Rudolf just smiled, "No problem. Help me a little and I'll show you what an anarchist can do."
By the time Lara returned to the apartment the new couple was fully clothed and sipping coffee. Fatima greeted her, "Lara, Rudolf will stay with us for a few nights. Is it OK with you?"
Lara took another look at her friend, then at the young man, "Sure, Fiona. But you know that we need to leave Bologna soon."
"We still have a few days here, so I'll try to make the most of it." She looked at Rudolf, "Rudi, you'll make these next days unforgettable, I hope." He just smiled shyly and nodded.
During the next few nights, and sometimes in broad daylight, the new couple spent most of their time getting stoned and making love. One night, just as they were falling asleep in a drug induced stupor, Rudolf said, "Fiona, on his death-bed, my father told me an incredible story", and he related the information about the stolen nuke. Fatima couldn't believe what she was hearing. The next morning, she quietly divulged the information to Lara.
Lara said, "We have to inform Le Docteur of this immediately. We must fly to Barcelona and do it in person. I'll book us a flight for this evening. I'll go out to make the travel arrangements and you tell Rudolf that he can stay in our apartment until we return, and make sure that we find him when we return here."
Chapter 4
Le Docteur took a sip of red wine and twisted his mouth in disgust as the liquid touched his taste buds. The acidity of the cheap wine was not up to his standard. He wondered who had bought this bottle, and then recalled that it was Fatima, who had left it in the apartment when she took on the assignment in Bologna. Disgustedly, he poured the wine from his glass and the bottle into the kitchen sink. He sighed in frustration. Here he was after the foiled operation in Tours, waiting impatiently for Lara to return from Bologna. He knew that Fatima would accompany her but had already devised a plan to send her on a new mission and give him some quality time alone with his true love, Lara.
From his apartment he could see Catalunya Square — considered by many as the throbbing heart of Barcelona and the center of major demonstrations, rivaled only by Plaza Sant Jaume. The latter served as the focal point for demonstrations in support of Catalan independence or self-rule, while the former saw the crowds demanding social equality, justice and employment. Catalunya Square also attracted protestors of all kinds: gay-rights advocates, animal-rights groups with some ultra-militant veggies, liberals preaching for better treatment of refugees, political activists, human rights campaigners, and even football fans of whom there was no shortage in Barcelona.
He knew that no one had ever marched around the square demanding that Barcelona, and all of Spain, be returned to the Muslim rule, as it had been just a few hundred years earlier. Cynically, he thought, that this was about to change, thanks to the organization he had founded, NEMESIS. His goal was to avenge the wrongdoings that were carried out by the Christian world against his people, throughout the centuries. The list of his enemies was long: The Crusaders who murdered Muslims and desecrated the holy places in the Holy Land; Colonialists who forcibly subjugated Muslims and enslaved them; Capitalists who plundered the natural resources of the Arabs; Russian communists who murdered Muslim brethren in Chechnya and Chinese communists who persecuted the Uyghur Muslims in west China. His list also included the Jews, who in his view, controlled the United States and the world's economy as well as being responsible for the fate of the Palestinian people. He viewed the State of Israel as the biggest thorn in his side — after all, he held Mossad responsible for the failure of his attempts to acquire an atom bomb and use it against his enemies.
He was awakened from his day-dreaming by the sound of his cellphone. Only Lara had the number of this phone, so he delightedly pressed the 'answer' icon on the screen, without saying a word. The connection was good, and he clearly heard Lara's voice, "Is this Jean Devantier?", she used his new name, and he understood that she was not alone.
He answered in French, "Qui." And then switched to strongly accented English, "This is Devantier." After all, Lara's French was still very poor.
"I am at the airport, waiting for my flight. My colleague is with me. We hope to join you later this evening." She paused before adding, "Perhaps we have some great news, so get ready for a celebration." She hung up.
Le Docteur worried that something odd had happened. Lara, a former F-22 jet-fighter pilot in the US Air Force, would normally wait patiently for their meeting to break the news in private. He wondered what it could be. He decided to go out to the nearby store and buy two of the most expensive bottles of wine and prepare to celebrate whatever Lara's news was.
In the evening, Lara and Fatima arrived at the apartment, and after greeting Fatima with a warm hug and Lara with a deep kiss, Le Docteur opened the first wine bottle, poured three glasses and told the two women to settle down. He looked expectantly at Lara and waited. She took a large gulp of wine, paused dramatically and said, "I think that we have a lead to obtaining a nuclear device." Fatima nodded excitedly but didn't say anything.
Le Docteur was skeptical, "Please elaborate."
"When we were in Bologna, planning the attacks on the twin towers and the basilica, we spent many hours in the cafés and restaurants with the young students. We spoke to several of the men and women, especially those who looked like anarchists and rebels." She meant those who sat for hours in Piazza Verdi, the square on Zamboni Street that seemed to attract the street people. "We came across a few refugees from Syria, immigrants from North Africa, and odd Scandinavians and Germans. Fatima befriended some of the Arabic speaking guys — whose main interest was in her body rather than her politics. We also spent hours speaking about politics with one of the German guys, Rudolf. He was obviously an extreme left-wing radical anarchist — against everything the governments of Western Europe and the United States had done. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely for an anarchist, he was also very critical of the communist regimes of modern-day Russia and China. I am sure that in the US he would be labeled as an anti-social misfit, and probably be sent to jail on some trumped-up charge." She didn't notice the irony of using the President's name in this context. She continued, "However, in Bologna he didn't even stand-out as a weirdo, just as another confused young man."
Le Docteur was getting visibly impatient, "So, what about this guy?"
"He said that he wanted to find a way to punish the conceited Western society. Fatima became very close with him, and one night he told her about an old nuke that his father's uncle had allegedly found. We asked him for more details, but he said that didn't have precise information on its location, only a general area where it was buried. We believe that Rudolf knew more than he told us, and we should try to contact him and find out what else he has."
"Lara, is this a wild-goose chase or do you seriously think that it is worth pursuing?"
Fatima intervened, "This Rudolf guy became a bit delirious when he was stoned and started babbling. This is when he told me about the nuke. I believe that with proper prompting, or perhaps some intensive persuasion, he will tell us all he knows about it." As an afterthought she added, "I would gladly do the prompting."