In the evening Gabi arrived in Padova and gathered the team for debriefing. The feedback he got was discouraging as there was no positive evidence of the lab or the wanted people. Gabi said he would contact the Deputy Director and ask for further instructions and then decide whether to fold and return home or to continue the search. He told his team to take the evening off and meet again in the morning.
As instructed by the Mossad director, David briefed the members of the international task force and told them that Mossad had found evidence that Professor Modena may be in Padova. He did not tell them about the Mossad team that had come up empty handed and had been recalled from Padova. The members of the task force were deeply disturbed by the news. They all knew that northern Italy was a stronghold of several separatist political movements and political parties in the Veneto region and although they were not inherently racist they may have formed an alliance with other militant European movements. David suggested that they contact Umberto Scalopini, the head of the Italian Internal Security Agency, who was known for his uncompromising war on corruption and whose life had been threatened several times because of his stand on that issue. Thomas, the British former MI6 employee, said that he was a personal acquaintance of Umberto and that he could be trusted, so David asked him to arrange an unofficial meeting as soon as possible.
Professor Modena welcomed his workers back and asked them if they had enjoyed their vacation. He was pleased to see that they had all returned and seemed to be invigorated by their time off the job. He told them that they had almost accomplished the goal of producing 15 kg of U-233 and that he estimated that working three full shifts, without any setbacks, they would have enough material within 5 or 6 weeks.
In a private conversation Dr. Jay informed Modena that the mock-up model he had constructed was ready for insertion of the real core of fissile material once that was made available. He also said that the practice run with natural uranium increased his confidence in their ability to quickly construct the real fissile core. The only problem was that there was quite a high uncertainty about the U-232 content because each batch had a slightly different concentration. In addition the analytical methods used to determine the true U-232 content were inaccurate and could result in an underestimate by a factor of two. The practical implication was that the yield of the device would be uncertain. Professor Modena assured Jay that he thought that it would never be tested as the plan was to use the device for blackmailing the governments and all they needed was to convince the official representatives that it existed, was the real thing and that they had the intent and determination to use it if their demands were not met.
Dr. Jay agreed with the professor but said that his sense of professional pride would not accept a failure if for some reason the device was to be used. Jay then looked at the professor and noticed that he had lost some weight and his face was quite pallid, but when he asked him if he was feeling well the professor just grunted that he was fine and probably did not get as much time in the sun as he had been used to in Barcelona.
The meeting between Umberto Scalopini and the two members of the ITF had finally been arranged. Scalopini's busy formal schedule had made it difficult to set an earlier date for a discrete, off the record meeting. So they agreed to meet in his villa near Artena that was about one hour's drive from Rome city center. Colin Thomas made the introductions and David then briefly described the information they had about the missing gamma radiation sources, about Professor Modena's rejected manuscript and his disappearance from Barcelona and finally about Dr. Smalley and his unknown whereabouts. He told Umberto that there was some evidence that Modena was in the Padova area and may have set up a clandestine laboratory for production of fissile U-233. He also told Umberto that expert scientists in the US and in Russia could not rule out the possibility of constructing a nuclear device from U-233 produced by gamma irradiation. David added that the task force had discussed the possibility of going public and requesting help in finding Modena and Smalley but were afraid that such an act would drive them into deeper cover. Finally he asked the Italian what he thought about the whole affair and what his recommendation would be.
Scalopini said that he was shocked by the story and needed some time to digest it before proposing further action. After some thought, he said that he had formed a counter-corruption elite police unit that had the same training as the most advanced special forces in NATO countries and they were the first line intervention force deployed in the most dangerous situations. He asked their permission to call in the unit's commander, Piero Adriano, and consult with him. David and Thomas were not too happy about bringing in another person and suggested that they make up a cover story about a radiation dispersion device rather than disclosing their suspicion that they were dealing with an improvised nuclear device. However, Umberto insisted that he could vouch for the commander and that he would perform better if he knew exactly what was at stake. In order not to alienate Umberto they agreed so Adriano was asked to come over to Artena as quickly as possible. Adriano told him that he was spending the week-end north of the city and that it would take him two hours to get there. Umberto told him to hurry and suggested to David and Thomas that they go and have dinner while waiting for Adriano to arrive. The three of them drove to a local restaurant and had a fine Italian dinner, but refrained from ordering veal scaloppini in order not to mock Umberto about his unusual last name.
By the time Piero arrived they were having coffee and he joined them for dessert. They did not want to discuss the matter in the restaurant although they were the last diners there so they returned to Umberto's villa. Piero received the news without any outward reaction but when he started talking the strain in his voice revealed that he too was distressed by the implications of a nuclear device in Padova, especially if an accident were to occur. He said that he would move his unit to the north, discretely enlist all the informers he had in the area giving them a cover story about a "dirty bomb" manufactured by a "mad professor" but would not try to ask the local authorities for help as he did not trust them not to leak the story to the press. He asked for photographs of Modena and Smalley so that his informers would know who to look for. He also requested as much technical detail as possible about the laboratory facilities required and if special large items of equipment were required.
Andreas was starting to feel uneasy about Ollie's dedication, as he had avoided participating in street brawls and had not attended the meetings of the movement. He suspected that Ollie's fervor was fading and that he was too preoccupied with the work in Padova. Andreas noticed that Ollie even neglected Agda, or so he had been told by her twin sister, Alva, and kept pretty much to himself. He summoned Ollie but was told that he was busy and could not come over until the next day. Andreas was not used to being refused and called upon Agda to find out what Ollie was going through. Agda said that it had been quite a while since she had spent time with Ollie and had no idea about his life in general and love life in particular. This disturbed Andreas even further and when Ollie arrived the next day he told him about his concerns with Ollie's wellbeing.