Fatal (12 page)

Neil nodded. “OK, so about a week ago Bruce receives a call from a gentleman called Major Frydman from Israeli intelligence,” Neil said, pulling on his jeans. “Frydman says that he has somehow managed to find some information on the Dalerians and that your father is involved in it all.” He shrugged. “Bruce is busy so he asks me to fly over and chat with the major.”

Alexa examined Neil intently, tapping her foot and biting her lower lip. “Uh-huh, OK. Go on.”
 

“So I visit the major, and he tells me that they recently upgraded their computer systems with the latest antivirus software. The software detected a program called Becky22 that was suspicious because it uses all of the computer’s CPU resources whenever a user is not using their computer.” Neil pulled his T-shirt over his head. “What further intrigued him was that this piece of software had replicated itself to all PCs in the Israeli Defense Force’s network and to the mainframe—”
 

Alexa closed her eyes and sighed. “Somebody’s boring me, and I think it’s you.”

Neil touched her arm. “Just hear me out.”
 

Alexa slapped his hand away, giving him a hostile look.
 

Neil lifted his hands defensively. “Listen to me, please.”

Alexa scrutinized him with narrowed eyes, cocking her head slightly to the side. “OK, but if you’re bullshitting, it’ll be me and your gonads—”

Neil smiled at her threat.
 

“For God’s sake, Neil, get your mind out of the gutter,” Alexa said shaking her head in disbelief.

Neil grinned then continued. “OK, this program, Becky22, had replicated itself to the White House, CIA, FBI, and all prominent military intelligence systems’ computer networks across the globe. So Frydman starts reverse engineering the software to see what it’s doing.”
 

He walked to a chair and picked up his shoes, then sat and put them on. “Basically it's a fancy search engine, like Google, but focused on finding intel about the Dalerians. Frydman decoded it and ran it independently, and it spat out two names—Perreira and Callahan. He dugs around and found out that your dad and Bruce were investigating Perreira and Callahan in the nineties.” Neil looked up and shrugged. “So he phoned Bruce and told him about his findings.”

Alexa frowned. “So how did you get to meet Callahan?” she asked doubtfully.

“Well, I told Frydman how frustrating it was not to have someone inside the Dalerians to gain information firsthand. All that we had to go on were Perreira and Callahan’s locations and some other trite details.” Neil leaned back in his chair. “So he gave me Callahan’s cell number and I rang him up. Told him that I’m available to act as a double agent at the right price,” he said.

“I knew it, you asshole. Everyone has a price, right?” she said with an exaggerated wave.

Neil jumped up. “C’mon, Alexa. I needed to get into the organization. Do you know how much intel I gathered from Callahan? And I fed him garbage to keep him off our tracks.”
 

Alexa thought for a moment. “OK, and what is this stuff about my dad’s profile?”

“Well, the moment that Frydman ran virus removal software to get rid of Becky22, it seems as if Becky22 realized it and came, I don’t know, kind of alive. The next thing he knows, Frydman starts receiving messages from your dad in his mailbox.”

“Like we do on our phones?”

Neil nodded. “Precisely. He hooked up a speaker and mike to the mainframe as the program requested, and your dad talked to him.”

Alexa snorted. “C’mon Neil, that’s damn preposterous. You’re saying my dad is alive.”

Neil grabbed Alexa’s shoulders. “He knew about everything. He said that he had always looked out for you, and he is able to track Perreira and Callahan and others across the globe by intercepting cell phone conversation, using digital face recognition on cameras at airports and bars and restaurants, and by tracing their credit card transactions.”
 

Alexa shook her head uncertainly.

“Alexa, your dad must be alive.”
 

“Where is he?”

Neil shrugged. “He doesn’t want to say.” He pursed his lips then removed his cell phone from his pocket. “Phone Zachary Cohen yourself, he has his own dedicated line at Mossad HQ.” Neil grinned. “He’s a nice guy. ”
 

The world tilted and spun around her. Déjà vu. She put her hands over her face and steadied herself, then she lifted her eyes and flicked a loose strand of hair from her eyelashes. “Um, OK.”

