by Uzi Eilam
“John, I’d also like to add a word or two,” Deutsch finally spoke. “I’d like to salute Dr. Ben-Ari and Dr. Yehuda Avni for their outstanding scientific and technological achievements. We all value their contribution to the defense of both Israel and the United States. We have asked Dr. Ben-Ari to continue his work and research at SRI, and I’m pleased to say that he’s agreed.” Deutsch received loud applause as he concluded his speech.
“Yehuda Avni,” General Milson’s high voice interrupted the applause, “has decided to close the impressive chapter of his work at New Horizons. We will keep in touch with him after he returns to Israel. Thank you. We all wish you good luck.” Another round of applause ended the meeting, and they all stood up, shaking each other’s hands warmly.
47.
Nurit opened her eyes and lost her bearings for a moment. The air still held its morning chill. She tried to go back to sleep but realized immediately that it was impossible. A harsh female voice reminded her. “It’s six o’clock, lady, you have to get up!”
It took her a moment to remember that she was being detained and subjected to endless interrogations. Her orange jumpsuit was thrown over the chair by her bed, and she quickly threw it on. Breakfast was at six thirty, and then the prison commander’s roll call, followed by free time in the gym cell, followed by free time to read until lunch. The conditions at the FBI’s detention center weren’t so bad, but she was going nuts from having her freedom denied without knowing what was in store for her.
After breakfast, the detention center commander came to her cell for a routine check, breaking his usual silence. “Take her to the visitation room.”
“You have fifteen minutes, sir,” the guard said when she opened the heavy armored door. “If you have a problem, press the distress button.”
She disappeared, and Yudke was left to face Nurit on his own. She noticed he’d aged overnight. His frowning face drooped. Lost for words, they looked at each other, Nurit trying to look him in the eye. She tried to maintain her usual rebellious expression, with only partial success. She pointed silently at one of the chairs and sat down opposite Yudke.
“Why?” was all that Yudke could say.
Nurit didn’t respond. She looked down, silent and withdrawn.
“I told the kids yesterday.” Yudke choked the words out as his throat constricted. “They took it very badly.”
“What did you tell them?” Nurit shook herself as if she’d been bitten by a snake.
“The truth, Nurit. I didn’t dare to tell them everything.” His voice grew stronger. “Just that you’ve been arrested and accused of giving information to the enemy was too much for all of us.”
Nurit bowed her head again.
“What were you thinking when you began this adventure?” Yudke couldn’t stop himself from asking. “What made you betray your country? Was it all because of your affair with that slick frog?”
“It’s not that simple,” Nurit said. “You also contributed to the situation I found myself in, which pushed me to do what I did.”
“So I’m to blame?” Yudke cried out. “How? For enabling you to live your life in Berkeley? For funding your doctoral studies? For working day and night to strengthen our country? Our family’s financial situation?”
“You dried up our relationship for years,” Nurit said. “Your stinginess is what led me to accept the generous financial proposals that at first appeared to be a scholarship.”
“And what about what happened with Gideon?” Yudke insisted. “That was just another adventure on the side, or was it something else?”
“I thought that it didn’t interest you. You never reacted when I told you I was seeing Gideon.”
“Even when I don’t seem to care, it still bothers me. Don’t you know me after all these years?”
“You showed no interest in what I was doing,” Nurit shot back.
“But, in the end, Nurit, you knew very well what you were doing!” Yudke growled in pain. “Betrayal is betrayal. And you did it not only to me but to your country!”
Nurit had nothing to say, and she didn’t dare look into her husband’s blazing eyes.
The knock at the door told them that their time was over, and Yudke sat up, feeling like he had a lot more to say.
“I’m not involved in the investigation or the charges, Nurit. That will be done by the authorities, and they will determine the price for your betrayal.” Yudke took a deep breath and added, “I won’t stand by you. We’re separating. I don’t see any reason to stay in contact with you for even one more day. The kids can decide for themselves.” He left the room without glancing back at his wife.
48.
As usual, almost all the tables at Peet’s were taken. Dan Avni stood at the door, breathing in the almost intoxicating aroma of pastries and cakes mixed with the wonderful atmosphere that his mother always talked about.
A dark-eyed waitress welcomed him with a big white smile.
“A table for one, Señor?” she asked, her South American accent unmistakable.
“Yes, I’m alone,” Dan replied. “A large Colombian coffee, please, and a croissant.” He remembered his mother’s praise for the mouthwatering croissants. “Oh, and a glass of water too, please.”
The waitress seated him at a corner table by the large window overlooking the Stanford campus. He took a yellow legal pad from his briefcase and began to flip through it, making notes in the margins. This was the first time since he’d started working for New Horizons that he’d decided to go out for his lunch break, instead of staying at the office.
