CHAPTER 33
Isaac Lebovitz sat quietly in his dingy office and stared at the government clock that he took with him when he left Hungarian Intelligence. He knew it was a useless State product that had only about a fifty percent chance of being on time, but it reminded him of all the time he had spent surveying Western targets. Who cares? In no time, only Swiss clocks would let him know that he didn't really have to be anywhere special at any special time. Besides, the warm San Remo beaches of the Italian Riviera would remain faithful to his tardy ways.
He sifted through page after page of economic reports that Dalton had provided him. Some were marked NATO Restricted by the U.S. Commerce Department. That brought a special smile from Isaac.
Vitaly Urbanic walked in unannounced and took a seat on the other side of Isaac's desk.
"Is everything coming together?" Isaac asked. He felt guilty not telling Vitaly everything about his plan. He was convinced that the less Vitaly knew about certain aspects of the operation the better off he'd be in the long run.
"Yes, sir."
"I expect nothing less from you," Isaac complimented.
Vitaly shifted in his chair. "I'm a bit confused. I don't understand how we can produce and market this computer without the help of our government?"
Isaac smiled as he rose from his chair. "Vitaly, Vitaly, you're still thinking like a Communist." He patted his old friend on the shoulder. "Think like a Capitalist. I realize that you haven't had as much exposure to the West as I, but get away from the old thinking. Or back to the older thinking."
He loomed over Vitaly as a teacher scolding his pupil. "You were too young to remember anything prior to World War II. As a young boy my father told me stories of how great the Austro-Hungarian Empire was. We had a strong navy. Great wealth. World esteem. Power. Now look at us. A dog that slobbers for table scraps from Russians. But change is moving forward swiftly. Soon we will be strong again. Soon the Russians will be begging us for food, and we shall be powerful like our European cousins. The time for action is now. We'll make mistakes, stumble as a child does when he first learns to walk, but eventually we will stand tall and walk…run with the other economic powers. With or without our government."
Isaac drifted slowly to his chair and sat down behind his desk. His breathing and heart rate had increased. He tapped the side of his head with his index finger.
"How will we make this work?" Vitaly asked.
"Smooooothly." Isaac quipped, finally smiling.
"But…"
"Are you worried about the technical support?" Isaac asked.
"Yes. But also the marketing arrangement."
"It's a risk. I admit it," Isaac said. "But every great entrepreneur has to take risks. It's the nature of the game. Technical support will be no problem. Dalton has given us nearly everything we need to produce his chip. I'm waiting for the last piece of information from him and we'll be set to start producing the chips in Germany. We'll have the leading edge of our network ready to exploit the European Community's single market. In less than six months, we'll produce the computers and chips here as well. And then six months later in Prague. You see, we're nearly ready."
"And the German technology?"
Isaac hesitated. "Rudolf assures me that his technicians can handle the transputer conversion."
"Is Rudolf loyal?"
Isaac laughed. "Of course. He's family. Married to my niece. She's quite good looking. Our family network is important, Vitaly. We've had nothing else for the past fifty years."
"But I thought we still needed the remainder of the transputer relay schematics?"
"That's true. In fact, that's why you're here. The American will be in Germany soon. I need you to take the rest of your men to Bonn and confront him. You explain to him that we had a deal with his man, Johnson." Isaac's eyes became wide and his voice deepened. "Don't take no for an answer. He'll have access to the German technology we need."
Vitaly shifted nervously in his chair. Isaac knew that this was the first time since leaving Hungarian Intelligence he had asked his good friend to go beyond the normal means of persuasion. Yet, he also knew that he would never ask his top man to do something he himself was not willing to do.
"What if the American is stronger than we think?" Vitaly asked, knowing the answer already.
Isaac hesitated. He tapped his finger against his temple and stared directly at Vitaly. "Take all of your best men," Isaac said. "We need this information now. If the American hands over the last of the chip technology to Bundenbach Electronics, they could reach the market much sooner than us. We could still produce a quality product much cheaper, but we can't afford that kind of competition. Bundenbach has massive resources compared to us. So then you must do two things, Vitaly. Get the German technology, and stop the American from turning over his information."
Vitaly nodded. "Yes, sir." He got up from his chair and slowly walked out of the room.
Isaac slid his front desk drawer open. Inside, a beautiful postcard of the Italian Riviera lay among a pile of stark white papers. He picked up the card, brought it to his lips, and kissed it gently. Bright red, yellow and green sailboats were moored in the San Remo harbor. The sun shone brightly. Colorful flowers canvassed the foreground. And Isaac saw himself bend over to take a deep whiff. He closed his eyes and smiled.
CHAPTER 34
Toni paced from the refrigerator to the sink and stood with her hand on the faucet not remembering why she was even in the kitchen. She noticed her hand tremble.
Kurt came into the kitchen from the living room. "I guess I'll get my own beer, Toni, but thanks for offering anyway," he said, pulling a liter bottle of Peroni from her refrigerator.
"I'm sorry, Kurt. I guess I'm drifting off a bit tonight," Toni said. She stroked her long fingers through her thick black hair.
Kurt opened the bottle and took a slow gulp. "Jake should be back any minute."
Toni knew that Kurt was trying to play down the fact that Jake was later than they had planned.
"He should have been here two hours ago," she said. "This is really rare for Jake. When he says he's going to be someplace at a certain time, he's there dammit. I can't remember him being more than a few minutes late for any occasion."
Kurt took another sip. "Maybe so. But an aircraft carrier can take your breath away and make you lose track of time."
"That wouldn't matter," she said, and then walked into the living room.
Kurt was right behind her. "I don't understand what the problem is. I'm sure everything is all right."
Toni peered through the decorative sheers of the window overlooking the courtyard. A new dusk had darkened the garden greenery into one melded mass. She pulled the nylon cord next to the window and lowered the rolladen all the way to the bottom, and then turned toward Kurt. "Is everything all right? We have four people dead, at least one person with the U.S. Customs office transferring restricted technology to another country, and who knows what else. Jake has a similar technology transfer in Germany by the same company, at least one person dead, and a former German Intelligence agent and his men trying to shoot Jake full of holes. Other than that, everything is just fine."
Kurt plopped into the plush living room chair and took another long sip of beer. It was obvious to Toni that Kurt's long day watching Dalton had taken its toll on him.
Toni turned her head quickly with the sound of a key in the door lock.
Jake entered slowly and quietly closed the door behind him. He looked over at Toni next to the window, and then to Kurt sitting in the chair. "It's like a fuckin' morgue in here," Jake said. "Who died?"