by Yossi Porat
“Not a problem,” Omar answered easily. “For that we want twenty percent of the company and of course a thorough understanding of what’s going on in the company.”
“Look,” Andrew answered firmly. “I can convince my partner here to let you have ten percent of the company, no more. We expect earnings of no less than a billion pounds within the coming year. So you’ll double your investment in less than twelve months.”
“We want fifteen percent,” Omar countered.
“Sorry, no. Ten percent, that’s it.” Andrew replied.
“You’re a very tough negotiator,” Omar flattered. “Twelve percent and that’s our final offer.”
“Let’s split the difference,” Andrew smiled. “Eleven percent and we’ve got a deal.”
There were smiles and handshakes all around as the deal was agreed upon.
“Now,” Andrew continued. “A few rules. First of all, Adam and I will continue to run the company, with frequent reports to you people.”
“Of course,” the Arabs agreed. “You’re the brains.”
“OK - I’d like to tell you about the company. We have a unique plan for Location-Based Services in cellular technology. We use existing GSM
technology without the company’s knowledge, but with our own significant improvement of eight transmission stations instead of the usual six. This Octagon system ensures greater precision in transmission. So far understood?”
“I’m also a communications engineer,” Omar replied. “It’s all perfectly clear. Go on.”
“This optimal precision strengthens the signal and works much more effectively on the brain. We are able to change behavioral patterns by cellular phone signals, first to their hearing and from there to their brain.”
Omar sipped his coffee, trying to hide his excitement. “Do they realize the significance of this?,” he thought to himself.
“The basis of our breakthrough is the precision of our transmission,” Andrew continued. “We’re able to completely zero in on our subjects, making them perform actions that are completely out of character for them.”
“But,” Adam broke in, “there are still certain problems. The transmission to the two subjects got confused and caused them to meet, completely against our
plan.”
“How did that happen?” Omar asked.
“Don’t worry,” Andrew hurried to reassure him. “We’re working on it, and plan to have it fixed very soon.” To cover up, he began to boast of their success. “You know, we were able to make one woman, who has always been completely faithful to her husband, have a torrid affair with her boss. Our other subject, a totally honest policeman, stole heroin and sold it to a drug dealer.” He was pleased with himself and continued. “You know, this is all my development. We did confer with a developer in India, and we have a neurologist and doctor of Chinese medicine who helps us with the brain angle. So,” he took a deep breath, “now we need the lawyers, don’t we?” He smiled at
Omar, excused himself and left the meeting. When he returned, Omar suddenly attacked him angrily.
“Listen,” he said. “I don’t know about this deal. It seems too good to be true. Let’s take a while for us to check you out. I don’t feel like hurrying to the lawyers.”
His face reddened and he continued, gaining volume as he spoke. “I have to check you and your company out. We stand to lose money here, as you well know. Maybe you’re crooks!” He slammed his hand on the desk.
Andrew watched him, amused. Abu-Razik tried to calm Omar, get him away from his towering rage. What was happening to Omar?
“Don’t worry,” Andrew smiled, “It will pass in a minute.”
“What happened to me?” Omar was subdued and perplexed.
“I just wanted to demonstrate what we’re doing. I ‘stole’ your phone when I left the room earlier, and programmed it to receive transmission from our stations. You see how it worked on you? Before the transmission, you were
enthusiastic about the deal, we shook hands and you couldn’t wait to sign. Then we signaled you and suddenly you’re angry, you want to call it off, you’re slamming the table! Do you need any more proof that our idea works?”
“Amazing,” Omar shook his head in admiration. “We’ll get in touch with our lawyers, and we’ll close this deal.”
Shaking hands again, the Arabs left the meeting room. On his way out, Abu-Razik stopped at Laurie’s desk and arranged to meet at the club the following evening.
After he parted from Omar, Abu-Razik called his boss Abu-Ahmed. “The Saudi is investing fifty million pounds in the company, so we’re in. They’ll be
sending us all the inside information about the company and technology involved. The potential is enormous!” he enthused. “We can use it from any place without anyone tracing it back to us.
By the way, we have to pay the woman who introduced us a finder’s fee of five million pounds. Don’t get angry – she’s valuable to us and the money’s worth it. The President will be very pleased, I’m sure, and it will all reflect back on you, my friend.”
“Fine, fine,” Abu-Hamden admitted grudgingly. “I guess it is money well spent. Just keep out of trouble and watch yourself. You know – your head is on the block as well as mine!”
Omar was calling Riyadh. “The deal is done,” he reported. “Fifty million pounds and we’ve got the technology we need.”
“Excellent,” replied Azmi Bin-Laden. “We have no problem with the money – whatever you need.” He knew his cousin was probably feathering his own nest with money, setting himself up for a life of luxury, but he did not care. “As long as we have the technology,” he thought to himself.
