Eugene said "In view of the current relations between the two countries I doubt whether this is feasible".
David asked "Could you get some third party to issue a "contract" on Alia in Mexico?"
Eugene said "Sadly, the days of "termination with extreme prejudice" are long gone and the present administration is reluctant to get involved in the elimination of a US citizen in a foreign country without a court order and a directive signed by the President".
David suggested "Maybe Mossad can be enlisted for the task"
Eugene shuddered at the thought and said "This is out of the question".
David then asked "Does the US have any idea what Nagib and Alia are up to?"
Eugene gave him all the details that were related by Alma to Linda and onwards to the CIA and NNSA. He told David about the switch to low-grade plutonium and David wondered aloud if that would affect the performance of the device, assuming there were such devices. David said that he had to ask a frank and indiscrete question, and Eugene said that he would provide an answer if he could.
So David asked "Are there blueprints of portable, small nukes among the copied designs?"
Eugene wriggled visibly before answering "Hey, I never admitted that the stolen, sensitive material included weapon designs. But let's say that hypothetically there could be such things among the classified files that were downloaded".
Eugene and David were both physicists with advanced degrees and training in nuclear physics so David asked "Hypothetically of course, could such devices be transported in a suitcase?"
Eugene said "You must be familiar with the "football" configuration. Let's say, again hypothetically, that we have improved it by cutting down the size and weight of the plutonium core, and have achieved this by using super-grade material."
David thought about this and asked "Do you think that low-grade plutonium would work?"
Eugene said "Without knowing exactly what the device consists of it would be impossible to predict this".
David asked "What do you think of the statement issued by the Head of PAEC about missing plutonium".
Eugene smiled bitterly and said "We believe this is just the Pakistani's version for "plausible deniability" in case the plutonium is traced back to them."
David thanked him and said that he had to catch a flight back to Tel-Aviv and promised to stay in touch.
In Tel-Aviv the news forwarded by Eugene and delivered verbally by David was analyzed carefully and received with a mixture of some consternation and some hope. Mossad's ability to operate in Pakistan was somewhere between severely limited to nonexistent while in Cairo, and certainly in Los Angeles there were ample opportunities. The meeting was held in Haim Shimony's office, and the Mossad chief asked David what he thought about the situation that was now developing. David said that in view of the information supplied by the Israeli Security Agency, the ISA was quite sure that Nagib would try to avenge the death of his terrorist brother, Yassir, and the destruction of his parents' house, by detonating a nuclear device somewhere in Israel. The fact that the device was sent to Cairo indicated that it would have to be smuggled across the border into Israel. David suggested that Mossad deploy all its assets in Egypt to keep an eye on the Pakistani embassy there with instructions to spot Nagib and eliminate him if capturing him is not possible. In parallel, patrols along the border between Egypt and Israel should be doubled, with special attention given to locating cross-border tunnels that are dug by smugglers of drugs and humans.
"The Fish", the ISA senior representative at the meeting, said that close surveillance will be placed on all known family members of Nagib Jaber, in case he tried to contact them. He added that as there were no indications that Nagib was a member of any Palestinian terror organization so that finding him would be difficult unless he was stopped before crossing into Israel. David recalled that Eugene told him about the polygraph examination that Nagib was subjected to in Los Alamos, and said that Nagib denied during the interrogation that he belonged to any organization or movement. This could have changed, of course, but it was possible that so far he had worked independently of any Palestinian organization. "The Fish"" said that the smugglers in Sinai did not concern themselves about the motivation of the people they smuggled across the border as long as they paid cash, but commented that Nagib would have to seek help once he reached Israel or else he would be stuck in the middle of the Negev desert after crossing the border from Egypt. He added that ISA will have to increase its level of operations in order to locate Nagib and stop him before reaching the heart of Israel.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a special notice to all border crossings between Mexico and the United States with a description of Alia Jaber, a. k. a. Fatima Abu Jihad bearer of a Pakistani passport. Eugene, who had personally briefed the chief of field operations of the DHS, expressed his opinion that Alia would not use an official border crossing to get into the US but would probably contact one of the drug cartels, like Tijuana, La Familia Michoacana or Sinaloa, and pay the fees like any other illegal worker. There were literally hundreds of tunnels that ran across the border as well as areas that were not sealed properly by electronic fences. Once in the United States Alia would have no problem to be absorbed in the crowd as just another young American woman — after all, she was born and lived almost all her life in the United States. Therefore, Eugene concluded, the only place that they could expect her to go was the Pakistani Consulate in Los Angeles. It was located at 10700 Santa Monica Blvd and the DHS promised to post human surveillance as well as cameras to check anyone who entered the Suite #211 during office hours. Eugene asked if the DHS could monitor the phone calls that reached the Consulate but was answered by an indignant shrug and a statement that the Consulate had diplomatic immunity and this was strictly forbidden. Eugene thought that the reason for establishing the DHS was to prevent repetition of terrorist acts like 9/11 and here was a much larger threat to the homeland and its security and the DHS was helpless. He said nothing and decided to go to the FBI and seek their help in tapping the Pakistani Consulate phone lines.
Part 5. Getting set for the big event
Chapter 16
The Embassy of Pakistan in Cairo is located at in Ad Doqi district, close to the Nile River, and is the only official representative of Pakistan in Egypt. Employees of the embassy suffered a high incidence rate of headaches and disproportional amounts of mosquito bites due to the proximity of sewage treatment plants, so they sought every excuse to get away from the embassy building. The Cultural attaché, Sadiq Ul-Haq, who was in fact the senior representative of the Pakistani intelligence services, was surprised to receive a 29" suitcase with instructions to store it in a locked metal cabinet and not to open it under any circumstances. The fact that the suitcase arrived as part of the "diplomatic pouch" was nothing out of the ordinary — many foreign office staff members used the diplomatic pouch to transport personal and restricted items into, and out of, Egypt, but the instructions, signed by General Masood himself, were quite irregular. However, Ul-Haq knew better than to disobey such an explicit directive and did as he was told. In another note that was sent separately he was instructed that a man carrying a Pakistani passport with the name Munir Abu Jihad would come to claim the suitcase and that he was to provide him with any assistance he requested. The note also outlined a verification procedure that Ul-Haq thought was more appropriate for a 1950s Hollywood B-movie from the cold war era or a cheap thriller than for 21st Century espionage games.