Beyond the Shield

by Nachman Kataczinsky

  He looked at Esther. “I offered Chaim 49% of the company and the title of President. I remain Chairman but don’t participate in the daily management.”

  Esther nodded. “Chaim, I would offer an opinion but I have no idea what to say except that I trust Jacob.”

  “The problem is that I trust him as well. My managerial experience can be summed up in one paragraph: I used to own a small grocery store in Vilna. My education is also iffy, so I was surprised that the business has done so well.

  “I have to add that I don’t really resent Jacob excluding me from the computer business. Besides, he doesn’t really. He keeps me up to date and pretends to listen to my advice.

  “But enough of this. Let’s go show you this grand company.”

  In addition to the executive offices there were two other private offices for managers. The rest of the staff had their desks in a large open room divided into cubicles. Next to that were a cafeteria, kitchen, and recreation room.

  Jacob explained. “I was reading about how to run a company with an educated workforce and keep them happy. There were a number of articles about Google and other high-tech companies so I decided to try their methods. Then I discovered the practice was started in Israel much earlier. It works well. People are happy and it improves overall communications and performance.”

  Chaim agreed. “That’s true. I was skeptical when Jacob proposed this loose organization and open office floor plan. But our people keep discussing work at lunch and during break time so information spreads much faster.

  “The only serious problem we had was a shortage of computers, just one for every four employees. Now we have a computer for almost every employee, which makes a huge difference and is part of the secret of our success.”

  “Exactly. That was what first gave me the idea to start building my own machines. Of course I ran into the scarcity of some parts and decided to either make them myself or, at least, have exclusive contracts with manufacturers.”

  “And how is that working out?” Esther asked.

  “I’ll show you.”

  They said goodbye to Chaim and went outside. There was a bus stop across the street and a short wait. Twenty minutes they were deposited at the edge of town in front of a large industrial building. A sign across its front proclaimed ‘Hirshson Computer Corporation’.

  Inside, the building was brightly lit and air-conditioned. Jacob pointed to the rows of assembly tables. “We employ 105 people in assembly. The air here is heated or cooled as necessary and filtered to eliminate dust. There are more workers testing the assembled machines, installing operating systems, and preparing them for shipping.

  “We still have difficulties with some parts. Monitors, especially large ones, are in short supply. There are only two manufacturers. I have contracts with both of them and am considering setting up my own manufacturing plant. For now it’s beyond my financial ability, but I hope to be able to do it soon.”

  Esther was impressed. “You are a real entrepreneur. How do you get these ideas? I would never have thought about starting a business just because I had difficulty obtaining something.”

  Jacob smiled. “I was always like that. When my father died I had to take over his cabinet-making business and learned very quickly how to run it. Later, when the Soviets occupied Vilna I voluntarily nationalized the business. That saved us from being deported to Siberia for being rich but wouldn’t have ended well if Israel hadn’t come around to save us from the Germans.”

  They kept chatting on the way back to town and on the train to Beer Sheva. Just before the train arrived Jacob produced a small box, opened it and presented it to Esther. “Will you marry me?”

  She looked at the engagement ring in the velvet box and smiled.

  ***

  “Quiet please!” The Prime Minister had to repeat it twice before the members of the government quieted down. This was a full government meeting and he was prepared to be rude, if necessary, to manage it effectively.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, we will first hear a report by the head of the Mossad.”

  An utterly unremarkable looking man reached for a remote control and turned on the overhead projector. “First, a report on the situation in Germany and Central Europe.

  “As you all know the Germans accepted the terms we offered and signed the peace agreement. They have already withdrawn from France and the Low Countries and are in the process of evacuating their forces from Norway and Denmark. With our agreement they are keeping an armed presence in Austria. Their military there is busy hunting down senior Nazis. They promise that the operation will be finished in a couple of months.”

  The Minister for Transportation interrupted. “Is there any reason to believe them about hunting down Nazis? Weren’t their armed forces complicit in what the Nazis did?”

  “You are correct in that they were complicit, but since the overthrow of Hitler and the civil war they view the Nazis as a deadly enemy and the only serious threat to both the generals and the current government. They exterminated them quite ruthlessly in Germany and are doing a fair job in Austria.

  “Now, to Eastern Europe. There things are a bit complicated. The Germans started their withdrawal just as fighting broke out in Moscow after Stalin’s assassination. The German High Command was asked by a group of Ukrainian and Belorussian nationalists to slow down until they set up their own independent governments. The Germans asked the Allied Oversight Commission for instructions. The Commission instructed them to assist both the Ukrainians and Byelorussians on condition that there are no Nazi sympathizers among the proposed governing group. As of yesterday the German army continues its slow withdrawal from both areas, leaving behind some weapons for the new governments. They will reach the old Soviet border in another two weeks and, as per the agreement, entrench there for a while.

  “Any questions?”

  “Are we sure there are no Fascists or former Nazis in the new Byelorussian and Ukrainian governments?” asked the Tourism Minister.

