They explained that the IND is usually made clandestinely by non-government organizations for the sake of producing a nuclear explosion that can cause instant death and damage by radiation, burns, heat and blast overpressure within a radius of several hundred meters, or more, depending on the size, or yield, of the explosion. In addition radioactive fallout would lead to many more casualties who suffer from radiation sickness and may develop cancer which will cause further deaths and disabilities over a period of a few decades. The two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II had demonstrated the lethality even of crude nuclear weapons.
Compared to the effects of an IND, the RDD is not much more than a terrorist weapon that can cause mass disruption rather than mass destruction. In RDD a standard explosive is used to disseminate radioactive materials, usually over quite a small area. The immediate effects due to the conventional explosives are no worse than that of a regular terrorist bomb, but the psychological effects may be disproportionally large, as panic is sure to spread among the public. In addition, decontamination of property may be prohibitively costly, especially if the RDD is detonated in a high value commercial area. They also pointed out that any government that suffered from the effects of an IND or even an RDD would have to react against the perpetrators and do so rapidly to pacify its citizens. An instant response, based on preliminary evidence, might be directed against the wrong culprit and invoke an unbalanced rejoinder which could further escalate to an all out confrontation.
The participants believed that this terse memo would serve as a wake-up call for their governments and agreed to meet again in Vienna two weeks later, hopefully as members of a formally sanctioned task force, with the full support from their respective governments.
David and Orna returned to her apartment — this time David had not even bothered about booking a hotel in Vienna as he knew that he had a much better arrangement for the night in Orna's bed. Although they yearned for each other their lovemaking was performed as a purely physical exercise for relaxation as both of them had other things on their minds. Nevertheless, both of them felt that they were getting closer and that their relationship was well beyond a one night, or two nights, affair.
David set up an urgent meeting with the Deputy Director at the Mossad headquarters. Present at the meeting were several senior people including the heads of the intelligence gathering division and the operations division. David summarized his findings and concluded by saying that he thought that an international task force should be formed with the objective of locating Professor Modena and the clandestine laboratory, if it existed. The division heads were not pleased with the fact that David's actions had exceeded his authority and criticized him for taking unauthorized steps without consulting them. However, Shimony came to his aid and told them that David had acted with his authorization and they should all be grateful for his insights, and should now focus on solving the problems facing them. The mild rebuke did not placate the division heads but they knew that for the sake of the country they should forget their ego and turf wars and join forces.
The head of the intelligence division said that they needed to find out what the intended target of the improvised nuclear device would be and whether it concerned Israel. David pointed out that in order to do that they had to first locate Modena and the people, or organizations that supported his project and knew its objective. The Deputy Director asked if any of the participants had any information regarding the acquisition or construction of unconventional weapons intended for use in major terrorist operations. The only concern raised about this was the capture of Syrian army camps in which chemical weapons were stored by the rebels including Islamic State forces. None of them had heard anything, even rumors, about the existence of an improvised nuclear device or a radiation dispersion device in Syria. Shimony summarized the meeting by saying that he would present the problem to the Mossad chief and to the Prime Minister and ask for their support for the international task force (ITF). He continued by saying that he believed that Mossad should create its own team and not solely rely on the ITF because its operation might be hindered by political considerations. He assigned David to be Israel's representative in the ITF and Gabi Golan from the operations section to head the independent Israeli team.
Ollie was more and more concerned that his finely constructed plot would be exposed. He had two major problems to worry about. First that the laboratory in Padova would be discovered and closed down by the local authorities or by agents of Western countries and the secondly that Andreas and his colleagues would find out that his real target was not to promote the Nationalist and separatist causes but to strike at the heart of Western society and Judeo-Christian civilization in the name of Islam. In either case his plan would fail and be terminated.
He wondered if there was a way to expedite the construction of the device and decided to visit the clandestine laboratory in Padova and see whether Doctor Jay was making headway. He was aware that the special explosives and timing mechanism were on their way from North Korea, disguised as heavy agricultural machinery originating from South Korea. They were due to arrive at the port of Venice the following week. Using the connections with Swiss bankers with a Eurocentric hatred of foreigners provided by Andreas and his Swedish movement, a senior North Korean, Kong Kwak Kim (called by his Swiss bankers simply KKK), with a large account in Zurich was contacted and made an offer he could not refuse of several million dollars for a few hundred kilograms of explosives and a handful of precisely timed fast detonators. KKK even suggested that for a substantial additional fee the explosives could be configured to any shape and size according to blueprints that would be supplied by the anonymous client. The blueprints of Dr. Jay's design were then delivered to KKK, who was glad to receive the additional information and extra money. The North Korean quickly understood that these were to be used in an improvised nuclear device and that only increased his motivation as he expected it to be exploded in a Western European city. He almost suggested that he would halve the price or that he would supply them with double the amount they requested but was afraid that this would show he understood the objective which may put him at risk.
KKK was not a simple greedy North Korean but was in fact a senior operative of the Ministry of State Security — MSS — the primary counterintelligence service in North Korea reporting directly to the First Chairman or Supreme Commander, to mention two of the titles of the Leader of North Korea. KKK, who valued his life and his family's welfare more than the commendable sum of money he was offered by Andreas's associates, reported the tender that had been made and was directed by his supervisors to proceed with the deal. In fact, he was told that the explosives and detonators were supplied from the stocks held by the North Korea Nuclear Program and was also assured that the merchandise was perfectly suitable for its intended use.
Chapter 6
One of the drivers brought the container marked "agriculture machinery" to the clandestine laboratory. Ollie helped Doctor Jay and Professor Modena supervise the downloading of the packages and together they moved them into the closed street level parking garage above the laboratory. With great care they unpacked the shipment and removed the boxes of shaped explosives and the detonators and carried them downstairs into the chamber where Doctor Jay had started making preparations for the construction of the improvised nuclear device. He placed the detonators inside a metal cabinet that had been grounded in order to prevent the build-up of static electricity that might cause the detonation of these sensitive devices. The storage area also had temperature and humidity control.