Kill Them Wherever You Find Them (19 page)

In point of fact his entire life from this
point on could reasonably be made into a serious study as there was
no way now to know if this experience would become an issue when he
returned to the United States - knowing his direct impact on lives
and events there. Going back to his family, and any stresses that
were bound to come into his life may be further complicated by this
experience. His deep faith in God, family, church and country could
not completely insulate him from the events of today.

As Jeff made his toast in their group
celebration - similar champagne flutes and toasts being raised in
the other two facilities as well - she noticed Avi smiling jovially
while at the same time the hand unburdened with a glass remained at
his side in a clench so tight that the observable knuckles were
white.

In a day or two Rachael would be home with
her family. That would give her the physical and emotional distance
to consider her observations and instincts concerning No'am and Avi
logically, deciding what the next steps, were any even required,
should be.

Her thoughts were cut short by an impromptu
singing by the group of HaTikva. All but Jeff sang, he
understandably wouldn't know the words. She would translate the
song for him sometime later. Tears of joy, of remembrance, even a
touch of sadness seemed to settle on all of the assembled during
the heart-rending song. All but Avi and No'am seemed moved.
Nonetheless they sang too.

Within six hours she was once again in a
modified shayroot, whisked home in the circuitous route that she
had come to expect. Point of fact, Rachael had grown so accustomed
to her shayroot rides that she had come to enjoy them. She saw them
as her personal hour or so vacation between work and home.

~ ~ ~

Avi had mixed emotions over this initial
success of
The Project
. As an Israeli, certainly he loved
his country. As a Jew he loved his people and was aware of the
ever-present threat against their very existence from several
fronts. Not least among them being the growing nuclear threat out
of Iran. He also felt a dread and fear for Mona's mother. He knew
that this success of
The Project
almost certainly would be
motive for her captors to kill her.

Mona's father was released, now living in
hiding somewhere in the United States. Her mother was kept back as
a guarantee that he would somehow either slow down
The
Project
long enough for Iran to sabotage it, copy it for their
own use, or smuggle out all of the intelligence that Israel had on
the plans of Iran and its confederates. Avi knew he ultimately
failed.

He thought back to his most recent visit with
her during their vacation to Estonia, the ancestral home of his
mother's family. Avi knew that his association with Ashkelon would
make him subject to considerable counter-espionage efforts by the
Israeli government, always taking measures to assure he was neither
followed, nor monitored electronically. Arriving at the lat-long
coordinates where they planned to meet, Mona surprised him when she
walked into the clearing with two men flanking her. So lost in his
thoughts, he did not register the footsteps of three different
people until they were in sight.

If those bastards threatened her in
any
way, he would rip them apart with his bare hands.

Mona took the lead in what was instantly a
tense situation. She succinctly explained their presence. One was
the driver of the taxi she hailed, the other got into the cab as it
came to a stop at a four-way intersection.

With no attempt at concealment the leather
jacket of the
cab driver
was already unzipped, displaying
lethal hardware. Avi's trained eye instantly recognized the 9mm
Beretta 92 series of semiautomatic pistols. There was no silencer.
Given the density of the wooded area no silencer would have been
required. With a total of only 45,228 square kilometers, Estonia
still had plenty of wilderness areas where one could get lost for
days and never see another human. They were in one of those vast
areas now.

To make matters worse, Avi had managed to map
out the scan zones and schedules of all overhead satellites to
guarantee they were being observed neither from the ground nor from
space. This area was, in fact, only scanned a couple of times a
month. Sandwiched between Russia and Latvia, Estonia's neighbor to
the north was constantly monitored from the air by Israel.

Given his senior position in the military,
acquiring the satellite coverage and schedule of this part of
Estonia was done easily, without arousing any suspicions.
Additionally, to assure absolute anonymity, he did so using the
computer of another person who had foolishly left her station for a
break without logging out of the system. Nobody saw him and the
security camera was, he made sure, briefly down for maintenance.
Were they to be killed in this vast forest nobody would know for a
long time to come, if ever.

Avi had no doubt the other man was equally
well armed. Against one of them alone he might have a chance to
overcome by force if needed. Any attempt at taking on both, each
having weapons, would be a fool's errand.

He, of course, had his own weapon. He didn't
feel the need to show his "hand" quite yet, as she didn't seem to
be under physical duress or in any immediate mortal danger. More
important was the fact that if they had intended to kill Mona and
him, they would not have walked right up to them. He missed his
days as a soldier in hostile areas. The small pistol he had in an
ankle holster was nothing compared to the Israeli-produced "Tavor"
which he was issued during a stint with the Givati infantry brigade
for close range, anti-terrorist training.

The best he could do was to remain cool,
maintain direct eye contact with the man who appeared to be the
senior of the two, saying nothing – forcing the senior man to speak
first.

"Names are not required, so we may dispense
with pointless introductions." the apparent senior man commenced,
"We know your name and that is enough. Our leaders are concerned
that you are not taking seriously what will happen to the mother of
Mona if the experiment you call
The Project
is allowed to
proceed on schedule." Disconcertingly, he spoke using perfect
Hebrew. Avi was unable to hide his initial shock and disgust,
though he regained his composure instantly.

"We feel it best to give you a little
demonstration." His associate held up a small computer tablet,
touched a couple of icons, initiating a video that filled the
screen. A woman shrieking and then sobbing, was led – dragged -
into a nondescript room with nothing but a steel gray metal
table.

Behind her was a blank concrete wall with
dark stains starting higher in groupings, moving lower down
individual streaks. What appeared to be pocked marks in the wall,
gave rise to the fact that this room was used for executions not
intended for public viewing.