  “No, we’re not sure at all,” responded the head of the Mossad. “On the contrary, I’m quite sure that there are both, especially in the Ukraine. There’s not much we can do about it and, frankly, I see no reason to intervene.”

  Since this seemed to be the only question, he continued. “The situation in the Soviet Union is somewhat murky. We have a fair idea of what happened but it’s difficult to predict what is going to happen next.

  “To sum up: Stalin was assassinated during the second week of February, several days after he returned from Teheran. He seems to have been poisoned by someone close to him. On the day he died Beria declared himself provisional General Secretary of the Communist Party as well as Premier. We are assuming that he was complicit in the murder and that his hand was forced since he started concentrating NKVD troops in Moscow but didn’t have enough for a successful coup. It’s also possible that it was a judgment error on his part.

  “In any case, several members of the Politburo, including Khrushchev, Kaganovich and Molotov, managed to contact the red Army garrison of Moscow and ask them to intervene. Fighting between the NKVD and the Red Army lasted for several days. The final blow to the NKVD came from troops outside of the capital. Since the Germans started their retreat, the command of the Moscow front moved enough troops to the capital to finish off the NKVD forces.

  “Beria was executed a week later and open season on the NKVD started a week after that. Several regions that have always been restive decided it was a good time to secede from the Soviet Union. Practically all of the Caucasus declared independence. This includes Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Chechnya.

  “There is serious unrest in the central areas of Russia. The civil war triggered by the Bolshevik revolution ended only about twenty years ago and anti-Communist sentiment is strong in some areas. One thing that is eerily reminiscent of the breakup of the Soviet Union in our timeline: As soon as a region perceives some freedom to say what they want, the first words are ‘Kill the Jews.�
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  “In a perverse sort of way that helps us since Soviet Jews who could fool themselves that the state eliminated anti-Semitism - and there was a surprising number that believed that canard - can now see the naked hatred. Immigration from the Soviet Union increased tenfold in the last month and is still growing. But lawlessness is not our friend and our Ministry of Defense is taking measures to prevent open pogroms.”

  Amos Nir looked around the long table. “If there are no more questions I suggest that we let the gentleman go and ask the Foreign Minister for an update.”

  The Foreign Minister leaned back in his seat, seemingly relaxed. “The analysis by the Mossad may have led you to believe that we have no direct problems except in Europe. This is not true. Both the Americans and the British are doing their best to endear themselves to Saudi Arabia and Iran. In Iran we have good contacts with the current Shah. This is the same ruler who was overthrown by the ayatollahs in our timeline and with whom we had a good relationship. The Brits tried to interfere with our access but stopped when they realized that we don’t want to control Iran’s oil.

  “I expect that with some luck and a consistent policy we will be able to both democratize the Shah’s rule and prevent the Islamists from overthrowing him. This will of course depend on the actions of our future governments and on the continuing cooperation of Britain and noninterference from the U.S.

  “The situation is very different in Saudi Arabia. As of now the California-Arabian Oil Company is pumping not insignificant amounts of oil and is on its way to becoming ARAMCO. We know that the Saudis will become obscenely rich because of their oil and will use the money to support and spread their flavor of Islam: Wahhabism.

  “We have good relations with King Abdullah of Jordan. He urged us to help him recover his ‘heritage’ from the house of Saud. The cabinet discussed this option a while ago and decided against it. We see no good reason for a conflict that may involve hostilities with U.S. backed interests.”

  The Minister Without Portfolio from the Labor party had a question: “Are you saying that there’s nothing we can do to prevent the future rise of the Saudis?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’ll leave the rest to the Prime Minister,” the Foreign Minister responded.

  Amos Nir smiled. “We have plenty of options, all with unsavory baggage. We could, for example, encourage Abdullah, who just graduated from Emir to King of Jordan, to attack the Saudis and assassinate the Saud family. It probably could be done discreetly. The question is where do we stop? Do we assassinate every leader or ruler we don’t like? It’s easy to send a drone and kill someone, but what is the moral price? And what guarantee do we have that a worse replacement won’t materialize? Or perhaps a vastly richer and more powerful Abdullah will start eying our territory.

  “In addition, American interests will remain no matter who rules the countries. They will continue pumping money into these areas. Abdullah might be worse than Saud. We just don’t know.

  “Several days ago I was presented with a new option. Before I disclose it I need all present who haven’t already signed the official Secrecy Act to do so now. Please read it carefully, it’s only two pages long but breaching your promise carries a very long prison term. Those who choose not to sign will have to leave before we continue.”

  Some of the members of the government present started reading, some were objecting loudly, several signed immediately.

  The Labor Minister, who was also the leader of the Labor party, got up. “This is a dictatorial requirement. You are depriving us of our right to free speech. I refuse to sign. We will leave the coalition.”

  The Prime Minister said quietly and with deceptive calm, “You are being deprived of your ability to disclose vital state secrets to our enemies. As opposed to other information that you keep leaking to the press, leaking what I’m about to disclose will land you in jail for a very long time. If you feel you have to, please feel free to leave the coalition.”