A young woman was sitting at the next table, typing furiously on her laptop. Dan sipped his steaming coffee and took a bite of the croissant, unable to take his eyes off her. She was elegantly dressed in a loose striped shirt and a tight dark skirt. Her brown curly hair was short, almost boyish. When she looked up, he noticed her deep-blue eyes.
What’s so fascinating about her? He wondered. She looks Israeli, but I heard her talking on the phone, and her accent’s Californian.
Dan tried to concentrate on his notes but failed. He stole another glance at the young woman and realized that she’d stopped typing. Their eyes met, and she gave him a questioning look.
“It’s nice here,” Dan ventured.
“Yes,” the woman answered softly. “Is this your first time at Peet’s?”
“Yes. I’m Dan Avni.”
“Noam Ben-Ari,” she answered without looking away.
“Are you Israeli? I couldn’t make up my mind, between what I saw and what I heard,” he confessed.
“You mean my English?” Noam asked with a smile.
“Exactly. I heard you on the phone. Your American accent is perfect.”
“Oh, it’s quite simple.” Noam was still smiling. “Do you really want to know?” She looked amused. “Why don’t you join me at my table?”
Dan recognized her surname.
“Are you Gideon Ben-Ari’s daughter?” he asked.
”Yes, and my mother’s Suzy Ben-Ari. I was born here when my father was doing his doctorate. We moved back to Israel when I was still in kindergarten. English is my mother tongue.” She didn’t take her blue eyes off Dan, and he found himself drowning in them. “And you’re Yudke’s son?”
Dan nodded and smiled.
“My father,” she said softly, “told me about our parents’ involvement in what happened with the Iranian spy network. I was sorry to hear about how your mother got caught up in it…”
“Thanks, Noam,” Dan answered hoarsely. “It was a terrible blow that shocked us all. Dad still hasn’t recovered. He couldn’t stay here, and the fact that I work for the same company has something to do with it. He wanted to have a family representative to continue where he left off. Naturally, I wouldn’t dream of being able to fill his shoes.”
“And what about your mother?”
Noam asked carefully. “Are you in touch?”
“We are now… After the initial shock, we all cut off contact with her. My father is still hurt and has nothing to do with her, but for me and my sister Michal, our mother is our mother.”
“My father told me that she’s doing her post-doctorate at Berkeley,” Noam asked gently.
“Yes. She was lucky, and thanks to her talents, she found a place there for at least the next few years. She’ll be part of a research team.” Dan took a deep breath and lowered his eyes.
Noam noticed his distress and changed the subject. “How about another coffee?”
“Oh… Yes, sure!” Dan recovered and raised his head. “That’s enough about me. Tell me about yourself. Are you attending university? What are you studying?”
“I was accepted to do my BA in political science,” Noam replied. “I’ve always been interested in it.”
“I understand that your parents are still living here. Do you live with them? Or with your grandparents?”
“I’m a big girl.” Noam smiled. “I turned down my grandparents’ offer of a studio apartment at their place. I managed to get into the new student residence at Escondido Village, and I love it there,” she said confidently. “And you? I’m sure the company offered you great conditions.”
“Yes. I was offered my parents’ house in the hills above Palo Alto, but I refused. It’s too big for me and has too many memories.”
“You did the right thing,” Noam said quickly. “You’re entitled to your own life.”
“That’s what I thought too. Tell me—did you hear the whole story from your father? My father didn’t volunteer much information, only that it was an intricate network. He told me that all the agents involved were arrested and were sentenced to long terms in prison.”
“My father told me quite a lot,” Noam answered slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Mainly, he told me more about what was published in the media. He’s continuing the research he started at SRI, but he has a new team of assistants.”
Noam told him about Bill Abrahams, Ryan Davis, Francois Chaliand, and their involvement with the Iranians. If she knew about his affair with Dan’s mother, she omitted it.
“Your mother was the weak link through which the Iranians were hoping to get their hands on your father’s research. She was caught in a web of threats and lured into accepting what seemed like a generous scholarship, but that came at a price, as you know.”
Dan took a deep breath. “I don’t understand why my father hid all these details from us.”
Noam hesitated for a few seconds and then said, “Because there’s another detail they would all prefer to bury.”
“I know. My mother had an affair with that doctor Chaliand…”
Noam shook her head. Dan looked questioningly at her. “It wasn’t that affair they were hiding. There was another affair, one that nobody knew about, and I wouldn’t have known either if I hadn’t been using my father’s computer one day and found a folder of emails I guess he didn’t want to erase.”
Dan choked. “Were they from…”
“Exactly.”
Dan couldn’t stop himself. “Are you sure? Did you ask your father about it?”
“Not directly, but we have our way of communicating without words. He never lies to me.”
Dan’s head was spinning. “This is so much to take in.”
Noam stood up. “Let’s talk on the phone and get together again,” she said as she put a business card next to Dan’s plate.
He stood up politely and held out his hand. The long handshake left no doubt in their hearts that they would meet again, and soon.