Trail of Blood

by Uzi Eilam

  Chapter 41

  “Drive straight to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport,” Nimer instructed his driver and bodyguard, who was waiting in the car with the engine running. “Drive fast, but watch out for the police.”

  I know that Gideon Ben Ari was in the conference hall, Nimer told himself, and if it wasn’t for the Revolutionary Guard’s warning, I would have stayed and at least seen what he looks like these days. If they are being cautious, it’s possible that Gideon has changed his name and his appearance as well. But he can’t hide from me.

  “Dr. Kuntz, a car with diplomatic plates is following us… It’s closing in on us,” the concerned driver called out.

  “Drive faster! They can’t catch up with us!” Nimer instructed, maintaining his equilibrium. “Drive straight to Gate 9 at the airport. They’re waiting for us there.”

  ***

  The embassy’s car was ready to take off when Gideon ran toward it, leaping into the seat next to Dan, who was keeping his laptop and surveillance equipment close at hand.

  “What’s going on, Gideon?”

  “Nimer’s getting away from us… We have to stop their car…”

  What do I expect from the encounter with Nimer? Gideon debated as the Israeli Embassy’s driver made heroic efforts to catch up with the Iranian Embassy’s speeding car. If we do manage to stop the car, he can claim that he’s actually a German scientist, and we have nothing to counter that with. Moreover if, heaven forbid, something more violent does take place, wasn’t Nahari right to question the logic of trying to intercept Nimer on German soil? And what would Noam, my wise daughter, say? Did emotion compromise my logic?

  The next few minutes were a continuation of the mad race, with the two cars zigzagging without taking the other cars in the packed morning traffic into consideration. Gate 9 opened as if by magic and closed immediately after Nimer’s car passed through it. The embassy security guard waiting at the gate quickly boarded the car and guided the driver straight to the business jet already primed for takeoff.

  The Israeli Embassy vehicle arrived within a few yards of Schönefeld Airport’s Gate 9 as Gideon, his expression desperate, helplessly watched the gate closing immediately after Nimer’s car had passed through it. Within minutes, the business jet could be seen heading for the runway.

  ***

  Nimer leaned back in his seat, his breathing growing calmer again only after the aircraft wheels left the ground. The Iranian copilot approached him and they exchanged some pleasantries. The flight attendant was summoned to hear the esteemed guest’s requests. Nimer only asked for a glass of water. The operations officer, a Hezbollah operative who seemed slightly familiar to Nimer, waited patiently until the plane reached cruising altitude before he dared approach Nimer for an update.

  “Nasrallah asked to see you immediately after we land in Beirut, sir,” the operations officer whispered. “I know that senior members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard will be joining the meeting as well…”

  Nimer didn’t want to start guessing what the secretary general of Hezbollah wanted this time. Mughniyeh, Nimer thought, would have known exactly what the leader wants this time, as he always did.

  Nasrallah waited silently until his assistant placed a delicate china cup and a matching teapot in front of Nimer. A saucer with a slice of kanafeh pastry straight from the frying pan was exactly what Nimer wanted, and he wolfed it down between sips of hot, sweet tea. Nasrallah looked at his guest, maintaining his silence for a lengthy interval.

  “You were in great danger, Nimer,” Nasrallah began, his voice hushed. “You have to know that you are not only putting your own life at risk, but also the entire organization…”

  “I volunteered to serve, and I’m willing to risk and even sacrifice my life in service of our holy goal,” Nimer tried to explain.

  “All of us in Hezbollah feel that way, but how does participating in a conference in Berlin serve the organization and our war against the Zionist enemy?” the leader raised his voice.

  “My participation in a scientific conference in Berlin was a recommendation made by our identity experts. They suggested the move, and you approved it…”

  “Did I? I do not remember them presenting the risks. I had not heard about how deeply the enemy has infiltrated our communications.”

  “It’s actually the German component in my identity that our experts view as providing enhanced protection and increasing my ability to contribute to our war against the enemy. It’s an important aspect I learned from my extraordinary mentor Mughniyeh.”

  “Ahh! We do miss the shahid Imad Mughniyeh, may Allah avenge his blood. We still haven’t settled the score with his despicable killers.”

  “I miss him every day,” Nimer responded, “and I haven’t forgotten my vow to carry out an act of revenge worthy of Mughniyeh’s name.”

  “We trust you, and know that the fire of revenge is burning in your heart, but today there’s an urgent topic with strategic implications that only you can promote. I’m talking about the tunnels in the villages of southern Lebanon and protecting them from the new means of detection that the enemy has developed. You hold all the cards.”

  “Indeed…” Nimer calmed down and thought how to best respond to the leader. “I received a packet of technical and technological information from our friends in North Korea, thanks to our ally Iran’s connections with them…”

  “That’s exactly the point,” Nasrallah interjected, “and soon, Soleimani will be coming here with two experts on tunnels from the Revolutionary Guard, people that you know. The threat of the new tunnel-detection systems developed by the Israelis and the Americans is very troubling to Iran. The topic is also a top priority for us, here in Lebanon, as well as for our brothers in the Gaza Strip.”

