Jerusalem, IDF Base
Eight days after Assassinations
Three days to Announcement
‘There was a thumb drive in Raskov’s apartment,’ Andropov told Zeb as he and Beth and Meghan traveled to the IDF base in a vehicle driven by Levin’s aide.
‘What’s in it?’ Zeb looked out at the rolling land sliding past his window.
‘No idea, yet. My people are checking. I have sent a copy to you. How’s Levin?’
‘He’s feeling more confident.’
‘Da, I can imagine.’ Andropov bitterly hated traitors. ‘Give him my regards.’
Zeb turned on his screen and kicked the back of the seat ahead of him. Meghan turned around, flicking back a strand of hair. Her green eyes were sunshine.
‘You’re working? This scenery …’ she clicked her tongue in exasperation. ‘It’s breathtaking. The world isn’t going to implode if you take some time to admire your surroundings.’
‘Andropov has sent a file. I am forwarding to both of you. Check out what’s inside.’
‘Why has he sent it to us?’
‘It was in Raskov’s apartment. Did I tell you he was found dead? Knifed?’
Beth turned back as well. ‘You didn’t. When did it happen?’
‘Yesterday. Nope,’ he hurried to answer before the sisters could question him. ‘No clues who killed him. Or why.’
‘We’ll set Werner on it.’
Which took a minute, and then the sisters were back to peering outside the window.
There was no other traffic on the road. It was a black ribbon that wound through the desert, disappearing into valleys and reappearing in the distance, shimmering in the heat.
It turned to concrete the closer they got to the base. Check posts appeared at regular intervals as they neared.
The base sprung out of nowhere, or that’s how it seemed.
One moment, their vehicle was going down a steep hill, then climbing up again—and there it was.
A large, walled-off compound that contained squat, ugly buildings, a military trademark the world over. Those will be the accommodation and admin units. There will be training grounds, clubs, fields for war games. Zeb hadn’t been to this particular base, but he had trained in a similar one in another part of the country. Military camps such as this one weren’t that different around the world.
He suppressed a smile when he saw Beth and Meghan were looking around wide-eyed. It was their first time in an Israeli military camp—and one that was home to some of the best soldiers in the world.
A stern-faced officer gave them their access cards at an admin building.
‘Someone has pulled a lot of strings,’ he said. ‘You and those other visitors have got a free pass to go anywhere. Not many people on this base have that.’ Zeb looked at him sharply. Nope, there didn’t seem any rancor behind his words. He’s stating a fact. Nothing more.
He thanked the officer and was looking around for directions when a voice hailed them. Carmel hurried across.
‘Settled in?’ Zeb asked.
She made a face. ‘We arrived a few hours back. This place is huge; it will take some getting used to. But yeah, we know our way around the main areas.’
She led them to another building, a residential one, and showed them their rooms. All on the ground floor. The sisters stowed their gear in theirs and joined the kidon and Zeb in his.
The room had basic furniture. A table, a couple of chairs, a night lamp, a bed, an air-conditioning unit that hummed quietly, and a wall-mounted TV.
Carmel spread a map on the table and used a pen to highlight various buildings.
‘The negotiators are here.’ She drew a circle around an admin building in the center of the compound. ‘This is where the top brass has their offices. The Israeli and Palestinian teams are secluded in a large conference room. It has steel-reinforced doors and blast-proof walls. Next to it is a canteen that provides them with food, drinks, anything they need.’
‘Who cooks for them?’
‘One military cook and his assistant. They are assigned exclusively to the negotiators. The servers are two guards.’
Zeb looked up skeptically. ‘The guards leave their post to serve food?’
‘No. Two guards at the door; these servers are extra. They are stationed at the kitchen.’
A hallway extended from the conference room for a hundred yards and opened into a central area. More hallways branched out from the anchoring space like spokes in a wheel. ‘More offices.’ Carmel shaded several rooms. ‘Two guards every thirty feet in each hallway.’
Zeb liked the layout. One could stand in that middle space and keep an eye on the conference room as well as the entrance.
I’m sure that’s why Abhyan chose that room.
‘What about access?’
‘That entry gate is the main control. Everyone coming or going is scrutinized, and badges with the right clearances are issued for those entering. Those cards,’ she pointed to the ones around their necks, ‘will gain you entry to your apartment building, to that conference room, to the commander’s office, everywhere.’
‘No thumbprint, iris scan?’
‘Yes. At the conference room. Thumbprint, though it is usually disabled because of the servers’ frequent coming and going. There’s both thumbprint and iris scan at the armory.’ She pointed to another building, which was set well back. ‘There’s no need to go there, however. We have our weapons, our gear. The IDF soldiers have theirs.’
There were more buildings on the map. ‘Clubhouse, gym, lecture hall, cinema.’ Carmel identified them. There were large open spaces around the buildings, which Zeb guessed were for the soldiers to train in.
‘What about these?’ Beth pointed to rectangular shapes well away from the admin and residential areas.
‘Hangars. For choppers. Maintenance areas for tanks, vehicles. We were given a brief tour in a vehicle but didn’t step out. While our passes grant us entry everywhere—’
‘You won’t be leaving that main office building,’ Meghan guessed.
‘Yes. We are here for just three nights. The grand press conference is the third day from today. We go back to Jerusalem once that is done.’
‘Who is the security chief?’
‘The base has its own security and military police. However, Moshe Abhyan is the commander here, too, for the security of the conference. You knew he was a Sayeret Matkal officer?’ she said, aiming her question at Zeb.
‘Yeah. Avichai and I knew.’
‘More secrets, Zeb,’ she smiled disarmingly to negate the sting in her words.
‘What’s your brief?’
‘What the ramsad gave us. Stay close to the conference room. Eye everyone who comes and goes. Raise the alarm if we recognize anyone.’
‘Twelve of you near that room will crowd that hallway. That’s a security risk in itself.’
‘Yes. We will be dispersed. We will be in shifts too. There’s a refreshment area here,’ she pointed to the central area, ‘where they serve drinks and food. Many of us will be ranged from that conference room to that area.’
‘Windows and exits in that conference room?’
‘None. The attached kitchen has an exit. It has a supply room as well, with a window.’
‘What?’ Meghan read his expression.
‘There should be more exits in the base. Such a large base can’t have just the one.’
‘There are,’ Carmel corrected him. ‘They aren’t marked on this map. Our guide pointed them out from a distance. There are check posts everywhere. Someone on foot or a vehicle will be stopped and questioned. And then there are the drones. They mount continuous air surveillance.’
Beth bounced on the bed, her green eyes narrowed in thought. ‘I can’t see how any killer can get into this place.’
‘Or get out alive.’