractive – the pay was higher, the scientific challenges were greater, the team leader, Dr. Brian LeClerk, was more outgoing and appeared to be sincerely interested in recruiting him, and most of all, he would be involved in research with real nuclear materials. So, sad as he was to leave Albuquerque and relocate to the much smaller town of Los Alamos, Nagib accepted the job offer, and agreed to start work as soon as his security clearance was issued, probably, as he was told, at the beginning of September.

  Nagib was surprised by the naivety of the US authorities and by their approach as if being a US citizen was a sacred religious affair. If you are one of us (a US citizen) then you are entitled to a good job, you are welcome to work in our most closely guarded institutions and are welcome to share our secrets, but if you are not formally a full-fledged citizen then you are a potential enemy of the people and not to be trusted at all. It seemed as if the authorities adopted a binary approach – trustworthy citizen or unreliable alien, while life itself was more of an analog situation and consisted of many shades of gray (not only 50 as some came to believe after reading the novel or seeing the movie).

  Nagib returned to GCL and gave notice that he would be leaving at the end of August. His colleagues and friends gave him a little farewell party and wished him luck with his new job. Renaldo in particular was sad to see him leave – after all they had worked together for a few years and had even become friends. Nagib promised him that he would try to bring him along to Los Alamos if he would be in a position to hire people and if Renaldo acquired his own US citizenship.

  Two years earlier, September 1st, Los Alamos, New Mexico

  Dr. Nagib Jaber received a badge with his name as he entered through the security office of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He looked forward to start working in the analytical chemistry laboratory but was told that as a new employee he first had to receive several orientation courses. First he attended a general orientation lecture about the history of LANL, the Lab as it was called by the veterans, and the pivotal role it played during World War II. He was surprised to see the contribution of so many Jewish scientists to the Manhattan project from J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard and Edward Teller through the then junior physicists like Felix Bloch and Richard Feynman to mention a few. He was also shocked to learn how many of them were refugees that managed to escape from Europe as the Nazi party rose to power in Germany. Next he was given an extended course on radiation safety and the techniques for handling radioactive materials. The instructor emphasized the safety procedures that had to be followed at all times and noted that safety drills and exercises were conducted periodically. The Head of Security gave a series of boring
lectures on the procedures for handling classified material and in particular warned the new employees about communications security when using a telephone, e-mail, the internet and especially cellular phones that he regarded as the invention of the Devil and the worst nightmare of security officers. He also explained that some areas were restricted and entering them required a special permit and he stressed that discussing work related issues was strictly forbidden outside the designated zone. There were also more practical and useful bits of information delivered by the deputy director of Human Resources – the cafeterias and dining facilities, the post office hours, transportation to the Lab, entertainment options, etc. This took a couple of weeks and was concluded with a series of exams. Failure to pass any of those exams resulted either in repeating the course a month later without pay, or even dismissal from the Lab and termination of the job before it began. Nagib had no trouble passing all these exams at the top of the class, so by mid-September he was granted permission to start working in the analytical laboratory and was told to report to Dr. Brian LeClerk.

  Chapter 2

  The Present, September, 4th, Los Alamos, New Mexico

  After two years Nagib was considered for promotion. He had proven himself as a meticulous analytical chemist who could be trusted to perform his duties with precision and accuracy second to none. He mastered the most advanced techniques practiced in the analytical laboratory and learnt how to work even with the most toxic radioactive materials with skill and confidence, while scrupulously observing all safety procedures. His duties involved determination of trace amounts of uranium, plutonium and other actinide elements in bioassays and environmental samples, as well as evaluation of the isotope composition of these elements in samples of materials used in the construction of nuclear weapons. He had not yet received permission to enter the most secure area of the Lab in which actual weapon research was conducted, but he expected that after his promotion he would be granted free and unrestricted access to the entire Lab.