Neil dialed a number and handed the phone to Alexa. A metallic voice answered.

“Hello, Becky. I’ve missed you, my baby.”

Alexa swallowed hard and her fingers twitched. She lifted her hand to her mouth, dropped the phone, and fainted

Mossad Headquarters
Tel Aviv, Israel

Major Sal Frydman looked up at the security camera and nod a silent greeting. He inserted his security key into the reader and then opened the door to the OPS Room, Alexa following him inside. He pulled out a chair at a console and gestured for her to have a seat. She sat, looking around uncertainly.

Frydman switched on a computer console in front of her. She stared in awe as thousands of characters flew in from the side of the screen and melded to form a face made of an assortment of alphanumeric characters.
 

The face smiled, and it resembled her dad. "Hello, Becky, or should I call you Alexa?"
 

The voice was familiar, and the metallic quality had gone. It was her dad's voice. She recoiled in shock and stood up, the chair scraping back and falling behind her.

Frydman picked it up and nodded with a smile. “It was a shock to me as well.”

Alexa gathered her thoughts and steadied herself.
 
“Um, hi, yes, Alexa is better.”

“All right then, Alexa. It seems unfamiliar, but I’ll get used to it.” The face smiled. “You are exceptionally beautiful; you look so much like your mom.”
 

Alexa held her hand over her mouth. “Dad, is that you? I can't believe it,” she whispered. “I—I have many things that I want to ask you.”

The face nodded. “Ask me anything, day or night, I'm always here. I’ve added a speed-dial code to your cell. Dial 111 on your phone to get hold of me. It's a toll-free number, it won't cost you a cent.”

Alexa nodded. “OK, how did you manage to become alive again?”

“Well, technically, I never died. At the moment I’m on life support, but I’m able to communicate with you.”

“How?”

"Well, the short answer is nondestructive whole-brain monitoring using nanorobotic technology. The long answer is a whole lot more complex than that,” the face said and smiled.

Alexa nodded. “Nanorobots. But that hasn't even been invented yet."

The face chuckled. “Oh, but it has. I've been experimenting with it for more than thirty years. The technology was never available to build computers small enough to be injected into a person's bloodstream. Effectively, I'm connected to machines keeping me alive, supplying my body with oxygen and nutrients. The computers allow me to access a CPU that I use for communication, like Hawkings does by typing on a pad with his lips.”

"And where
is
your body?"

“That's a secret. Suffice to say that you would probably never guess. But I will tell you when the time is right. I am still too vulnerable."

Alexa leant towards the console. “You said I could call you anytime? You don't sleep?” she asked.

The alphanumeric characters on the console danced around, then they contorted into a smile. “Anytime, baby. Day or night.”

Gordon’s Bay, Cape Town

Alexa snuggled into Neil's chest. He was lying on his back, his arm around her shoulder.

“So tell me, how did you managed to get a dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps, Sergeant?” Alexa asked Neil, propping herself up on one elbow.

He thought for a moment, rolled onto his side, and looked at Alexa. “Well, the day that Weinstein blew his brains out, when Bruce went to save your dad, I realized something was wrong.”

Alexa nodded.

“I went upstairs and saw Bruce kicking the crap out of Perreira, so I used the distraction to go through the files in Weinstein’s office.” He took Alexa’s hand from her thigh, playing with her fingers.

“I found a safe in his office and broke in. It contained some, let’s say, unflattering photos of Weinstein in a compromising position with one of his troops.” Neil traced his finger up Alexa’s arm. “Things started to make sense; Weinstein was being blackmailed by Callahan.”

“Blackmailed?” Alexa asked with a frown.

