Ben Brunson
Esther's Sling
To Robert Brunson, my father and inspiration
Prelude
“It is the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel from the map of the region.”
“We declare explicitly that we will not be satisfied with anything less than the complete obliteration of the Zionist regime from the political map of the world.”
“With God's help, the countdown button for the destruction of the Zionist regime has been pushed by the hands of the children of Lebanon and Palestine. By God's will, we will witness the destruction of this regime in the near future.”
“Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the Jews, people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler by means of all the things he did to them — even though they exaggerated this issue — he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hands of the believers.”
“The Zionist regime wants to establish its base upon the ruins of the civilizations of the region. The uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 'Death to Israel.'”
“See what has become of Israel. They gathered the most criminal people in the world and stationed them in our region with lies and fabricated scenarios. They waged wars, committed massive aggression and made millions of people homeless. Today, it is clear that Israel is the most hated regime in the world. It is not useful for its masters anymore. They are in doubt now. They wonder whether to continue spending money on this regime or not. But whether they want it or not, with God's grace, this regime will be annihilated and Palestinians and other regional nations will be rid of its bad omen.”
“I am telling you that a new and greater Middle East will be established without the existence of the U.S. and the Zionist regime.”
“Zionists, who have no faith in religion or even God, now claim piety and intend to take away the Islamic identity of the Holy Quds. This ridiculous move is in fact the continuation of the colonialist polices of oppressors, which will not save the Zionist regime, but also take the regime closer to the endpoint of its existence.”
“The Iranian nation is standing for its cause and that is the full annihilation of Israel.”
Part I
Decisions
1 — Seeds
If war is hell, then covert war is purgatory. Or so thought Amit Margolis as he waited in room 901 of the Ramada Pudong Airport Hotel just outside Shanghai, China. For over a year he had been wheeling and dealing as a businessman based in Moscow, fully embracing the free spending style of connected capitalism that infused life into the capital of the Russian Federation. Brains and knowledge helped, but success was really correlated to the degrees of separation between your circle of friends and the center of power. And the power center around which everyone with aspirations orbited was clear to alclass="underline" Vladimir Putin.
Margolis was not sure if his nineteen months of investment would have a satisfactory ending. Today he would find out. Success meant that the nation he served would be a little safer tomorrow and he could think about going home. Failure meant that he would have to rethink his approach to his work and maybe, if his managers willed it, start over on a process that could keep him away from home for another year or longer. He picked up the morning’s issue of Shanghai Daily, a business newspaper published in English.
The date was Thursday, September 28, 2006. Outside, summer continued its grip on the weather. The forecast high was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Through his window, Amit could see the early formation of dark clouds that would bring afternoon rain. He was happy to be stuck inside this day, even if the reason was nerve racking. He was eager to turn his mind to any subject other than the pending knock on his door that, if it came, would be the first sign that today would bring a happy outcome. As he read the lead story about the dismissal of a previously high-flying Communist Party leader in Shanghai, Amit looked at his watch. It was almost one in the afternoon.
At that moment, Mikhail Gordienko stepped out of the back seat of a taxi and onto the curb in front of the Ramada lobby entrance. The taxi had picked him up an hour earlier at the headquarters of the Semiconductor Materials International Company, known simply as SMIC in the world of integrated microprocessor chip design and manufacture.
Gordienko, the 45-year-old Director General of Phase Technologies Corporation, a company based in Moscow, had flown to Shanghai the day before to take delivery of 120 integrated circuits designed by his company and fabricated by SMIC, one of the world’s most advanced chip foundries. His job now was to transport this valuable cargo back to Moscow and he had about four hours to kill before he would board a nonstop flight home. Six weeks earlier, five engineering chips — the prototypes of the chips now in Gordienko’s possession — had been delivered to the test lab of Phase Technologies in Moscow by Federal Express. They were put through a series of tests, each chip performing exactly as designed. But only Gordienko knew that SMIC had shipped only three chips for testing, not five.
The Russian executive was in his room on the seventh floor of the Ramada within a couple of minutes. His overnight bag was already packed as he took one last look around. He paused in the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. This was his last opportunity to back out of the bargain he had struck months earlier. This was the point when second thoughts were supposed to play on one’s conscience, challenging concepts of integrity and duty. He wondered how his life would be different tomorrow. But as he pondered these questions, the face that looked back at him in the mirror was not his own. He could only see the face of his younger brother Yuri. The brother he had taught to curve a soccer ball with both feet. The brother he had tutored in math. The brother who came to his defense when a high school bully demanded Mikhail’s money.