  One of the main lessons he learned from his work at the Lab and at the Kirtland Air Force Base was that gaining access to nuclear weapons was not as simple as he had imagined, especially after seeing how easy it was to get a job at LANL. What was even more important to his plan was that he realized that even if he could see the weapons in storage it would be practically impossible to remove one. This was due to their weight and size on the one hand and to the security measures that involved armed guards, closed circuit cameras, and special alarm systems on the warheads. He reckoned there was only one viable option and that was to capture such a weapon or warhead in transport to the Lab for maintenance or from the Lab to a military base. This did not happen frequently as the Lab was not involved in routine construction or dismantling of standard nuclear weapons. However, he did not even know where to start to obtain information on the transfer of warheads, not to mention arranging the logistics of stopping an armed convoy that escorted the transportation of these items and getting away with a warhead. So, Nagib being a practical man decided to break down the problem into two parts: first, get access to the information on the transportation of warheads and then work out the logistics of overpowering the security detail and getting the warhead to a safe place.

  Nagib had been in and out of the security office several times, first when he was issued his badge, then for a few periodical reviews and more recently when he was dealing with enlisting his old friend Renaldo as a laboratory assistant. He noticed that one of the secretaries took a special interest in him and was more than willing to help him through the bureaucratic procedures of the security office. She was quite plain looking and Nagib had other things on his mind when talking to her, but did not fail to notice her nametag that said Ms. Alia Elias. He knew that Elias was a common last name in many countries and in his youth even knew a Christian family by that name that owned a souvenir store near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. However, her first name, Alia, was quite typically Arabic and he knew of Princess Alia bint Al Hussein of Jordan, for example. So Nagib found an excuse to visit the security office and managed to exchange a few glances and some words with Alia. He then returned to the analytical laboratory and picked up the phone and called her with the pretext that he needed some help with the forms he was asked to fill for his forthcoming promotion and suggested that they meet over a cup of coffee in the main cafeteria. Alia was more than glad to accept, being thrilled that the handsome scientist asked for her assistance, and although she suspected that he had reasons other than bureaucratic help for the meeting, she was willing to meet him. She glanced at his personal file and was aware that he was originally from Palestine and was glad and flattered that he took an interest in her.

  Nagib was already seated at a small table near the window of the cafeteria when Alia arrived. He offered to fetch a cup of coffee and some pastry for her but she said she had to watch her weight and preferred herbal tea which he brought to the table. She addressed him as Dr. Jaber but he told her to call him Nagib, which he preferred and asked her if he could call her Alia. She smiled shyly and asked him what he needed. Nagib pulled out the forms and said he was not sure about some items and she leaned over to have a better look at the form and he got a whiff of the delicate perfume she had put on before coming to the cafeteria. He then knew that she was really interested in more than just helping him and smiled discreetly to himself. After finishing with the forms he asked her if they could perhaps go out for dinner one evening and she said she was free on Saturday, so they exchanged cellphone numbers and she gave him her address and arranged for him to call for her at seven pm.

  Nagib took Alia to the Pyramid Café on Central Avenue that served Mediterranean and Greek food and after having calamari and shrimp for appetizers they ordered couscous with lamb and chicken tagine for their main course and shared the tasty dishes. Nagib asked Alia if she drank alcohol and she laughed and told him that she was a Christian and liked red wine, so he took a look at the wine list and ordered a bottle of Argentinean Malbec. The dinner was delicious and both were now more relaxed and thanks to the wine less inhibited and left the restaurant walking so close to one another that their shoulders "accidentally" rubbed each other. Alia told Nagib that she had been married for less than one year to a no-good redneck who loved rodeos more than he loved her and left her for the sake of an affair with one of the cowgirls who followed the rodeo show around the county. Their divorce was smooth and quick – they had no property or assets to fight over, and thankfully no children. After the divorce she took up her maiden name – Elias. Nagib knew he should go slowly and gently cultivate his relationship with Alia who had been hurt once before, so after dinner he drove her back home, shook her hand and thanked her for a delightful evening. She was a bit disappointed that he didn't try to kiss her but thought that he had little or no experience with women and attributed it to his shyness.