“He was set up. They caught him in the act with a junior officer, a guy. Took photos, probably paid the troop. I found a note from Callahan threatening to circulate the photos to the entire Israeli Defense Force if he didn't do what they asked of him.”

Alexa sat up and folded her legs. “OK, so what? It's a free country. Two consenting adults and all that?”

Neil looked at her for a moment then shook his head. “Weinstein was coming up for a promotion, a one star general. And the Israeli Defense Force used to be extremely conservative when it comes to homosexual relationships.”

"OK, what did they ask him to do?” she asked.

“Two things, really. Weinstein had to ensure Callahan’s safety. That’s how my division became involved,” he said. Then he rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. “We were Callahan’s personal bodyguards. Secondly, Weinstein had to authorize weapon shipments from the Tel Aviv Air Force base. They were sourced directly from the Israeli Army’s armory.” He glanced at Alexa. “He was pilfering weapons from the Defense Force and shipping them all over the world to Callahan’s henchmen.”

"And you know this how?" Alexa asked.

"Weinstein kept immaculate records of everything. Shipping manifestos, dates, times, packing slips, and delivery notes. All filed neatly in cabinets in his office,” Neil said.

She frowned. “Do you think that’s why he committed suicide that night?”
 

Neil nodded slowly. “Yes, I think it all became too much for him. He knew that the deal was up when Bruce arrived.”
 

Alexa turned around and fell onto her back next to him. “But how could that get you dismissed? You should have been awarded a medal.”

Neil snorted. “I decided to present the evidence to Major Daniel Roebuck, my commanding officer in the corps. Unfortunately, he was also on Callahan’s payroll. Roebuck came down on me hard, threatened my family. He forced me to abandon my investigation.”

“OK, but why did he discharge you then?” Alexa asked.

“Well, a couple of years ago I mailed everything to Julian Assange,” he said with a mischievous smile.

Alexa gaped at Neil. “The WikiLeaks guy?” she asked.

“Yep, I pissed off a bunch of people in Israeli Intelligence,” Neil said with a chuckle. “Which meant I pissed off a bunch of people in the British government. Having too many people in high positions pissed off at you doesn’t help your military career.”

“But why didn't you send the evidence to someone else? You could have given it to Bruce.”

Neil turned his head to look at Alexa. “Have you tried to get hold of Bruce? You don't find him; he finds you.”

Alexa chewed her lip. “I guess. Wasn’t there anybody else that you could trust?”

“No one. I wasn’t sure. I was a sergeant, I wasn't involved in the daily strategizing sessions. I didn't know who to turn to.”
 

Alexa sat up then straddled Neil. “You bad, bad boy. You got yourself into some trouble,” she said, laughing a naughty giggle.
   

Neil chuckled. “Oh, please, Captain, punish me.” He rolled her onto her back then kissed her neck, trailing his tongue down to her breasts.
 

"Ooh, Sergeant,” she moaned, throwing her legs around Neil's waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, not taking her eyes off his face, groaning as he entered her.
 

They rocked gently together, staring into each other’s eyes, their breathing becoming ragged.

Alexa cupped Neil’s chin then whispered into his ear. “You’re everything I ever wanted in a man.”

Neil stopped moving then grinned, catching his breath. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
 

Alexa nodded, her eyes wide and expectant, then pulled him closer. “I think so,” she said with a trembling voice.

Neil smelled something burning, then the fire alarm wailed. He jumped up and yanked on his jeans, bolted towards the source of the alarm, and stumbled into the kitchen.

Alexa was bent over the oven, holding onto a fire extinguisher, trying to make it work. White smoked billowed out of the opening, making him gag. He ran to open the windows. When she saw him, she stood up and tried to wave the smoke out of the windows with a dishcloth.

"Why are you burning the house down?" he asked gruffly.

She smiled at him with a sheepish grin, blew a wisp of hair from her forehead, looking stunning. She was wearing a faded grey T-shirt, no pants.