  The Labor Minister shook his head. “I don’t understand why you insist I sign this document. We all swore allegiance to the state of Israel and promised to keep her secrets when we were sworn in as members of the Knesset and of the government. Why this document?”

  Amos Nir smiled an unpleasant smile. “You would have understood if you read the document, but I’ll explain. How well did you keep your oath? If I’m not mistaken, not very well. Everyone leaks what they want to the press and there’s not much to be done since prosecution is complicated. After you sign the Act, anything you disclose that is covered by it, which is very narrow, will result in arrest and prosecution by a military tribunal, after a proper investigation by internal security of course.”

  The room was quiet for a while. In the end everyone signed and Amos continued. “Several days ago I was approached by a businessman who enlightened me to the existence of a technology allowing the opening of portals into other universes. Apparently there are uncountable versions of our Earth existing side by side. I actually went through a portal and visited an alternative Earth. It was very similar to our Earth but seems to have no sentient life. It does have a nice climate, somewhat cooler with more rain. A very crude and preliminary exploration done by this business shows oil and gas reserves in roughly the same places as on our Earth.

  “I propose that we help private businesses explore for oil on this parallel Earth and develop the known fields. This will allow us to start selling oil at a price that will undercut the Saudis. The Western oil companies that are operating in the Middle East need a minimum profit margin to make exploration worthwhile. If we start selling oil at a low price their operations in the Arab countries become unviable. They can’t lower their prices by much because of the risks they’re taking. We can always help those who are friendly, like the Shah. Those who operate oil fields by themselves don’t need such high profits since the risks they’re taking don’t include political risks and they don’t need to share with a foreign government. Again, the Shah is a good example.”

  The Finance Minister nodded. “Controlling the price of oil is a blunt tool but it will work, at least for a while. Maybe a very long while, like seventy or eighty years, until fracking and horizontal drilling are invented.”

  When the time came to vote on the proposal Amos was surprised: two thirds of the government voted for it, including the two Labor Party ministers.

  ***

  After the government meeting, Amos Nir met with the Foreign and Trade Ministers and their legal counsels. The two ministers wanted to reach a decision on trade relations with the U.S.

  The Foreign Minister began. “You all read the American ambassador’s letter and our ambassador’s report from Washington. It seems that the Americans want to take possession of whatever technological advantage we have. I need to instruct Ambassador Lapid on what to do.”

  Amos asked, “By ‘Americans’ do you mean their government or private entities?”

  The Foreign Minister shrugged. “I wouldn’t have worried about private entities. It’s the government that worries me.”

  The Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor nodded. “The claim they presented is that technology developed by American companies belongs to the developers. The government of the U.S. has the right to declare itself a legal trustee of this property.”

  Amos nodded. “I looked this up and asked a number of lawyers I know. They all agreed that under International Law any knowledge developed by an entity belongs to that entity. But there’s a little snag here: the International Law in question doesn’t exist here and now. We need to look at our own laws and at American laws. It is obvious to me that our law takes precedence – this is true for any sovereign country. So what do our laws say?”

  The lawyer from the Trade Ministry spoke up. “It’s clear: either the developer or their designate owns whatever they’ve developed. It’s best defined with patents. A patent is normally owned by whoever is the designated owner. This can be a researcher, their employer or a third party that
has contractual ownership.”

  Amos smiled. “In that case everything is simple. I understand that everything we are discussing has been patented and has an Israeli patent number?”

  “That’s true, although sometimes our patent refers to a foreign patent.”

  “Which changes nothing,” said Amos. “Every patent has an owner. We don’t need to discuss what happens if a patent owner ceases to exist as this is not the case. According to my researchers all the patents in questions are owned by Israeli registered corporations or individuals. I think that this closes the legal question.”

  “What about shareholder rights?” asked the Trade Minister.

  “What about them? The Israeli Microsoft Corporation used to be a fully-owned subsidiary of Microsoft USA. Microsoft USA doesn’t exist anymore and except for a very small number of people we don’t know who the shareholders were. But let’s assume that we want to give the two largest share owners, Bill Gates and Steve Balmer, their shares. Neither individual has been born yet. Bill’s father is about eighteen years old now. We have no idea whether he will have a son and whether the son will be identical to the Bill Gates we know. Balmer’s maternal family moved to Israel a month ago. Whether they will have offspring named Steve is questionable, especially as his father was a Christian from Switzerland. Even if Bill and Steve are born, they obviously won’t be the people we knew.”

  The Foreign Ministry lawyer nodded. “Put this way the only owners of record of any future technology that we brought with us are people and companies we brought with us. No one outside of Israel has any claims. This is a plausible, though novel, legal approach.”

  The Prime Minister smiled. “It certainly is novel. None of us has heard of any other country coming back from the future. This is a unique situation and the solution is ultimately political, not legal.

  “So, politically, I propose that we present to the Americans our legal position and refuse to give them anything.”