by Yossi Porat
Menahem agreed, knowing he could never let his friend and boss down.
Chapter Twenty
Leora raised her eyes and saw Omar and Sayeed entering the reception area. “Good morning,” she smiled. “Follow me to the conference room.”
Soon Andrew and Adam joined the two Arabs, and they began the legal procedure of signing the contracts which would make Sayeed and Omar partners in Control. When the formalities were successfully concluded, Andrew, his face shining in satisfaction, opened a box of Cuban cigars and passed it around. Adam declined, of course, his face showing distaste.
Andrew, on the other hand, felt completely relaxed and began to expand on his plans for the company. “You know, I’m sure that many companies and organizations will be begging us for our product. But I think that we could probably use it to our own advantage. For instance, we could make huge withdrawals from bank accounts all over world, with none the wiser.”
“Could you get Laurie to sleep with me?” Omar asked, half-seriously.
Adam jumped up furiously. “Of course not!” he objected heatedly. “She’s our employee. How could you even think of such a thing?”
“Come on, Adam,” Andrew said soothingly. “We were only joking.”
“More seriously,” Omar began, “I’d like to know how you compartmentalize your information.”
Andrew explained his system of programmers working from home, each of whom reported to one of three divisional managers, according to the area he was working on in his programming. One manager dealt with detection of the subject’s cell-phone location, the second with voice transmission, and the third
with memory deletion. No one knows about the activities of the other, and I’m the only one who holds all the information together. The GMLC is actually located here in our offices.”
“So you’re the one who transmits the orders?” Sayeed asked.
“Not exactly. I tell the division manager in India the content and he does the actual transmission, which is passed from India to the GMLC on the roof of our building.”
“And what exactly is your function in the company, Adam?” asked Sayeed, turning to the other partner.
“Oh” he replied self-deprecatingly. “I’m just the money man. Don’t have a clue about anything technological or scientific. Andrew has it all in his head. Of course, we do consult with a neurologist about the workings of the human brain and how it can be most precisely affected by our program.”
“So, what’s our next project?” asked Omar. “Maybe Laurie after all?”
“Enough!” Adam fumed, and Sayeed remarked softly, “Maybe we should try a small bombing incident? It doesn’t have to be in London. We could do it in anywhere in Europe, couldn’t we?”
“Bombing incident?!” Adam exploded. “I’ve had enough! You’re all crazy!” He charged out of the conference room.
The three paid him no attention. “Hmm,” Andrew pondered. “A small bomb could be interesting. We definitely could do it in Europe somewhere. Let’s keep this away from our other ‘partner’ though, OK?” he finished with a sardonic smile.
They left the conference room together, on their way to celebrate with food and drink. No one invited Adam.
He was in his office, putting a call through to Sir Joseph. “Keep me informed of all their plans, Adam,” the Minister concluded. “I hope we’ll be able to stop them. And thank you for calling.”
Adam decided it was time for him to go home for his daily nap, and left the building.
Andrew, on his return from celebrating, stopped at Laurie’s desk. “Laurie, I want to thank you again for setting this deal up. Soon you’ll get what I promised – and all in cash! And by the way, how would you like to go out with me this evening to celebrate?”
“Sorry, sir,” Laurie looked down demurely. “Tonight I have a date with Sayeed. “Maybe another time.”
“Yes, of course,” Andrew said, entering his office. He picked up the phone to one of his division managers in India. “Subject 1004 is our receptionist, Laurie. I want her for myself. Set up a transmission to make it happen.” Smiling to himself, he left the office and headed for the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi branch near the company’s building. On the way, he activated his hologram, in case he was being followed. The Mossad agent trailing him was left with only thin air.
Returning from the bank with the cash from Morris’s heroin transaction, he again stopped at Laurie’s desk. “Laurie, please keep your cell-phone open at all times. I need to know that I have unobstructed access to you at all times. And could you please come in to my office in about ten minutes?”
He smiled to himself and entered his office. Laurie, at her desk, began to feel a strange warmth in her neck and head area. As she entered Andrew’s office, she
sensed danger. “Come, come,” Andrew held out a thick brown envelope. “Here it is, a hundred thousand – and in cash.”
As Leora approached him, her body went limp and weak. She was dizzy and warm, her heart beating. Andrew took hold of her and seated her at the edge of his desk. Pushing her onto her back, he raised her skirt. “I want to blindfold
you,” he whispered in her ear. He removed his tie and wound it around her head, covering her eyes. Laurie groped his chest, stroking him in long, slow moves. She felt no inhibitions at all.
Andrew opened all the buttons of her blouse and discovered his long-awaited treasure before his eyes. Thrusting his head between her breasts, he removed them from the constraints of her bra. Then he pulled down his pants and closed in on her. He moved her legs apart as he took off her panties and made to enter her. Loud banging on the door interrupted his concentration and suddenly Sol burst into the room.
