Transfer of Power

NOT LONG AFTER they had lost contact with Rapp; Milt Adams was also lost. The only thing Kennedy and the others could do was wait. Kennedy found herself thinking that this was how the NASA mission controllers must have felt during the Apollo lunar missions. When the astronauts went around the back side of the moon, they would enter a period when communication was impossible. The roomful of scientists would sit nervously at mission control and hope the spacecraft and its men would make it back around without any problems.

That was the position they were in now. There was nothing they could do but wait.

Kennedy took off her headset, looked up at a row of clocks on the wall to her right, and remembered there was one thing she could do. Dead in the middle of the wall was the clock noting the local time in Washington, D.C. It was almost eleven in the evening. Several clocks to the right, Kennedy found the time she was looking for. Picking up the secure phone in front of her, she dialed a number by memory. It was an important phone number. It was just before seven in the morning in Tel Aviv, and if her counterpart wasn’t in, he would be shortly. After several clicks and whirs someone picked up on the other end.

“Fine.”

The word was not an answer to a question, but rather the last name of the man answering the phone. Colonel Ben Pine of the Israeli foreign intelligence service, Mossad. Colonel Fine was Kennedy’s direct counterpart, the man in charge of Mossad’s counterterrorism section.

“Ben, it’s Irene Kennedy.”

“Irene,” said Fine excitedly.

“I’m sorry I haven’t called, but I figured you’d be busy”

“Have you been following the crisis?” asked Kennedy in a tired voice.

“Very closely. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, there is.” Kennedy looked down at the sheet of paper in front of her.

“I’d like you to look at a list of names for me.”

“How many?”

“Ten. We have good intel on seven of them, but the last three we’ve come up blank on.” Kennedy again looked at the list of names that had been provided by Dr. Hornig. “You can count on me putting all of my resources into it.

Send me the list, and I will personally make sure it gets taken care of immediately.”

“Thank you, Ben. I appreciate it.” There was a pause, and then the colonel said, “I have a question for you, as long as I’ve got you on the line. There have been several reports, all unconfirmed of course, that a certain high-ranking member of Hezbollah is missing.” The Israeli colonel stopped talking for a moment and then added, “You wouldn’t know anything about this, would you?”

Kennedy lifted her eyes and looked up at the bank of television sets.

“I might have some insight into the subject.”

Fine didn’t reply right away. Instead his silence conveyed an implicit tit-for-tat request.

“I assume when the time is right, you will enlighten me.”

“I had planned on it,” answered Kennedy honestly.

“Good,” stated a satisfied Fine.

“Do you need anything else from me?” Kennedy thought about it for a moment and said, “No, not that I can think of, but anything you can do with the names would be greatly appreciated.”

“I will get started right away, and do not hesitate to call if you need anything else.”

“I won’t. Thank you, Ben.” After setting the phone back in its cradle, Kennedy placed the list of names in a file folder and walked to the end of her row. Looking up toward the back of the room, she waved the file and caught the attention of one of her people. A man in his early thirties came down the stairs, and Kennedy handed him the file.

“Fax this to Colonel Fine immediately.” The man nodded dutifully and started back up the stairs, headed for the secure fax machine.