"Dr. Bakavlev, how can we make sure that it works properly?"
"Only if we refabricate the core. As I said, this is way beyond my own abilities. We would need to find chemists, metallurgists, machinists and other experts, as well as purchase specialized equipment, build a suitable laboratory and get our hands on several other tools that cannot be obtained on the open market. It will be a very difficult task."
"What do you propose?"
"I think that we should take a chance that the pit will deliver a nuclear explosion. We can reconfigure it in a few weeks and everything we need can be obtained, perhaps some of the things illegally, from known sources who will not ask too many questions if the price is right. I am sure that our brothers will help. For example, I know merchants who deal in all kinds of explosives who will even provide us with the shaped charges we need."
"Can you draw the blueprints for these charges and design a triggering mechanism? I understand that it is crucial to have a simultaneous compression of the fissile core, or else the device will fizzle."
" I am ashamed to admit that I had been doing exactly these things for over a decade, working for the Soviet Union. I'll need a little help from you and the girls, and perhaps we'll need to hire a couple of unskilled guys to do the heavy lifting."
"That's no problem. I can easily find a couple of my men who would willingly help."
"I'll need a computer and some pretty common software packages to prepare the blueprints. Meanwhile, you can get us the two men. However, I have one question — what's the target?"
" Dr. Bakavlev, I am not sure. We are considering a few alternatives. We have so many enemies and only one device…"
The Chechen scientist interrupted, "I would love to see the Kremlin and the center of Moscow disappear amidst an atomic mushroom. Even St. Petersburg will do."
"I like your suggestions. It will even be more effective if the Russians discover that the source of the nuclear material is American. This may trigger a major nuclear confrontation between our two most hated enemies. It's a pity we only have one nuke — I would love to see Tel-Aviv washed by a tsunami arising from the Mediterranean Sea. But, dear partner, let's first have an operational device in our hands and then worry about the target."
"I have some contacts with the Chechnian underground in Russia. They can help us deliver the device to either city."
"Dr. Bakavlev, let's inform the girls about our plans."
Chapter 7
David Avivi was restless. The fact that no one claimed responsibility for the terror acts in Bologna and the unexplained events in Tours were on his mind. Unlike many of his colleagues in the intelligence business who became paranoid and cynical after a few years, he still believed that most people were basically good. He always looked at the events that unfolded with a logical approach — 'there's method in the madness' — and that has served him well in the past when unravelling terrorist plots. True, 'the method' he was looking at, was sometimes designed by the warped mind of a psychopath, but in most cases the culprits could be found by applying psychological analysis. Technically, there were quite a few terror organizations and radical movements who claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bologna, but none of these were credible. The fact that the famous landmark, due tori, and the historic anatomical theater were destroyed didn't necessarily point to any specific terror organization, but the defilement of the mural that depicted Mohammad was a clear indication that an Islamic group was responsible. David sighed, the disappearance of his archenemy, Le Docteur, after the events in Mexico, bothered him. Was the arch-terrorist still alive? Has he given up his vicious and dreadful plans to commit mass murder?
The strange events in Tours were even more of a problem — there was some evidence that French right-wing extremists planted the bomb that exploded in the square near the cathedral, but no one was apprehended. He received information from the French internal security service, the DGSI (Direction Generale de la Securite Interieure), that the bomb's design was quite sophisticated, but they had no explanation why it was detonated in the square, causing little real damage. His instincts told him that the original target was the cathedral and the attack was somehow foiled. Who thwarted the attack, and why, remained mysteries? He decided to call his Mossad team and discuss these issues with them.
The members of David's elite team gathered in the conference room. First to enter was Edna Rieger, an energetic woman in her seventies, whom he viewed as a living database. She knew every terrorist act since the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881 until the latest attacks in Europe, America and Afghanistan. A man in his early forties held the door for her and followed closely. He was the representative of the Israeli Security Agency, ISA, known as 'The Fish' in the intelligence community. He knew more than anyone else about the operations of the radical Islamic movements and their ties with international terror organizations. A slim man slipped into the room, almost without being noticed. Joe was the 'human chameleon' — a man with a thousand faces and almost as many names — and no distinctive features, so he was instantly forgotten by anyone who saw him. The last one to enter was a petite dark-skinned woman known by her nickname Mata, due to her resemblance to Mata Hari. Her real name was Miriam Ellani, and she had been involved in many clandestine operations.
David opened, "Thanks for coming here on such short notice. I have no specific task for you. I just wanted to have an open discussion with all of you about the things that concern me and may have implications on our national security." He looked around the table and saw that they were all focused on his words. "Three terrorist attacks were carried out almost simultaneously in Bologna. Two of them targeted symbolic landmarks — the due tori and the anatomical theater. Both represent the achievements of Italian, one might even say European or Western, science and technology. The third attack was on a mural in the Basilica San Petronio, that depicted the Medieval Christian view of heaven and hell. This mural has, or I should say, had, only one distinctive feature that separated it from hundreds of similar murals all over the Christian world — Mohammad was portrayed as being devoured live by a monster in hell."
Edna was the first to speak, "This last item is well within the modus operandi of Islamic terrorist groups. One well known example is the demolition of the two large Buddha statues of Bamiyan, that were built in the 6th Century, before Islam was even created, by the Taliban in 2001. Another more recent case is the destruction of the 2000 years old temples and buildings in Palmyra, Syria by the Islamic State vandals in 2015. These are part of an effort by Islamic radicals to annihilate prominent symbols of other cultures. Those are two examples of obliterating such symbols that were constructed before Islam was founded. They have a strong incentive, as we have seen by the recent acts of NEMESIS in Paris, to destroy and obliterate anything that is not Islamic. I am not sure which organization is responsible for the attacks in Bologna — but I would focus on radical Islam. I believe that the other two acts were both for revenge and diversion."
All the participants nodded their approval. 'The Fish' said, "These acts are way above the level of Palestinian terror organizations. They focus on Israeli targets, or sometimes on countries which support Israel. Italy's current administration is not a great ally of Israel, although they do not like Muslim refugees and immigrants, as they have shown by their attempts to turn away the boats that carry the refugees from Africa before embarking on Italian soil. I think that the terrorist acts were carried out by an international Islamic movement, like NEMESIS, ISIS or Al Qaeda."