Ghaled looked at me again.
“We could try,” I said, “but I don’t believe that heating elements are ever made using such a fine gauge. Indeed, I am sure they aren’t. It will have to come from a radio dealer who does repair work and has wire-wound hundred-ohm resistors in stock.”
“Comrade Salah!” Wasfi burst out excitedly. I know such a man. He has a shop in the souk.”
But Ghaled motioned Wasfi into silence. His eyes were on me.
“Do you not use these resistors in your own electronic assembly work?” he asked.
“None of the resistors we use are wire-wound, Comrade Salah.”
“Not even in the Magisch communications transceiver which you assemble for the army?”
That made me jump a little. The Magisch was supposed to be on the secret list.
“Especially not in the Magisch transceivers,” I replied. “They use miniaturized circuit units which we get from East Germany already sealed in plastic. We merely assemble the units. There are no individual components of the ordinary kind.”
He gave me a silent handclap. “Good. Very good.” His eyes were mocking. “A little test, Comrade Michael, that is all Fortunately you have passed it with credit. My own electronics expert gave me the same advice.”
I made show of being disconcerted, which seemed to please him. Identifying the “electronics expert” would not, I knew, be difficult. The reference to the Magisch had been the giveaway. I already had a short list of two suspects in mind and another look at the employment files would tell me which of them was guilty.
“Very well. Comrade Wasfi shall buy the wire resistors. Meanwhile we have another urgent matter on which you may be able to assist us, Comrade Michael.”
“Of course, Comrade Salah, I shall be glad to do anything that I can.”
He seemed not to hear me. He had risen to his feet and crossed to the bed. On it were two large metal objects which he brought back and placed on the table.
“Do you know anything about ammunition, Comrade Michael? I mean about such things as heavy mortar bombs and artillery projectiles.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then I will explain. Heavy projectiles have three main parts. The main explosive charge and the fuse you must know about, in principle anyway.”
“Yes.”
“In between those two parts there is a third. We call it the booster or gaine. High explosives of the kind used in large projectiles are insensitive stuff, and a small detonator is not enough. So we place this large detonator, the gaine, in the middle of it and let the fuse explode the gaine. “This” — he picked up the larger of the metal objects- “is the gaine.”
It was a bronze-coloured cylinder about thirty centimetres long and five thick with a heavy steel collar at one end. The collar was threaded on the outside, for insertion into the “projectile”, I assumed, and there was a hole in the top, also threaded.
Ghaled pointed to the hole. “That is where the impact fuse should go.” He picked up the smaller object, which was painted gray and shaped rather like an oversized spark plug. It was threaded at one end with hexagon facings just like a plug. “And this is the fuse,” he said. “Now, Comrade Michael, take the gaine in your left hand. It is filled with tetryl, but do not be afraid. There is no danger. Now take the fuse. A little more care with that is advisable. It has a setback safety mechanism but should not be dropped or struck hard. Now try to fit the fuse to the gaine.”
What he was getting at was immediately obvious. The threaded hole in the gaine was slightly bigger than the threaded end of the fuse. The two threads were also of a different pitch. I examined both more closely and had a revelation. I looked across at Tewfiq.
“So that’s what you wanted those taps and dies for,” I said.
There was a short silence. Tewfiq and Wasfi appeared to be stunned. Ghaled leaned forward.
“Explain yourself, Comrade Michael.”
“To make these two fit together you need an adapter ring with an outer thread to fit the gaine and an inner one to fit the fuse. The threads are both standard metric by the look of them, and you have to cut them by machine. Taps and dies in those diameters are only made for pipe threads, which have completely different profiles. Comrade Tewfiq did not know that. He thought that the adapter rings could be made by hand with taps and dies, so he ordered them. The suppliers wrote back saying that the order could not be filled.”
Ghaled had a very unpleasant expression on his face. “How long have you known that Tewfiq and Wasfi were our comrades?” he asked quietly.
“Not for certain until this evening, but I had my suspicions earlier in the day.”
“Why did you have suspicions?”
I told him.
He sighed and glanced at Issa. “You see now why it was so necessary to make sure of him last night?”
And then to me: “What excuse have you to offer?”
“My curiosity was natural, I think, Comrade Salah. You did not tell me not to exercise it.”
“Then I tell you now.”
“Surely no harm has been done.”
“That is for me to decide. The comrades in the field, the front-fighters, must know one another, but those who work in cells under cover must know only those with whom they have to work directly. So, there will be no more looking into records, Comrade Michael. You understand? I am giving you an order.”
“I understand.” I didn’t see how he would know whether or not I obeyed the order, and, since he had now made it plain that there were other members of the PAF on my payrolls, I had every intention of disobeying.
Anger was still at work in me. I think he had sensed it, because he stared at me long and hard before adding: “I hope you do understand, Comrade Michael You would not like any disciplinary action I was forced to take.”
“I understand.”
“Then let us get back to work. How is this adapter ring to be made?”
“There is only one way to make it, on a screw-cutting lathe.”
He looked at Tewfiq. “You have this machine in the factory?”
“No, Comrade Salah.”
“Then you must obtain one.”
“That” I said, “is impossible.”
“Why?”
“Government permission has to be obtained for all machine tool purchases and the need for them justified. We would have no valid reason to support this purchase.”
“Then invent a reason.”
“It would take weeks, even then, to get delivery. We would also need a skilled machinist to do the work. Besides, it is unnecessary.”
“You have just said that it is essential.”
“The use of the machine is essential, yes, and a machinist to do the work, but if I needed this part or one like it for something we were manufacturing I would subcontract the job to a machine shop in Beirut.”
“That is out of the question, obviously. Do you not yet understand the need for secrecy?”
“There would be no breach of secrecy. I have used this machine shop several times. A draftsman makes proper drawings of the part to be machined. The material to be used and permitted tolerances are specified, the quantity we need is given. We do not say what the part is for. That is our business, and the subcontractor is not interested anyway. He does what the drawings and specifications tell him to do. He submits a sample for approval. If we approve it he completes the order and delivers.”
He thought for a moment “The draftsman would have to know what the adapter is for.”
“In this case I would do the drawings myself.”
“Here?”
“No. There are no drawing-office facilities here. A rough sketch will not do. There must be clean, accurate machine drawings.”
“These parts cannot be taken away.”
“There is no need to take them away. All I need take are the necessary measurements and particulars. I can do that here. There are callipers and a micrometer gauge in the laboratory. Issa knows where they are.”
Ghaled nodded to Issa, who scurried away. I began to examine the gaine and the fuse again, more carefully this time. There were Chinese markings on the fuse, I noticed.