by Uzi Eilam
“It is, Tan, but this time, it felt like two pedestrians were sticking a bit too close to me.”
“And what did you make of it?” Tan asked with a surprising smile.
“I didn’t know what to make of it.”
“I apologize for not updating you sooner,” Tan continued, still smiling. “I’ve asked that you be assigned a security detail.”
“Me? Why?”
“Dan let me know, the day before yesterday, that he’d intercepted information indicating there might be an attempt to harm you and Deutsch personally. Dan told me he updated you about it, and you just brushed it off and dismissed the threat as nothing serious. I thought we shouldn’t take the chance, and asked that you be placed under protection.”
“I’m less important than Dan,” Gideon claimed. “If one of us should be watched over, it’s actually him.”
“You’re right. I thought of that, but I haven’t instructed my people on it yet.”
“I understand you’re up-to-date on the cell that’s supposed to go through the tunnel today,” Gideon said, moving on to the main topic on the agenda.
“Yes, Dan also told me about the message he intercepted, which we initially missed, between the cell and Kuala Lumpur. Maybe they’re waiting to join the other cell? We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Yes, that’s the most important thing now,” Gideon confirmed.
Gideon was contemplative when he left the meeting with Tan. He decided to speak to Dan that very morning and try to understand the background for the alert regarding an intention to personally harm him, and perhaps Dan and Deutsch as well. He wanted to view the source of the information and assess for himself how realistic the threat was. Gideon was less troubled by the risk to his personal safety than by the prospect of a disruption of the task force’s work routine.
Chapter 29
In his own way, Deutsch was trying to clear his mind and perhaps think quietly, in the clean morning air, about the problems that were constantly troubling him. He enjoyed walking the streets around the hotel. In these early morning hours, it was possible to meet early risers leaving for the first shift of work, as well as schoolchildren with uniforms and backpacks. He noticed two young men wearing suits and ties following him. Deutsch lengthened his stride, an effortless feat considering his long legs, but the two were maintaining a fixed distance from him. The sharply curving street granted him a few seconds before his tails had him in their sights again. Deutsch sprinted to the courtyard of an apartment building and waited there for several minutes. He could not see the men following him when he exited the courtyard and assumed they had continued along the route they expected him to take. Deutsch returned to the hotel, walking briskly, uncertain whether his imagination was working overtime or whether he had just experienced a threatening incident. He decided to tell Gideon about it and perhaps to update Tan as well.
***
Dan’s “war room” was buzzing with activity when Gideon arrived. Rogel and Tyler Roberts were separately tracking the screens and monitoring the audio communications.
“We’re directly connected to the equipment the American engineering crews are using out on the field,” Dan said. “And thanks to the assistance from the American embassy, you can see what the engineering team is seeing right here on the screen.” He turned toward Tyler.
“And what’s this communication giving us?” Gideon inquired. “Are you already getting results? Any new information?”
“Yes and no, Gideon. The system can discern human motion in the tunnel, from the moment they enter it, and alert us,” Dan replied, “but so far, we haven’t received that sort of signal.”
“That sounds good, Dan. I’ll go join Tan, and I assume the commando unit will have time to prepare to catch the terrorists after we receive the alert that there are people in the tunnel.”
“Okay, Gideon, but there’s also the container terminal front to consider. That’s where we’ll test the extra protection provided by the IOT system demo. It’s an important test.”
“Sure, Dan. We’ll keep our fingers crossed about that aspect of our defense against cyber attacks as well.”
Gideon entered Tan’s office to find Dr. Chang Mei, Deutsch, who appeared slightly uneasy, the head of the Counter Intelligence Division, and Quan Lin. Tan seemed tenser than usual, a sensation he took out on the tip of his pencil, which he was gradually nibbling.
“Dr. Deutsch,” Tan said, “you were just saying something about an incident this morning?”
“Oh… I’m not sure it was anything serious, but during my morning walk, two people were sticking close to me, and for some reason I thought they weren’t on their way to work but were actually following me. I employed a common dodging maneuver to get rid of them, and it worked.”
“This wasn’t the security detail you sent?” Gideon asked Tan.
“No, Gideon. I know the expansion in providing personal security for our team was set to commence tomorrow. This surveillance raises questions. What do you think, Dr. Chang?” Tan hoped to draw some confidence from Chang Mei, with her clear logic and personal strength.
“We have to assume the worst, and not wait any longer in providing personal security for the task force members,” Chang Mei replied. “I’ve heard that in communications exchanged during the last few days, Dan has noted the enemy’s intention to personally harm the members of our team, and I wouldn’t underestimate that threat.”
“Look into this subject,” Tan commanded the head of the Counter Intelligence Division. “And don’t stop searching for the cell that managed to enter the country through the tunnel. We have to locate them and, for that purpose, you should coordinate your actions more closely with Dan Avni’s system.”
The voice of the commando unit’s commander suddenly rang out. “We’ve received an alert of entry through the tunnel opening in Malaysia. We’re getting ready to intercept them.”