“What are you doing?! Are you crazy! Get off her right now!” Sol was beside himself.
“Get out of here! How dare you burst into my office like this?” Andrew was crazed.
Sol pulled Andrew off Leora with his left hand, and with his right sent a punch flying directly to Andrew’s nose. Andrew started bleeding profusely.
Sol held out his hand to Leora, and helped her off the desk. “Are you all right?” he murmured softly to her. “Let’s get you back together,” as he picked up her underwear and helped her arrange herself.
Leora looked into Sol’s eyes. “Nothing happened,” she assured him softly. They left the office together
.
Andrew was furious. “Who does that doorman think he is, bursting into my office? I’ve got to fire him right away!” He picked up the phone to India again. “Wipe out the memory of 1004 from the last hour. And our doorman is 1005 – wipe out his memory as well. Is that clear? Immediately!”
“Yes, sir,” the division manager replied weakly.
“And by the way, what’s happening with 1002 and 1003?” Andrew demanded.
“They’re not using their phones, sir,” the manager reported.
“Very suspicious,” said Andrew. “Keep watching them, and send a complete memory erasure when you can. I don’t want them remembering anything that we’ve made them do.”
Holding a handkerchief to his still-bleeding nose, Andrew made his way to the men’s room. After washing his face and cleaning himself off, he turned back toward the elevator, passing Laurie’s desk on the way. She, however, made no sign of having seen him and continued typing. “Her memory has been completely erased!” Andrew thought to himself smugly.
And then Sol opened the door to the elevator, smiling politely to Andrew. “What’s happened to your nose, sir?” he asked in a concerned tone. “Oh, it’s nothing,” Andrew replied. “The memory erasure worked with him too,” he thought. “But maybe I should fire him anyway. I’d rather be rid of him completely.”
“Listen,” Andrew began on the ride down. “I’m thinking of hiring someone full-time for your position, and since you’re a student and you can’t offer me all your time, I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go and get someone else. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, sir,” Sol replied. “H
ow will I keep an eye on Leora, though?” he thought to himself. Andrew left the elevator, satisfied that his technology was working perfectly.
Leora showed Sol the envelope filled with cash. “Listen, Leora,” Sol began. “Andrew has decided to take on someone full-time for my job, so I’m out of here very soon. Wonder why, though.”
“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll be all right,” Leora assured him. Just then the phone rang. It was Sayeed. “Laurie, could you meet me and Omar at the club? We have a surprise for you.”
“Sure, Sayeed,” Leora replied. “I can be there in ten minutes.”
“Here,” Sayeed said to her as they sat at their usual table. “This is for you.” He held out a small black case. “This is your finder’s fee. Two million pounds. But for this, you must also keep us informed about what’s happening at Control, you know.”
Leora smiled and got up. “What, you’re not staying with me?” Sayeed was disappointed. “No, dear, I’ve got to put this in a safe place.” Leora was beginning to be troubled by the fact that she could not hold him off indefinitely. Sayeed grabbed her arm. “You know, Leora, there’s a lot more money where that came from. I want to take over this company and I think you can help me a lot. It will definitely be worth your while. And meanwhile, a small token.”
He handed her a small jewelry case. Inside was a gold ring set with a pink diamond. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Leora breathed as she put it on her finger. She passed a warm hand over his hair and gave him a small kiss as she left the club. Omar and Sayeed both watched her with desire.
When Leora arrived home, Sol was waiting for her. “We’ve got to tell
Menahem about the money, but maybe we should ‘peel off’ some of it for ourselves.”
Sayeed meanwhile was informing his boss Hani Salama about closing the deal with Control, but neglecting to inform him of the millions that he had taken for himself. “I’d better be careful,” he thought to himself. “They don’t call
him ‘The Snake’ for nothing.” He thought about how clever he had been to deposit the cash in a safe deposit box in a branch of Bank ha-Poalim, an Israeli bank with many branches in London. “No one will think of looking in an Israeli bank for my money!” he smiled to himself with satisfaction.
The bank manager, however, had his own suspicions. He reached the Israeli ambassador at his office in London. “A Saudi sheikh has just taken out a safety deposit box here at my bank. I’ll give you his name and the deposit box number.”
…..
The CIA also received a phone call. “They’ve closed the deal. The Arabs have put in fifty million pounds. It seems the Syrian deposited a large amount of cash in an Israeli bank in London.”
…..
Menahem had a message on his cell-phone about the deposit in Bank ha-Poalim. He immediately reported to Avram, who told him that he’d already heard from the London embassy about the bank deposit. “This is very good. We know everything that’s going on – and of course they’re completely unaware that we’re on to them. This technology cannot be allowed to fall into our enemies’ hands. I know you think we should include the Americans and the British, but, forget it – it’s not going to happen!” Avram was firm, and hung up.