Terror filled the woman's wide, bloodshot and
tear-filled eyes. Mucus was beginning to form just under her nose
as she cried, her breathing labored and convulsive. Her dark hair
was tangled while appearing to be wet, with sweat forming on her
forehead and neck, collecting in beads on her eyebrows.

For brief, intermittent moments, she looked
dazed and disoriented. Dragged into the room, standing behind the
table, she nearly collapsed but was held semi-erect by two men on
either side. Turning her head around slightly as she gulped shallow
breaths of air, she caught a glimpse of the stained wall, stared at
it for a few brief seconds, and let out another shriek. She lost
consciousness, head banging loudly on the table. The men picked her
up, slapped her face hard once, then again, until she gained enough
awareness to resume whimpering.

Witnessing this Mona screamed as soon as she
recognized her mother. The senior man told her to shut up and watch
the screen.

The video continued with men speaking in
Farsi, Hebrew subtitles appearing below the video frame. It was
clear that this wasn't a live feed.

The man at her left side read aloud her death
sentence from a written script: "You are condemned for crimes
against the state as being a subversive, a Zionist, treason, and
attempted theft. The punishment for theft, in this case trying to
steal away the hearts and minds of the Muslim faithful, is the
severing of one of your hands that all may know you are a thief.
Because you are a self-avowed Zionist, your crime includes the
aiding and abetting of the theft of land that never belonged to the
Jews, land that they ripped away from the rightful owners."

Judgment being passed, her arm was slammed on
the table by the man who read her crimes. Mona again screamed,
turning her face from the monitor. The man closest to her grabbed a
fist full of her hair, forcing her view back to the screen.

Avi went beet red as he moved toward the man
holding Mona but was stopped in his tracks when the senior of the
men pulled his weapon, directing it straight at Mona's head. All of
this seemed to have transpired in no more than three seconds.

Everyone's attention fully turned back to the
screen as they saw a third man step forward, sword in hand. Mona's
mother screamed, pleading for mercy. Without hesitation, or even
requiring time to take aim, the sword sliced through the air
severing her hand from her arm just above her wrist. The cut hand
went limp as did her mother, tumbling unconscious to the floor.

A woman dressed in black from head-to-toe
entered the room and dragged Mona's mother out of view. The two men
followed her without any further comment.

The senior man turned off the video. Speaking
in a very calm, ice-cold voice, "If
The Project
is allowed
to go forward and succeed, her head will be the next part to take
leave of her body. You are not the only person in
The
Project
with whom we are in contact, but you are the most
senior military official. We are counting on you to find a way to
either stop it altogether or, at the very least, stall the results
for several months to give us time to implement measures of our own
to assure
The Project
is not allowed to go any further."

As this memory played in his mind, the group
around him sang joyfully the national anthem. Avi joined in, a
smile forced on his face. All he could think about as he sang was
the terror her mother must feel once she realized that, after she
was led into another room, this time she was to be beheaded. Was
she already dead? How could he ever face Mona again? What could he
possibly say by way of consolation?

Lt. General Ashkelon was an astute student of
humanity. Always aware of his environment even when focused on a
single individual or task, he knew when things were not as they
ought to be.

A couple of years ago, Ashkelon gave up
trying to introduce Avi to women he thought would make him a happy
husband and proud father. There was no doubt that he was attracted
to women, not men, there was also no doubt that he preferred to
keep his personal life played close to the vest. There were days,
even weeks, when Avi seemed to be floating on air. Though
tight-lipped, the General knew that somewhere, somehow, a mystery
woman had to be involved. Though how and when was a mystery as
counter-intelligence never reported him as seeing any one woman
consistently. What they didn't know was that Avi went on 'dates'
with various women frequently to divert any suspicion.

So it was today that Avi seemed unusually
on-edge, even snapping at one of the technicians for no apparent
reason. Though he apologized profusely this was completely out of
character for the young man.

Lt. Gen. Dan Ashkelon remembered his first
meeting with Avi, years back in the office of Captain Isabella
Aharonson when he had visited her with Isabella's daughter,
Shoshanna.

Though he did not speak with him at that
time, Ashkelon sized him up rather speedily and accurately. His
ongoing friendship with Shoshanna and later recommendation by
Isabella came as no surprise. There was something about this young
man that made him stand out.

Knowing him for quite some time now, the
General was concerned about his behavior and attitude throughout
this otherwise momentous day. On the way back to Jerusalem, he
decided it best to confront Avi directly, without preamble. Small
talk wasn't part of his personal repartee.

"This is a day for the history books, nachon
Avi?"

"Nachon sir. Pity it will never be recorded
as such. Come to think of it I wonder how much value our history
books will have from this moment forward."

"Tell me your view of the outcome of the
Experiment."

"Well sir I'm a soldier, not a philosopher. I
suppose from my perspective, then, the Experiment conducted today
assures the State of what could easily be defined as the single
most important and valuable tool – weapon, if you will – on the
planet. We have made all other weapons obsolete now that we can
erase from human memory the scientists who have, or will, develop
weapons against us and our allies. Again, there are far-reaching
issues, obviously, that go well beyond military applications. Once
what we have done reaches the ears of some of the more dovish
members of the Knesset, I'm sure legislation and multiple layers of
oversight will be slapped on us so quickly our heads will spin.
I'll be glad to leave those conversations to senior officers,
rabbis, and politicians."

"Well spoken. I share your enthusiasm as well
as concerns – and quite a number more I might add. On the whole,
the Experiment went off without a hitch. It looks like the outcome
will match, if not exceed, our expectations."

"I couldn't agree more."

"Then I have to ask, Avi, what has had you so
down and apparently upset? Tension before Stauffenberg
landed
I could well understand, we all felt it. Yet after an
incredibly successful operation you seemed to nearly be upset by
the outcome?"