Andrew stopped at Leora’s desk on his way out. “You’re really something,” he said to her softly. “I didn’t believe you could do it. Bringing in heavy investors like that. What do you say to going out with me to celebrate?”
“That’s a nice idea,” Leora replied. “We’ll set up a time that’s good for both of us. But as long as we’re talking, I’d like something else. What about a finder’s fee for me?”
Andrew looked at her, astonished. “I’ll have to talk to Adam,” he answered. After a few minutes, Adam returned to her, and smiling told her that he and Andrew had decided to give her a hundred thousand pounds.
“Thanks very much,” Leora smiled. “My mother and I could certainly use the money.”
At home that evening in front of the television, Leora told Shlomo about their windfall. “This is for our future, darling,” she whispered in his ear. “It’s going to be perfect,” as he began to remove her clothes. They spent the night giving each other pleasure, excited by thoughts of their luxurious future.
Chapter Nineteen
Rob finally picked up the phone. “Yes?” he answered sleepily.
“Rob, it’s Brian. We’ve got as meeting today with Sir Joseph at 4:30. You’ve got to shave and look presentable. I’ll pick you up at work.”
“No – I’m at home. I’ve been up all night, so I’m sleeping in. Come to my house.”
Rob got up from his bed, dropping his clothes on the already messy floor on his way to the shower. The apartment was littered with used pizza boxes, empty beer bottles and all the other paraphernalia of an overgrown frat boy. But, when he had to, he knew how to clean himself up, and when Brian called for him at exactly 3:30, Rob was cleanly shaven and dressed in pressed brown chinos, a light green Oxford cloth shirt, and a brown sports jacket.
“Nice,” Brian smiled approvingly. “You’ve even combed your hair!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rob waved him off.
“So tell me, what’s up? Found out anything important?” Brian was driving and was waiting to hear.
“OK,” Rob began. “Let’s start with basic biology. The brain is made up of different kinds of cells, primarily neurons, or nerve cells. There are something like a trillion of these, each one connected to tens of thousands of others in a complicated web. These cells do not regenerate as do other cell
s in the body, but we do know that even in a mature adult they can continue to appear. As we get older, hundreds of these cells die every day, but that’s not the problem. What we’re concerned with is the connection between the neurons. The more connections, the greater the activity in the brain. Information is passed in the brain electrically, through these connections. OK so far?”
“Go on,” Brian urged.
“Now, In addition to the activity of the individual neurons, scientists, using functional MRI, have identified certain areas of the brain that are connected to specific functions – sight, hearing, etc. The cortex of the brain, the shell holding the brain together, is where all the complex functions are concentrated – reading, memory, object identification, and so forth. The cortex is divided in two, and each half is further divided into four lobes. Each lobe processes a certain type of information. For instance, one area is responsible for receiving information from the auditory system and translating the information into meaningful sounds; another area is responsible for motor functions, and so on. The associative cortex deals with the processing of abstracts concepts, and scientists still are not sure exactly how it functions.”
“Then there’s the hippocampus, which is connected to memory activities, both short-term and long-term. When this area is impaired, a person can lose his memory. What this means for our purposes, I’m still not sure. What is clear is that these people are working on a number of different areas of the brain. First they send a signal through the auditory system, using the cell-phones, of course. These signals work somehow on the brain to make him change his behavior, and then work on the associative cortex and his short-term memory. It’s the perfect crime!”
“Well, that’s impressive, Rob. Let’s see what the Minister has to say about it,” Brian said. “Another thing, we still need to consult with a neurologist. I met this Chinese doctor last year, who combines Chinese traditional medicine with neurology. I think maybe he could help us. I can get in touch with him after our meeting.”
“Sit, gentlemen,” the Minister smiled. “How can I help you?”
Brian presented the information to Sir Joseph, who listened attentively, his hands folded under his chin. “This is very interesting. I have received related information from another source today about this, if I may call it so, very
dangerous development. My godson, the son of a very good friend of mine, the late Sir Paul Newton, was here this morning. Adam is a partner in the
company called “Control - Experimental Communications.” This is the company that has developed the technology you’ve just told me about. He’s terrified that he’s gotten involved in some very criminal activities, through no fault of his own. The secretary of the company brought two Saudi Arabian men to their offices. These people want to invest a substantial amount in their company, in return for which Adam’s partner Andrew has promised them eleven percent of the company. Adam is afraid that these men might have some connection to terrorist activities. From what I understand, these men, who are from the Bin-Hamdan clan, have connections to the Bin-Laden family.