  “I’ll be happy to meet General Soleimani again and decide together on how to proceed. Just one more thing, sir, about the conference in Berlin that I had to leave early…” Nimer paused until he noticed the leader’s gaze, both questioning and urging him on. “The method for protecting the tunnels has two components: one is the material from which the net filling the space of the tunnel is made, and the other is the structure of the nets themselves. I was supposed to have a seemingly random encounter with a German scientist I knew back when I was studying for my doctorate in science, and with his help, I intended to resolve the quandary of the chemical composition of the nets’ material. I did not have time to meet the man; we will have to think of a way to obtain this important information.”

  ***

  “Welcome!” Nasrallah called out, rising from his seat as his assistant led the three Iranian guests inside. “I don’t have to introduce Dr. Nimer,” he added, pointing at Nimer, who also rose to shake the Iranians’ hands.

  “Thank you, Secretary General,” Soleimani promptly replied. “I suggest we get straight to the subject of our meeting. Our friends from North Korea have deposited the secret to protecting the tunnels from detection in Dr. Nimer’s hands. Let’s listen to what he can suggest, and see how we can implement these means of protection in your tunnels here at the border with Israel, and in the tunnels of our brothers from Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”

  The discussion lasted for quite a while, led imperiously by General Soleimani. Nasrallah allowed the general to take the lead and mostly listened, occasionally introducing a question or voicing his support. Nimer, along with the two Iranian tunnel experts, described the system as it had been presented in North Korea. The resolution proposed by the general, along with terms defined by Nimer, was acceptable to Nasrallah. Nimer would be the one responsible for establishing a facility to manufacture the special nets, to be constructed at a protected site east of Teheran. The Revolutionary Guard would also build a full-scale section of tunnel at the same site, as quickly as possible, in order to test the efficiency of the protection that the nets could provide. Nimer would also be the one to train the technical c
rews that would install the nets in the tunnels of southern Lebanon and the Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip. The Revolutionary Guard would fund the project and supply personnel to work at the production site in Iran. The meeting ended with handshakes, and it was obvious to Nimer that he was going to be very busy in the days to come.

  ***

  Throughout the flight from Berlin to Israel, Gideon did not sleep a wink. Dan, sitting beside him, peered at him from time to time, uncertain how to help him. Dan, too, was thinking of their failure in intercepting Nimer. He had discovered some areas of vulnerability in the surveillance systems, and knew that he needed to tackle them. Before they took off, Dan managed to convey detailed instructions to his team in Israel. Their focus, Dan emphasized when guiding the Talpiot team, had to be on what was going on in Nasrallah’s bureau, on the report that Nimer would provide for the leader of Hezbollah, and mostly on the meeting that Dan believed was about to take place between the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, General Soleimani, and Nasrallah and Nimer. Dan wanted to meet them immediately after he and Gideon returned to Israel, so that they could present all the information they had collected.

  Gideon did not talk and also refused the flight attendant’s offers of food or beverages.

  Did we fail to notice that we’ve exposed ourselves to Nimer and his organization? Did Nimer beat us yet again with his knowledge and his ability to make a decision from one moment to the next and to slip away? What is Dan’s team missing in order to allow us to intercept Nimer? Or could the blame lie in the fact that I’m actually afraid to meet Nimer face-to-face? Gideon debated, unable to find any peace until the plane landed.

  Chapter 42

  Immediately after their landing at Ben Gurion Airport, Binyamin met Gideon and informed him they were driving straight to a debriefing by Nahari. Gideon tried to organize his thoughts and formulate the conclusions he would have to present regarding the failure to intercept Nimer.

  “What happened to that bird you were trying to trap?” Nahari began with no preliminaries, signaling to Binyamin to stay with them. “Your friend fooled you again and bypassed the trap, didn’t he?”

  “Obviously, the fact that Nimer slipped off did not allow him to complete the task he was trying to carry out during the conference. We knew that he had several meetings planned, and that they did not take place. Being elusive comes with a price,” Gideon tried to focus on the bright side.

  “The problem called Dr. Nimer remains unresolved, and we still don’t know what he’s going to carry out on behalf of his masters in Hezbollah and Iran.” Nahari was not ready to relinquish his criticism.

  Gideon entered the “war room,” packed with powerful computers and screens projecting information from all over the Web. The three members of the Talpiot team and Noam had already heard from Dan about the events in Berlin, and Gideon chose to begin directly with the topics whose importance Nahari had emphasized.

  “What do we currently know about the tunnel project that Nimer is working on?” Gideon skipped the preliminaries and the introductory comments.

  “We didn’t learn any new details about the tunnel defense system during Nimer’s meeting with Nasrallah,” Eviatar reported. “They’re about to establish a project in a suburb of Teheran, where they will manufacture the nets and train the technicians who will install the nets in Lebanon and Gaza. Nimer’s holding those cards very close to his chest, claiming that he promised the North Koreans not to reveal the secrets…”

  “The basic chemical composition,” Aaron from the Shin Bet chimed in, “isn’t a secret. However, the secret ingredient is a material that’s added in miniscule amounts. It’s possible that North Korea gave Nimer the recipe to brew this material himself. It’s the thing that will allow the system to function effectively.”

