The proprietor saw the pretty dark-skinned woman. Her excitement made her face turn red and her disproportionately ample bosom was rising and falling with each deep breath she took, exposing a fair amount of cleavage. He said, "Fraulein, can I be of help?" totally ignoring the man who was with her.
Joe said, "Frau Schmidt, not Fraulein. She is my wife and doesn't believe that I can raise the motor from the old Volkswagen and replace it with the help of my two brothers. Tell her that we can easily improvise a lifting apparatus, with a little German engineering ingenuity." He appeared as if he was having trouble restraining his right hand from giving a Nazi salute.
The proprietor regarded him with disapproval. He pointed to an item in a colorful catalogue, "It is German engineering ingenuity that invented this portable winch. With it, even a little boy can raise a car engine." He purposely used the term 'little boy' in a derogatory fashion to show what he thought about Herr Schmidt.
Mata smiled at him, and said to Joe, "You see, the good man knows what he's talking about." She then leaned toward the proprietor, making sure that he got a good view of her breasts, "Do you have this wonderful winch in stock?"
The proprietor sadly shook his head, "No, Frau Schmidt, but I can order it and have it here within 24-hours." When he saw the skeptical looks that the couple gave him, he added, "Just a week ago, I had a customer who ordered this very same item and I delivered it to him the next day."
Joe said, "I don't understand. If you sell many of these, like one every week, why don't you have it in your stock?"
The proprietor smiled, "I am glad if I sell one every year. That's why I don't keep any in my stock. Selling two in a week is unheard of here. Do you want me to order one for you?"
Joe stood straight up and emphatically said, "Nein, I'll show the woman what I can do with my two brothers."
Mata addressed the proprietor, "Sir, don't worry. After he hurts his back and fails to raise the disgusting motor out of the car, he'll come back here on his knees to buy this portable winch." She gave him a huge smile and walked out of the store knowing that he was closely watching the lithe movement of her backside. Joe followed suit with his head bowed as if he'd just been offended by his wife.
David and the other members of the team were waiting in a parked car around the corner from the hardware store. When they heard the report from Mata and Joe they were now convinced that they were on the right track, but it got them no closer to Le Docteur.
They knew that by that time the NEMESIS people could be hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers from Coburg, with the nuke in their hands. David thought it best to return to Tel Aviv and deploy more conventional means, like border control offices and CCD cameras, for finding the culprits.
After a month of intensive work, the redesigned nuke was ready. Without the external metal casing it was a little smaller and much lighter than the original artillery shell. It was still much heavier than a single man could carry, but it could easily fit in to a large trunk, of the type that used to be popular with travelers in the era of steamboats. However, after some discussion, Le Docteur and his team decided to disguise it in a coffin. The coffin had to be reinforced to handle the extra weight without falling apart. At the suggestion of the Chechen scientist, they added a thin layer of lead around the core's position, to reduce the amount of gamma and X-ray radiation emitted from the fissile materials. This would not prevent detection by a sophisticated radiation monitoring system but would increase the chance of slipping through the standard screening procedures used at most border-crossings and maritime ports.
During the month that the NEMESIS gang worked on the nuke, there were several developments. Yuri and Fatima became inseparable. She admired his experience and wisdom, as well as his determination to get back at the Russians who were responsible for the murder of his entire family and the destruction of his homeland. He had been told by Le Docteur about the attacks she led in Paris and Coimbra and about her courage, and no longer regarded her just as an empty headed good-looking young woman, but as someone who was ready to die, and kill, for the cause of Islam.
The relationship between Le Docteur and Lara, that was strong to begin with, deepened. They could almost read each-other's mind without the need for verbal communication, so when the question of selecting the target for their next attack came up, they were ready to present their suggestion. Le Docteur spoke, "In the past, NEMESIS has hit some of the major strongholds, you could say the shrines, of Western society. We have installed fear in the hearts of the infidels in Europe and America. We have used conventional explosives and bombs to destroy landmarks that were symbols of the distorted cultural achievements of the Crusaders and colonialists. We have used a radioactive dispersion device, a 'dirty bomb', in the center of the banking district of the capitalist city of Zurich. We have used a modified biological agent to selectively annihilate alcoholic infidels, as well as Muslims who forgot to behave like true believers." He neglected to mention that the four of them had consumed alcohol like a whole platoon of thirsty American soldiers in the Iraqi desert. "We have used a supposedly innocuous chemical gas to send the passengers and crew of an aircraft — laughing all the way — to their untimely death. I think it is time to show the Communists in Russia that the Muslims will no longer be led like sheep to the slaughter in Chechnya and the other Islamic republics which were under the repressive usurpation of the Soviet Union for decades."
Dr. Yuri Bakavlev was nodding ardently, and Fatima smiled at her man's enthusiasm. He said, "I have hoped that this would be your choice of a target. There is nothing I would like more than to see the Kremlin and Red Square disappearing from the face of the earth with a radioactive mushroom over Moscow."
Le Docteur shook his head, "Moscow is a difficult target. We've thought about it", he pointed at Lara, "and selected St. Petersburg. This is where communism started just over one hundred years ago, and more importantly, this is the hometown of the modern Russian Czar, Vladimir Putin. It is well known that he pays regular visits to his hometown and we'll prepare a special welcome for him."
The expression on the Chechen scientist's face left no doubt that he was happy with the choice of the target, although Moscow was ruled out. "I am willing to pull the trigger myself, knowing that atoms from my body would mingle with atoms of the new Czar." He looked at Fatima and waited in vain for her to say that she, too, would like to be there.
Le Docteur said, "This answers the question about the triggering mechanism. If you, Yuri, are willing to do the honors it will greatly simplify the plan and reduce the risk of getting discovered prematurely." As an afterthought he added, "Then it's settled. St. Petersburg when Putin visits the city. Let's celebrate." Lara stood up, entered the kitchen and brought a bottle of chilled pink champagne from the refrigerator, while Fatima brought four glasses and a can of Beluga caviar. They all raised their full glasses and Le Docteur gave a toast, "Here's to the end of Russian decadence."
Dr. Eugene Powers was summoned to the office of the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, who was one of several political appointees of POTUS, the President of the United States of America. Like the President, Manfred J. Hartman was a German-American, meaning that he was of German ancestry, which according to Wikipedia (surprise, surprise) is the largest ethnic ancestry group in the United States comprising 17 % of the population. Hartman was one of the biggest contributors to the successful election campaign and was rewarded with a high-ranking and a high-profile job in Washington, DC. This enabled him to continue to run his commercial empire by appointing his only son as CEO and formally withdrawing from its management, without any apparent conflict of interest. In fact, one of the firms that belonged to MJH Enterprises, as the empire was called, won a government contract to dismantle the outdated nuclear weapons, and convert the highly enriched uranium and weapon-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear power plants that produced electricity for civilian purposes.