David asked the million-dollar question, "Are these attacks connected to Israel's interests and security?"
Once again, Edna was the first to speak, "If Islamic organizations are involved, then sooner or later the repercussions will concern us."
David saw that everyone else seemed to agree. "So, what should we do about this? Should we play an active part and offer our help to the Italians and French security organizations?"
They unanimously agreed that Mossad should assist the Europeans. David summarized, "I'll speak to the Mossad Chief."
He called Haim Shimony and told him about the meeting. The Mossad Chief wanted to keep a low profile, "David, this must be an unofficial project, between the intelligence organizations, without official foreign office and government involvement. I'll send a directive to the administration to open a special budget for this." Then, as an afterthought he added, "Why don't you contact your friend at the NNSA?" He was referring to Dr. Eugene Powers, a high-ranking official in the US National Nuclear Security Administration, with whom David Avivi had worked in the past on cases that involved nuclear terrorism.
David answered, "I'll gladly discuss the issue with Eugene, although I doubt that there is anything related to nuclear terrorism."
Dr. Eugene Powers was glad to hear from his old friend. "David, it's been a long time. What are you guys up to?"
David answered cautiously, "Chasing the bad guys all over the globe, as usual."
Eugene laughed, "There are strong rumors that you not only chase them but also catch some, and then they suffer mysterious accidents."
"You know, Mossad is tired of accepting the blame, or taking the credit, for any misfortune which befalls terrorists across the globe. Their dangerous occupation makes them accident prone, so their mortality-rate is above average, and their life-expectancy is lower than that of their colleagues who work as accountants in air-conditioned offices."
Both men recognized this understatement for what it was, and the secure line was silent for a moment. Then Eugene said, "I'm going to tell you something that may not be related to your current project, and you didn't hear this from me. About 30 years ago, we discovered that one of our small nukes was missing. It was last seen in an army base near Coburg, in Germany…"
David interrupted, "What do you mean 'a small nuke?"
Eugene didn't like the interruption, "Let me finish, and then I'll answer that. It appears that it must have been stolen in the late-1970s, at the time the Baader-Meinhof gang was active in Germany, as well as in other places in Europe. The theft was discovered only when the US army closed the base, after the unification of West and East Germany. Because the theft was discovered after such a long time, there are no details of the theft. The general who was the base-commander and the officer in charge of security were court-martialed quietly. The whole incident and the trial were kept secret. The only reason I am telling you about this is because the nuke may still be on European soil."
"Once again, what's 'a small nuke'? Nukes are like poisonous animals — even a small scorpion or spider can kill a grown-up adult."
"Sorry, compared to the megaton-nukes we now have it was small, but could still easily wipe out a small town or a few city blocks. Specifically, it was an artillery shell with a 14-kiloton fission device that was designed to be fired from a 280-mm cannon. It was intended for use as a tactical weapon — to stop an invasion of Soviet ground forces and tanks."
"Eugene, is it like the legendary 'suitcase bombs' that the Soviets developed, and supposedly 'misplaced' a dozen of them?"
Eugene laughed quietly, "These 'suitcase bombs' were supposed to weigh about 30 kg and could be, according to the legend, packed inside a standard 30" suitcase. No, we are talking about something that actually existed, or perhaps still exists, that weighs about 350 kg. It is much too large to be carried around in a suitcase but could fit into the trunk of a compact car and be driven into any city without raising suspicion."
David concluded the conversation by thanking Eugene and promising to be in touch if anything came up. Eugene wrote a report of the phone-call, and sent a memo to the Secretary of Energy, saying that he hoped Mossad would be able to track the missing nuke, and succeed where the US intelligence agencies had failed miserably. He knew the risk he was taking — if Mossad found the nuke his boss would accept the credit, but if Mossad failed then he may be put on trial for treason and the unauthorized disclosure of classified information.
David Avivi was ushered into the small conference room that served the AISI, the Italian internal information and security agency, for holding unofficial meetings. The head of AISI, General Benito Benini, known by his nicknames Double Ben, or Benben, rose to greet him. "It is an honor to receive assistance from the man who almost single-handedly foiled some of the most dangerous acts by nuclear terrorists. Do you think that the recent attacks in Bologna are related to nuclear terror?"
David was surprised that the general was so direct. He had expected the usual footsy games, "General Benini, we have no proof that those attacks were anything more than meets the eye. The only thing that raises an alarm is the desecration of the mural depicting Mohammad being devoured by a monster in hell. If a sophisticated, Islamic terrorist organization, used these attacks to create a diversion and score some points with the radical believers, then they may be preparing a more serious attack. As you know, in the past, Islamic terrorists have tried to manufacture their own atom bomb on Italian soil, in Padova, not far from Bologna. They have also tried to steal irradiated nuclear fuel and make a nuclear bomb in Germany. They obtained two suitcase bombs from Pakistani collaborators and in another case, a bomb from North Korea. They even used nuclear fuel from an old Russian icebreaker ship to manufacture an atom bomb and detonate it in the center of London. Not to mention the ongoing efforts of the Iranian regime to manufacture their own nuclear weapons and the rockets to deliver them to any major city in Europe. We believe that the combination of Islamic terror and nuclear weapons is bad news for the world, not just Israel, so we take extra precautions whenever we suspect that there may be a connection between the two."
"As far as we know, there is no evidence that nuclear materials were involved in the attacks in Bologna. There are no nuclear facilities in the area, and no work with significant quantities of fissile materials anywhere in Italy."
David responded, "I am not trying to imply that Italy is the target, only that this could be an indication that an Islamic terrorist organization is active here in Italy. It could be a new organization or one of the gangs we already know about — Al Qaeda, Islamic State or NEMESIS, to mention three of the more active ones. This could be like cancer — a few small, aggressive cells can spread the disease throughout the entire body."
"You know that it is not politically correct to compare people to cancer." He saw David blush, and added, "Don't worry about being PC with me. You know that Italy does not like serving as the stepping stone for African and Arab refugees on their way to the prosperous countries of northern Europe. Our government's policy is to discourage them from setting foot on Italian soil, not to mention settling in Italy. If you can prove that these terror acts were carried out by Muslims then we can justify taking strong measures, perhaps considered by some as inhumane measures, to prevent their ingress onto Italian soil."
This was much more than David intended. He wanted to take no part in Italian politics, "General, I am only looking for a terrorist cell that may be Islamic and may be trying to acquire nuclear materials. I would be grateful if your people would help me follow the tracks of the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks in Bologna and see where they lead."