CHAPTER FORTY
Arash’s nerves had calmed considerably since the bold day in which he deployed the Stuxnet 2.0 worm developed by the Israeli technicians at Negev. Work was, once again, just work. Even Dabir had been extremely civil, and even affirming towards him as of late. He had even commented on Arash’s excellent propensity towards efficiency in his work. Life at the Natanz nuclear facility seemed to be as normal, and as such, Arash’s guard was down.
It had been two weeks since that nerve-racking pivotal day in which Arash pulled the trigger on the Stuxnet 2.0 attack and officially became a true hidden enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The worm began immediately recording the data inside the centrifuge systems, but it took about a week before it began the process of systematically, and incrementally, destroying the program. That progress remained in motion and Arash was anticipating the resulting breakdowns and difficulties to begin emerging very soon. Likely, within a week or so.
During the past two weeks, Arash had been occupied with feeding back info to Gallagher. He had prepared and transmitted dossiers to the CIA on all the key managers, supervisors and employees at Natanz. The dossiers included photos, family information, religious status, formal associations to various political and religious organizations, military history and/or status, and detailed descriptions of their daily and over-arching duties and responsibilities at Natanz. Additionally, Arash prepared updates to his original report on the production schedules within the plan, the daily flow of deliveries and employee movement. Since the Esfahan attack, much had changed, and he needed to revise his report so that Gallagher was up to speed on the new dynamic at Natanz.
Arash had not experienced heartburn in quite some time and was very thankful for the peace his body now experienced. Life at home had seemed fine, despite the gnawing guilt he felt for living the double life of a spy and for being a covert convert to Christianity in a land where people were arrested and killed for such things. If his wife Atoosa was to discover any of this, he feared how she’d react.
He loved her very much, and prayed for her daily, but she was deeply devoted to Islam and fiercely loyal to her country and her family. She was increasingly fervent about the coming of the Mahdi and had been increasing her prayers and Koran readings in recent days and weeks. Her memory of the Hadiths was impeccable and she was becoming quite scholarly with her faith—an unusual achievement for women in Iran. Only Arash could feel, and know, the growing distance between them. Atoosa had no clue that deep in his heart Arash had drifted far, far away from her as a direct result of the changes in his life.
Arash was having a hard time focusing on his work, as he was overwhelmed with his thoughts. It seemed as if his life had changed so much so fast—a life that continued to radically change internally, even as the exterior of life remained unchanged and seemingly mundane. He was preparing some reports for Dabir at his desk and sipping tea when he peered through his office window and saw some police walking through the plant. They were being escorted while wearing hard hats and being directed to be careful around the heavy equipment that populated the plant. Arash wondered what was going on. Have they discovered what I have done? Do they know about Stuxnet? How did they track me? Had they somehow tapped my calls with Gallagher or Reza? Oh Lord, please protect me, rescue me from the adversary.
His heart leapt as he gazed upon the entourage of law enforcement making its way up the steps of the plant towards the offices. He watched as the group of lawmen stopped and had, what appeared to be, a very serious conversation with Dabir.
Dabir glanced towards Arash’s office. Arash could tell by the look on Dabir’s face that the fix was in. Why did I trust Gallagher? A simple operation, uh? Not so simple now. Have I simply been a pawn of the Americans and Israelis? What danger have they put me in? I’m so stupid. I should have trusted my fears and never ventured forth into this spy thing. Who do I think I am?
There was nowhere to run, and running would only make things worse. Arash sat in his swivel chair and stewed with fear, rage, and horror as he watched the situation unravel slowly before his eyes. The minute or so that it took for the party of cops to reach his office seemed like thirty.
Dabir ushered the police into Arash’s office and glared at Arash with a piercing look of utter disdain. The police marched in promptly and one held up a Bible in his hand. Arash was shocked at the sight of his personal Bible held before him like a hot murder weapon.
The cops shouted and hurled accusations at Arash of being a traitor to Islam. Arash attempted to play ignorant.
“What’s going on? What’s that?”
“You know what it is. Don’t play stupid. We know what you’re hiding! You’ve joined the infidels!”
Did they know everything I was hiding? Do they know about my spying and the Stuxnet worm? Or just my faith? Did Atoosa turn me in? Did she see me place the key to the cabinet—where I keep my Bible—under the chair cushion? Arash had no idea how deep he was in it for.
A surge of testosterone and brazen defiance burst through Arash. He grabbed his Natanz-issued firearm and shot the cop directly in front of him right in the groin. The cop’s face clenched as he screamed in agony. He held his wounded crotch as he fell to the ground. A puddle of blood oozed from his pants. The other cops instantly pounced Arash, subdued him, and began beating him mercilessly. He didn’t scream, but he felt each hit with excruciating pain. The fists flailed like heavy rocks against his head and body. Nightsticks pounded against him at any open spot. He curled up fetus-style to try to blunt the impact, but was unsuccessful. The pain was penetrating, quick, repetitive and unrelenting. Arash struggled to absorb and endure. He still did not scream. He didn’t want to give them that pleasure.
Arash had been viewed as a timid, harmless tech guy. No one expected such a violent, irrational reaction. Neither had he. He could not believe what he had just done. He felt defiant, strong.
You can beat me, you can defile me, you can torture me to no end, but my faith in Christ remains. It will never die. Kill my body and I live on eternally with Christ… and the Stuxnet worm will churn on and shred your plans of death for the world limb from digital limb. From digital limb to failed digital limb.