“Good luck! Don’t let them get away!” Tan commanded. “Tell me, Deutsch, have your people calculated how long it would take to walk through the tunnel?”
“No more than fifteen or twenty minutes if they’re walking quickly.”
Silence filled Tan’s office. Ten minutes. Twelve minutes… Sixteen minutes, and nothing was happening.
“They’re out of the tunnel!” They heard Dan’s excited voice through the speaker. “The tunnel has another opening! They’re on their way to the water desalination facility!”
For a moment, Dan’s exclamation echoed through the room, and no one said a word. Gideon then declared, in a quiet, confident voice, that nothing had happened yet and advised that the commando unit be instructed to head for the desalination facility immediately. Gideon’s eyes met Deutsch’s. He seemed perturbed by the fact that the engineering unit hadn’t discovered this opening. Gideon was not surprised that the tunnel’s additional opening hadn’t been located. His experience in Israel with the Hamas tunnels in the Gaza Strip had involved quite a few similar incidents. He also didn’t tell Deutsch that, several days ago, Dan had mentioned a possible attack on the water facility. It had been a fleeting reference, Dan had claimed, and he hadn’t heard anything more on the subject.
“We should also alert the desalination facility’s security force,” Gideon added. “They know the structure well and can seal all the ways in efficiently. I’d even consider shutting down the facility, if there’s enough time for the shutdown process in the facility’s water circuits.”
The next minutes seemed to last forever to the task force members sitting around Tan’s conference table, and the general’s unfortunate pencil was soon reduced to half its length.
“We’ve got them!” the voice of the commando unit’s commander thundered. “Two massive explosive charges have already been neutralized. We captured two powerful laptops before they could use them for sabotage. We’re transporting the three to be interroga
ted.”
“What’s the deal with the powerful computers, Dan?”
“It’s a way to get past the desalination facility’s electromagnetic defense. Transmission from up close ensures their commands get through with no interference,” Dan replied.
General Tan huffed in relief and warmly congratulated the teams on the ground.
“Please instruct your interrogators to get as much information as possible out of them as soon as they can,” Tan instructed the head of the Counter Intelligence Division. “First, we need information about the first cell. And as for the second cell, it’s important to know exactly how they were planning to sabotage the seawater desalination facility. What exactly was the role of the powerful computers they brought with them? The entire task force will convene here in three hours for an update and decision-making.”
The three young men in the “war room,” Dan, Rogel, and Tyler, were each engrossed in their own array of screens and speakers. They were so busy that they almost failed to notice they had visitors.
“That tip you gave us, Dan, about the second cell’s exit through the opening we didn’t know about, effectively saved the water desalination facility from long-term inactivation,” Deutsch said. “It rescued us from the situation caused by our engineering people’s mistake.”
“Based on our experience with the Gaza Strip tunnels, these things happen,” Gideon said.
“It’s good to hear you were successful in capturing the cell,” Dan said.
“And what’s new here? I see the screens are full of activity,” Gideon half-asked, half-stated.
“I’m trying to track down the first cell,” Rogel said. “Unsuccessfully, at this point. They’re keeping a low profile and maintaining total radio silence. I’m in contact with the Counter Intelligence Division, hoping their efforts will provide another lead.”
“There’s clear evidence, based on the Chinese communication, that the Chinese are receiving ongoing reports from Kuala Lumpur,” Tyler volunteered in turn. “The topic of banks and funding comes up repeatedly in the secured Chinese communications. There are also expressions of criticism toward Israel on the topic of tracking what they claim is ‘legitimate’ channeling of funds. At the outskirts of all this, we’ve also heard expressions of ideological support for Hamas in particular, and for the Palestinians in general.”
Dan promptly continued. “Gideon, the port’s defense system looks different now that we’ve installed the security IOT demo. It fits in well with the existing system and, of course, now we have extra sensors that effectively seal up the firewall.”
“I see you’re tracking three containers,” Deutsch noted. “What’s going on with those three?”
“We’re not entirely sure yet. Seemingly, these containers are moving in a way that appears routine, but the new IOT system has recognized their motion as irregular. The enemy might be using one of them as a Trojan horse to smuggle in terrorists, which is what we’re trying to identify.”
“What are you still missing in order to feel confident about the new defense array?” Gideon asked.
“I’m never entirely confident. But if I could affix sensors to the three suspicious containers, we’d save time and improve our ability to detect threats.”
“That’ll be possible when we have the ‘wasps’ with the tiny sensors,” Gideon said. “That really is an urgent topic that should receive top priority.”
Gideon and Deutsch sat tracking the process of container conveyance, fascinated. It was obvious that a cyber duel of sorts was taking place. Dan had achieved a positive identification of the suspicious container and attempted to isolate it. To his surprise, he found he could not control it through the port’s routing system. The crane carrying it was moving at breakneck speed, returning the container to a shipping container vessel anchored at the dock. Once the container was loaded, the ship sailed off toward the open sea. The other two suspicious containers were stopped, and port personnel quickly opened them to discover they contained no suspicious cargo.
