David Avivi passed through the passport control at Dulles International Airport, collected his luggage and handed his customs form to the officer and was waved through without any delay or even a second glance. He had been briefed by Dr. Eugene Powers that his presence in Washington was informal and that he should contact him on his private cellphone after settling down in his hotel. The Israeli embassy was informed that David would be in Washington on semi-official business: on the Israeli side he was sent on a mission by Haim Shimony, the head of Mossad, but as far the US intelligence community was concerned he was there as a private individual. If his presence would be exposed an embarrassing scandal could develop so very few people at the embassy were aware of his visit. David went to the car rental desk and was told that his reservation was upgraded from his nondescript compact car to a red four-wheel drive Jeep Wrangler. To the surprise of the agent at the car rental desk David said that he preferred an intermediate size car and was told that a Chevrolet Cruze would be ready for him in 10 minutes. He took the Washington Dulles Access Road to I-495, headed north and then switched to the I-270 getting off the highway at the Montrose Avenue exit and made his way to the Hilton hotel in Rockville. He preferred this location, far away from the center of Washington, DC, yet readily accessible by the Twinbrook Metro station. This would be an ideal place for meeting with Eugene without drawing unwanted attention. He called Eugene, who was just leaving his office, and they arranged to have dinner in a small Mexican restaurant that was a short walking distance from David's hotel.
On the phone, Eugene did not tell David exactly what documents were downloaded by Nagib, only hinting that they were pertinent to nuclear weapons. David said that the disappearance of the Palestinian scientist with highly classified documents was considered to have possible implications on the security of Israel and Mossad took this situation very seriously. Before leaving Israel David had been briefed by "the Fish" and was given a thick file that the ISA had gathered. It included information on Dr. Nagib Jaber, his family, his childhood friends and particularly on his brother's criminal and terrorist activities. The file noted that the two brothers had been very close although their interests in life differed radically — Nagib had been the studious, rational cool headed type while Yassir hot-headed dropped out of school early and became deeply involved with the Palestinian cause. The ISA had also constructed a thorough record on Alia's relatives and had a report of her visit to her grandparents. David had all the data on his laptop and it was in encoded format so that no unauthorized person could access it.
When David arrived at the restaurant Eugene was already seated at the bar and sipping an ice cold Corona beer in a chilled frosty glass. David sat down beside him and ordered the same. The cool beer was especially welcome considering that outside it was one of the 90/90 days (90 percent humidity and 90 degrees Fahrenheit) Washington was noted for. While seated at the bar they chatted about the weather, family affairs, the flight and the tourist attractions but once they were seated at their corner table and ordered their dinner they got down to business. Eugene told David about the disappearance of Nagib and Alia and said that they had probably copied secret files that contained highly classified information. David tried to find out what kind of information but Eugene refused to elaborate and said that it was very sensitive and could affect not only the US national security but also destabilize the world. David could put two and two together and reckoned that the files may include technical details of modern nuclear weapons, but kept this thought to himself. Eugene then told David about the task force and its two main objectives — discovering the motivation and possible targets — and frankly related his idea to involve the Israeli intelligence agencies and the objections of the other committee members. He explained that it was his own idea to invite David as his own private consultant and therefore discretion was called for. David said that his participation was approved by the head of Mossad in person but he was directed to keep a low profile and refrain from doing anything that would deleteriously affect the delicate US-Israeli relations. So by the time they finished their dinner the ground rules for cooperation were set, and now came the time for serious discussions.
They left the restaurant and took a stroll through the quiet neighborhood speaking in low voices. They passed Congressional Plaza and reached a sports pub and bar. They found a quiet table, far away from the TV screens that were showing some reruns of college football games and ordered another beer. There was no one seated near them and they felt that they could talk more freely. David summarized the information collected by the ISA. Nagib had left Palestine over a decade earlier when he was in his early twenties, and had never returned there. He had never been in trouble with the Israeli or Palestinian authorities but his brother, Yassir, was a notorious terrorist in the eyes of the Israelis or a revered martyr in the Palestinian view. The two brothers admired each other's lifestyle and achievements — Yassir regarded Nagib's scientific career with great pride and Nagib respected Yassir's total dedication to Palestine. David said that Nagib did not follow in his brother's footsteps and was not involved with any terrorist organization even after his parents' home was destroyed by the Israelis. The ISA noted that this was exceptional because Arab youths that went through similar experiences usually were short tempered and sought revenge. The psychologist employed by the ISA emphasized that this type of behavior, lack of reaction, would be frowned upon in Palestine and Nagib would be not considered man enough had he not lived abroad. The psychologist added that in Arab culture "revenge should be served cold", namely the longer a person waited to avenge an offence the better, and said that it could not be ruled out that Nagib had waited for the proper circumstances to exact his reprisal and seized it when presented with the opportunity. David said that when he asked the psychologist what form the retribution could take the answer was that the longer the open sore festered the more venomous it became. The ISA did not have much data on Alia's family and only said that her parents, like many other Christians who felt unsafe under the Palestinian Authority's rule, emigrated to a place where they hoped their children would have a better future. Many took up residence in South America, especially in Chile and Peru, and others moved to the United States or European countries like Germany or Scandinavia, usually joining family members that had preceded them. There was record of Alia's visit to Israel and Palestine a few years earlier but her grandparents were no longer alive and her remaining uncles and cousins refused to cooperate. Eugene thanked David for the update and said that it may be the key to understanding Nagib's behavior that was supposedly out of character. He noted that none of his friends or colleagues had ever heard him say anything against Israel or criticism on the support it received from the US. They recalled that Nagib's doctoral advisor, Professor Jack Chen, was a former Israeli that had helped Nagib with his career and was the guest of honor at his wedding with Alia. So it was unclear what Nagib had in mind and what he really thought about Israel.
David asked Eugene if the task force had developed any insights about possible targets and was told that there was a general feeling that he would try to sell the classified data to an entity, sovereign country or clandestine organization that would help him take revenge. They did not believe that he did this solely for money and considered that he would want to be involved personally in the final act. Although Eugene did not say it in so many words, David was now more convinced than ever that the classified material involved nuclear weapons, and as only a stick memory was taken he knew that it could only be technical information like blueprints or schematic designs. He therefore suggested that there were a very small number of entities that would be interested in the stolen files. Eugene agreed and said that the task force decided to focus on Iran and the Islamic State. David concurred but said that North Korea or even Pakistan should also be considered, not because they had any direct conflict with Israel, but because they could use some advanced designs to improve their own arsenal of nuclear weapons and their stature in the world. Eugene reacted by saying that he had not mentioned advanced designs but David responded that he had figured it out and did not want to force Eugene to divulge classified information. They agreed to meet again the following evening and David returned to his hotel and had a good night's sleep despite the jet-lag. Early the next morning David called Eugene on his private phone and told him that he had to leave the US as some crisis regarding a Mossad operation in Europe was developing. David didn't mention that a Mossad collaborator inside the German police had alerted his Israeli girlfriend, who was actually a Mossad agent, that there were rumors of an operation by a fanatic Muslim faction, with ties to the Islamic State, against the moderate Muslim Ahmadiyya community that was seeking to hold a joint rally with the Jewish community for Peace-in-the-Middle East.