  “This morning we intercepted a phone call, considered encrypted, between General Soleimani and General Lee Hong Jik, who’s in charge of research and development of strategic weapons. Nimer is invited to be a guest of honor at the annual military parade commemorating the founding of the Workers’ Party, which rules North Korea. The North Korean general said that the heavy-warhead missiles, which Nimer helped the development division of the Republic’s army to perfect, will be presented for the first time during the parade.”

  “When is this taking place?” Gideon queried.

  “Exactly a week from now,” Eviatar replied.

  “If I may,” Noam intervened, “we have to assume that the invitation to this ceremonial parade isn’t that innocent.” She paused briefly, ascertaining that her audience was attentive. “Nimer was involved in making the long-range missiles compatible with the heavy warheads that can contain nuclear cargo. There might still be some unresolved problems, and the cover story of the ceremonial parade is intended to create a smokescreen around their true intentions.”

  “You have a lot of work awaiting you, my friends,” Gideon concluded, rising from his seat. “I won’t waste your time.”

  Noam hurried to rise as well and accompanied her father on his way back to his office. Dan noticed the look she sent him and hurried to join them.

  “What’s up, Noam? What else did you want to tell me?”

  “I’m going back to the assumption I’ve voiced before, which is related to Nimer’s Achilles’ heel.”

  “Nimer’s relationship with his only surviving son after the Shatila massacre?”

  “We’ve talked about it, Noam and I,” Dan intervened, “and I completely accept her stance. The question is, Gideon, what do we do with it?”

  “I know that it’s uncomfortable and unpleasant to talk about it,” Noam added, lowering her voice. “We have to get our hands on the son and use him as a hostage. That’ll put Nimer in a situation where we can assume it will be possible to talk to him and influence him. I know this is tough for you, Dad, but in this case, you don’t have a choice. That’s the only way we can jump-start the process of negotiating with your childhood friend.”

  ***

  Not for the first time, Nimer witnessed General Soleimani’s power and his ability to set in motion things that seemed difficult, if not impossible. The Revolutionary Guard confiscated a series of structures and made the adjustments necessary to turn them into labs intended to develop and manufacture the nets. Two tunnel segments, one simulating the tunnels in southern Lebanon and the other built with the sandy soil typical of the Gaza Strip, were readied for testing. A North Korean engineering crew arrived, equipped with a whole series of instruments closely resembling the systems developed in Israel and the United States. Soleimani and senior staff members of the Revolutionary Guard’s Research and Development Division arrived to watch the initial test. The first nets from the production line were installed in the test tunnels after the detection instruments had been set up by the North Korean team. Fighters from the Guard’s commando unit, Quds Force, adept at keeping secrets, were on standby for a trial run through the test tunnel. The warriors moved through the tunnels, first trying the tunnel simulating the terrain of southern Lebanon, and then the one simulating the Gaza Strip. Everyone held their breath, staring at the detection system’s screen. The full length of the tunnels was displayed, and the fighters’ movement through them was also clearly visible.

  “That was great, Nimer” Soleimani roared. “Is this the great breakthrough you were talking about?”

  “We will study this immediately, General Soleimani,” Nimer replied after a whispered consultation with the North Koreans. “It will take time; you should not wait around. I promise to update you as soon as possible.”

  Nimer needed to invest a great deal of time to discover the reason for the failure. He examined stage after stage with the North Korean experts until they detected an error in the amount of the special material added to the composition, material that only Nimer had the required information to manufacture. With no visitors peering over his shoulder and applying pressure,
Nimer worked with the experts and the Iranian team, and achieved a successful test at the end of the day.

  “I’ve already heard that you overcame the issue,” Soleimani greeted Nimer as he arrived at his bureau to update him.

  “Yes, General, we found something concerning an incorrect amount of one of the four components. I’ve instructed the operators of the production line on what to do, and we are continuing to manufacture the nets.”

  “And where do you stand on the installation training course for Hezbollah and Hamas?”

  “I’ll finish the training today. No need to worry,” Nimer soothed him.

  “Okay,” Soleimani softened. “You have to make sure the process is safe, and that the installers have learned their job well. You only have two days for all that, since the day after tomorrow, you’re flying to Pyongyang. You’re invited to be the guest of honor at the army’s annual parade commemorating the founding of the North Korean Republic Workers’ Party,” the general told the startled Nimer. “At the parade, they’ll be presenting the new missiles with the heavy warhead for the first time. In addition to the celebrations, they’ll also take you to the nuclear test site…”

  “Really? What for? I was there just a short time ago, for a test that actually succeeded.”

  “It’s better if you hear about the issue from them, Nimer, but my understanding is that there’s an engineering problem with the test tunnels. They are afraid that the underground test array will collapse due to repeated use of the same tunnels. The situation was exacerbated by a series of earthquakes that have taken place in the area recently.”

  “Well, I’m not sure what I can advise them to do. But, as you said, General, I’ll hear the details from them and see what I can contribute. On second thought, however, I would like to get some background information from the scientists at Sharif University of Technology’s Geology Department.”