Gideon and Deutsch peppered Dan with questions about the identity of the ship that had fled the harbor and about the cargo supposedly present in the container. After a lengthy interval, Dan informed them that the ship had sailed in from North Korea and was on its way to Iran. The contents of the container were “agricultural pesticides,” Dan reported, adding, “And if you actually believe it, good for you.”
***
“Good evening to you all,” General Tan called out, shushing the task force members, who were whispering among themselves, exchanging impressions and assessments. “Let’s start with a report on the terrorist cell captured near the water desalination facility.”
“The terrorists we’ve captured are Hezbollah activists who have undergone very comprehensive training at a special base in Kuala Lumpur. They were sent to sabotage our large desalination facility and claimed they were told this would ‘dry up’ Singapore. They received guidance from an Iranian engineer, who was trained in Israel back in the days of the Shah, when Israel was building desalination facilities in Iranian Air Force bases. They intended to carry out the attack by combining cyber means and explosives.”
“How, exactly?” Gideon, who knew quite a bit about desalination, couldn’t hold back from asking.
“The powerful laptops were supposed to remotely—although not too remotely—activate the computer system controlling the process. The specially developed software was supposed to reverse the direction of the flow of the water, and then the explosion at the core of the control apparatus would arrive to complete the damage. Essentially, the target is the plastic pipes enclosed within metal pipes in which the reverse osmosis process takes place. The damage caused to the facility would have shut it down for many months.”
“What do we know about the cell that went through the tunnel two days ago? Where are they hiding?” Tan demanded from the head of the Counter Intelligence Division.
“We’re working on it, sir, and unfortunately, we couldn’t get any information out of the members of the captured cell. We believe the cells are compartmentalized. We have some theories, but we don’t have any real leads yet.”
“With your permission, General Tan,” Gideon chimed in, “I’ll report on the activity that took place at the port. Deutsch and I were at the surveillance and cyber defense center that Dan, Rogel, and Tyler Roberts, the NSA representative from the American embassy, are managing. The activity there is impressive and efficient. They managed to thwart an attempt to smuggle in a container with unknown contents. The container was returned to the ship it was unloaded from, and we were unable to stop it. We now know it was a ship transporting cargo from North Korea to Iran. It doesn’t require too much imagination to have a good idea what else was on that ship which left the port so hastily and sailed off toward the heart of the sea.”
“Dan claims, and rightly so, that progress must be made with the projects your industries have taken on. The components arriving from Taiwan are behind schedule too,” Gideon noted. “We have to assume the enemy will learn quickly from this failed attempt and that a new, improved version of cyber attack will be on its way soon.”
“Thank you, Gideon, and thanks to all of you,” Tan concluded. “We’re still dealing with the threat of the cell that hasn’t been located, but there are also threats we know nothing about, which requires a lot of hard work from all of us.”
Chapter 30
The security guards protecting the Supreme Leader’s residence stood tautly at attention when the car of the Chinese ambassador to Tehran passed them by. All of them knew an unusual event was taking place, and they exchanged many whispered speculations among themselves. The ambassador was greeted at the entrance to the Supreme Leader’s residence by the Leader’s personal assistant, who accompanied him to the conference room. General Suleimani was already waiting and showered the ambassador with compliments.
Suleimani
, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, had been the one to convince the Supreme Leader to invite the ambassador to a meeting defined as “important and urgent.” The general explained the purpose of the meeting to the Supreme Leader as an appeal for support from China in regard to the terrorist attacks in Singapore, despite their lack of success thus far. Suleimani did not reveal to the Supreme Leader that he intended to level a harsh critique against General Ja’afari, blaming him for the failure of the attacks in Singapore. Revolutionary Guard personnel stationed in the embassy in Kuala Lumpur had collected detailed information on his behalf, which he intended to use as part of his arguments against General Ja’afari. Suleimani still perceived Ja’afari, the former commander of the Revolutionary Guard, as a rival for his ascent to the top.
“Welcome, Ambassador,” the Supreme Leader said softly. “And welcome to you too, General Suleimani.” He shook their hands before sitting down in a recliner, which was the only elegant item of furniture in the room. The ambassador and general sat on either side of him, while the Supreme Leader’s personal assistant sat behind him, ready to transcribe the proceedings and to help in any way required.
“Thank you for the invitation to this meeting,” the ambassador said. “I’ll be happy to hear how I can help such an important ally.”
The Supreme Leader did not proceed with the conversation immediately. He closed his eyes, looking as if he was praying. Suleimani was familiar with this custom of the Supreme Leader when he needed to concentrate and hoped the ambassador would not interpret it as disrespect.
Suleimani was ambivalent about the meeting with the Chinese ambassador. On the one hand, it was important to him to make use of the review of the situation in Malaysia and Singapore in order to heighten his condemnation of Ja’afari’s failures. He acknowledged China’s technological superiority and supported the advisability of receiving aid from China, particularly in the field of cyber warfare. On the other hand, Suleimani thought, this aid shouldn’t be “too good,” thus casting Ja’afari, his nemesis, in a positive light due to the success attained via Chinese technology.