Menahem decided that he’d have to act on his own if he wanted to stay true to himself and his principles. He couldn’t allow his agents to continue working undercover in an ally’s territory. He called Sol and told him that he and Leora must discontinue use of their cells phones.
Sol immediately agreed and hung up, feeling confident that his boss was on top of the mission.
Chapter Twenty-One
That evening at nine, Morris was seated in a red plush easy chair in the lobby of the Sheraton Park Tower. Rob was introducing his friend, Dr. Brian Stanley.
“Very pleased to meet you,” Morris said to Brian. “I want to thank for all your help in this business. Could you tell me about your meeting with the Minister?”
“Sir Joseph was most cooperative,” Rob began. “He has given us access to all his resources, including to the American satellites. I think you and Deborah should stay in the background, so the only thing we would ask of you right now is to activate your cell-phones again. You must try to be as far away from each other as possible, so that the satellites can pick up the individual signals.”
“Deborah and I will be happy to help,” replied Morris. “But I would still like to be more involved in the surveillance side.”
“Do you really think that’s wise?” Brian interjected. “After all, Sir Joseph and his American allies have probably already begun to act. We wouldn’t want to step on their toes. Maybe we should consult with Sir Joseph.”
“And I’ll call my Superintendent,” Morris added.
“Wait, Morris,” Rob cried. “Let Brian talk to Sir Joseph first.” Brian picked up his cell phone and dialed. “Sir Joseph, how are you? This is Brian.” Brian’s face showed complete attention to Sir Joseph. “Have you begun the surveillance?”
After a moment, Brian turned to Rob and Morris. “The Police Commissioner has begun the surveillance operation.” He turned back to his phone. “Sir Joseph, I have the police officer I told you about sitting here next to me. He requests permission to be actively involved in the operation. Could you ask the Commissioner to transfer him?”
Brian listened to Sir Joseph’s reply, and thanking the Minister, closed his cell-phone.
“So, what’s the answer?” Morris asked anxiously.
“You’re in, but please be careful,” Brian smiled tightly. “We need you alive to talk on your cell-phone, you and Deborah both.”
“OK, Brian,” Rob interjected. “Now that that’s settled, let’s sum up what we know.”
“Control is able to do the following,” began Brian. “Exact location of a specific cell-phone, transmission of a particular signal to activate the subject, and then another signal to erase the subject’s memory of his actions.”
“It’s terrifying to think of the implications of this technology,” Morris said. “They can control banks, they can activate murders, terrorists – actually they can get anyone to perform anything! We’ve got to stop this quickly!”
“They can control governments, as well as individuals. This technology is worth billions,” Brian added.
“Well, it’s obvious why the Arabs have invested in the technology,” added Morris. “The potential for sophisticated acts of terror makes this technology irresistible to them. But we’ve got to completely understand the workings of this in order to make it useless.”
“You’re absolutely right, Morris,” Rob replied. “Brian will be consulting with a neurologist so that he can learn more about the workings of the brain. He’s a quick study, our Brian!” Rob smiled.
“First we’ll find the source of their transmissions,” Brian made clear. “We’ll make it that much more difficult for them to transmit. At the same time, I think
it would be wise to find where their programmers are based, so that we can infiltrate their work.”
Morris asked, “When do you want Deborah and me to activate our cell-phones?” Morris asked.
“We’ll consult with Sir Joseph and let you know,” Brian concluded.
The man shook hands and parted. When Morris reached home, he found a message on his home phone. It was Superintendent Benjamin. “Hello, Morris. I’ve just received an order from the Commissioner to release you to a special task force. Do you know what it’s about?”
Morris reached his boss’s cell-phone. “Yes, I do,” as if continuing the conversation. “It’s got to do with what I’ve been consulting with Rob about.”
“OK, I see,” the Superintendent said. “They’ll notify you tomorrow where to report. Good luck.”
On the way from the hotel, Brian received a call from Sir Joseph. “Tell Morris and Deborah to activate their cell-phones tomorrow. The Americans are ready. Also, Morris will be second in command of the special task force, starting tomorrow. I hope this goes off well, but
, you must know, I’m worried.”
“We’ll do our best, sir,” Brian replied. “Thank you and good evening.”
“So the festivities begin tomorrow?” Rob crowed. “Isn’t it amazing that these people were able to build a whole network in the heart of London?”
“I’m not sure that they did,” Brian replied. “I think it’s more likely that they used existing communications technology from one of the big cell-phone providers, without being detected. That fits more with what I know of Andrew’s devious and brilliant mind.”
Brian called Morris at home. “Morris, we’d like you to turn on your cell-phone tomorrow morning at exactly eight. Everything is in place. Please let Deborah