Adam wasn’t aware until now of the terrible implications of his company’s product. Now he wants out of it, and to get back his original investment of a hundred million pounds. I told him to continue in his daily activities in the company. I want to help him as much as I can – he is my godson, after all.”
Brian shot a look at Rob, signaling to him that he would do the talking. “Sir Joseph, maybe we could talk to Adam, and get first-hand information about the workings of this technology?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Sir Joseph replied. “Adam has no technological or scientific knowledge. He’s the money man of the operation. All the activities of the company are run by his partner Andrew. He’s arranged so all the information is compartmentalized. They’ve got over a hundred programmers in their center in India, all working from home. These guys report to different division managers, none of whom speak to each other, but report only to Andrew. He holds all the strings together and he’s the only one who has a complete picture.”
“So,” Sir Joseph spread his arms to his sides, “How do we continue from here?”
Brian began, “I think you should put surveillance on the Control offices, on
Andrew, the secretary and even on the two Saudis. I’m talking about phones,
cell-phones, computers, all at home and at the office. I’d like a look at Andrew’s computer, so that I can pinpoint the exact location of his division managers and maybe even of some of his programmers. We have to work fast,
before this technology gets into the hands of terrorists. They could wreak havoc on the world!”
“You’ve convinced me,” Sir Joseph pronounced. “I’ll let you have anything my office can provide. I’ll let my people know right away.”
Thanking Sir Joseph and shaking hands, the two men left the Ministry. Sir Joseph picked up the phone to the Security Minister. He asked the Minister to investigate the two Saudis, explaining that it was a matter of the highest urgency. When he had finished with this request, Sir Joseph decided that this was a matter for the Prime Minister. He must inform him immediately, he thought to himself, but the ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts. It was the Security Minister.
“That was quick!” Sir Joseph was amazed.
“Yes, well. It seems these two men are known to us,” the Security Minister began. “Omar Bin-Hamdan is indeed a Saudi sheikh from Riyadh, a close cousin of Osama Bin-Laden. In fact, we think that he is very high up in Al-Qaeda. The other one is not Saudi at all, but in fact a Syrian whose real name is Sayeed Abu-Razik, and a close advisor to the head of Syrian intelligence, Hani Salama. We know he’s been involved in terrorist activities all over the world, under the guise of an attaché to Syrian embassies. Lately, he’s been concentrating his activities on London. Is this at all helpful?”
“Very much so,” Sir Joseph replied. “I’m arranging a meeting with the Prime Minister, and I’d like you to be there as well. We’ll go together to 10 Downing Street.”
Half an hour later, the two Ministers were entering the Prime Minister’s office. Sir Joseph began the meeting by informing the Prime Minister of all that was
known up to that point: Control, the experiments, the two Saudis. The Prime Minister listened attentively. He concluded, “Prime Minister, we must take the threat of an imminent terrorist attack here in London seriously.”
The Prime Minister nodded and began, “I want to inform the President of these developments. We will need to use the American satellites in order to track Control’s activities. In addition, we need to inform the Police Commissioner.” He turned to the Security Minister, “Can you do that, please?”
The Security Minister nodded in compliance and the two Ministers left the Prime Minister’s office.
…..
The President had just hung up the phone. He immediately requested the heads of the CIA and the National Security Agency to meet him urgently. The three agreed that the Israelis should be informed as well. “Let’s remind them that we want all their cards on the table. They’ve kept us in the dark before, and I won’t have it,” the President was firm.
…..
The Israeli Prime Minister called Menahem and Avram into his office. “I’ve just received two phone calls. One from the head of the CIA and one from the British Prime Minister. They’ve found out about Control, through one of the partners. Of course, I didn’t inform them of our surveillance teams. I think we should play this close to the chest. Do you agree?”
Avram nodded his head in agreement, but Menahem spoke up. “Sir, this could harm our relations with Britain. After all, we’re conducting undercover
activities in a friendly country. I think it’s dangerous not to inform the British and the Americans of what we’re doing.”
“Absolutely not!” exploded Avram. “Do you think they tell us everything? We’ve got an advantage here, and we should keep it that way!”
The Prime Mini
ster agreed with Avram. “Let’s keep it to ourselves for a
while,” he summed up. “After all, what we’re after is the technology for ourselves. We have to keep Israel’s interests at the forefront.”
“Israel’s interests?” Menahem growled. “What about the world’s interests? What about the terrorist threats? Do you really think anyone should have access to this technology?”
“Yes, I do,” the Prime Minister replied angrily. “I think it should be ours!”
Frustrated with the Prime Minister and his narrow outlook, Menahem left the office. He decided that he would go talk to Na’ama. But back in his office, he received a call from the Prime Minister.
“Listen, Menahem. I know you’re unhappy with my decision. But please don’t do anything rash. Let’s see where this leads us.”