  A few days later he called her and invited her for another date. He suggested that they meet on Saturday morning and drive to Bandelier National Monument, visit the Pueblo dwellings and have a picnic. She volunteered to prepare a cold lunch consisting of salads and sandwiches and he offered to bring a good bottle of wine and some cold sodas. The short drive to Bandelier was very pleasant, the sun was shining but not too brightly and they enjoyed the hilly views. There were not many visitors at the site so they took their time climbing up the wooden ladders to the small rooms carved in the soft rock. Nagib helped Alia, who made a big show of being afraid of the heights, so when they descended back to the bottom of the ladder they naturally continued to hold hands. They took one of the many trails carrying their picnic basket and a rug until reached a secluded spot with a scenic view of Frijoles Canyon. They spread the rug on the grassy terrain and enjoyed the food Alia had prepared washing it down with the wine that Nagib brought. They were both slightly intoxicated and lay on their backs, still holding hands, and looking at the clouds moving across the sky. Nagib turned on his side and gently caressed Alia's shoulders and th
en leaned over and kissed her neck working his way up to her cheek. She turned her head so their lips met in a long deep kiss. Their kissing became more and more passionate but once again Nagib pulled back slowly, making sure not to offend her, and said that they'd better head back to town. Alia again attributed his behavior to lack of experience with women and reluctantly let him go. They drove back in silence as both pondered the next step in their relationship.

  October, 14th, Los Alamos, New Mexico

  Strangely, Nagib was getting fond of Alia and almost decided to forego his plan to manipulate her and use her for getting information on scheduled warhead shipments. Then another idea occurred to him – what if he made her an accomplice and full partner to his plans. So on their next date – this time over dinner she had cooked in her apartment he waited until they were seated on her living room couch after dinner before bringing up the subject. He tried to probe and understand what she thought about the Israeli occupation, life in the US and the unconditional support the US gave Israel. He asked her about her life in the US and she told him that she was born in Durango that was a small village in south-western Colorado where her parents ran a momma-and-papa convenience store. Her parents had immigrated to the US from Beit-Jala, a small village populated mainly by Christian Arabs that was not far from the village near Hebron where Nagib had grown up. At home her parents spoke Arabic among themselves, but Alia, like many first generation immigrants, insisted on answering them in English, so, she told Nagib, she could understand Arabic quite well but speaking it was sketchy. She attended a community college where she had met her rodeo cowboy and followed him to Los Alamos where she managed to get a job at the Lab. She told him that her pay was sufficient for her to rent her small apartment, own a car and save a little money for the future. On the whole she was grateful to have her independence and felt that the US had provided her with a better life than she would have had as an Arab woman in Palestine. However, she did have a serious grudge against Israel and the way they treated Arabs: a couple of years earlier she went on a trip to visit her grandparents who still lived in Beit-Jala. Although she was a US citizen by birth she was humiliated by the Israeli border control officers at Ben-Gurion Tel-Aviv airport. She was taken to a side room, where she was questioned at length about the purpose of her visit, her relatives and her ties with the Arab community in the US, and all details of her life. She was then asked to open her luggage that was scrutinized by a couple of giggling customs officials, and then subjected to a strip search by a female officer who wore latex gloves and probed her body purposefully inducing pain in her most intimate organs. Her cellphone was taken into another room and she imagined that her list of contacts and record of her conversations was copied. By the time she was allowed to leave the airport she almost wanted to turn around and catch the next flight back home but knew her grandparents would be deeply disappointed. When she arrived at their humble home in Beit-Jala the warm welcome and loving attention she received made her momentarily forget the disgraceful and humiliating treatment at the airport. When she left, two weeks later, to return to the US she suffered a similar ordeal by the security officers checking the departing passengers. She had tried to put the whole episode behind her, but when Nagib asked her about her feelings for Israel it all came back to her so vividly that she couldn't hold back her tears.