Operation: Tel-Aviv (Saimum Series #1)

CHAPTER 6

Nightfall has darkened the sky. Mahmud is still seated in his study. The atmosphere is hushed. The moon's brightness outshines the street-lights'. Mahmud's eyes sail outside the window. Faraway over the waters of the Mediterranean sea, the moon has crafted a dreamland from those tales.

His eyes may hover there, but his mind is elsewhere. He imagines the interior of Ocean King. The captain room, engine room, fuel tanks, cargo cells, staff rooms and the vast deck that make the ship. To destroy it, its fuel tanks must be exploded. The ship needs to be put on fire before uranium and other elements for nuclear research are removed from it. It should be done before the feast begins, right after he embarks. To cause the explosion within the intended time, he considers daisy chaining to be the most effective option. A detonator will be attached to one end of the daisy chain. With the detonator, he can use a time igniter with an unlimited time-limit. After the safety pin is taken out, the time igniter would explode at his set time. Mahmud calculates, the feast begins at 11:00 pm. It will probably end within 12:00 am. To cause the explosion at 11:45, a two-hour time igniter will be useful.

He recalculates, if he faces unusual circumstances while setting the chains, to keep them laying for two hours can be very unsafe. What if they carry out an investigation within that period? There's a greater risk of him getting exposed.

He make a decision. The explosion should occur within 11-15 minutes past 11.00 pm. This poses a risk too: his and Emilia's safety. Yet, this risk has to be taken.

~

As they climb up to the deck of Ocean King, Mahmud's wristwatch displays 10:29 pm. The feast is held by Israel's Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay tribute to the Israeli nuclear scientists and the captain and crew of the ship Ocean King, which has transported resources crucial to Israel's nuclear research. Selected guests are also invited to the event, like Emilia's family.

An interior ministry officer stands next to the staircase to the deck. He greets the guests, the captain, the senior officers. Mahmud and Emilia shake hands with him and proceed upwards. Mahmud notices that behind Mr Greenberg and Adre Simon, the interior ministry officer and the captain there is another man. He is the assistant director of Shin Bet (Israel's internal security service), Mr Hoffman. One edge of Mahmud's lips bend into a queer smile.

Rows of dinner tables are neatly organized above the deck. Some are standing by the handrail and delighting over the moonlit ocean, and the rest are seated in small groups. Mahmud takes Emilia around the deck. No armed guards are above here. He predicts the ship's interior to be under strict surveillance.

At this time, he notices a sign plate on a wall: 'To Lavatory' with an arrow directing down a staircase into the ship's interior. He's glad he discovered this. He is sitting with Emilia on a table in the front part of the deck adjacent to the handrail. He glances at his watch, it's 22 minutes past 10. He stands up. 'I'm going to the toilet. Will be back soon.'

Clad in a chocolate brown suit and crepe-sole shoes, he descends into a corridor. It's relatively darker than the brightly lit deck upstairs. The corridor has cabins on both sides - cargo cabins. A guard holding a sten-gun approaches him. 'To lavatory, sir?'

'Yes,' replies Mahmud.

'Here.' The guard walks a few steps to the left and gestures towards a closed door. Mahmud rotates the knob. He looks behind and sees the guard walking away. Then he looks around, no one else is around. He takes out a little bottle and a handkerchief as he silently advances towards the man. Getting closer to him, he tightly wraps his left hand around the guard's throat and with the right hand shoves the chloroform-drenched handkerchief into his nose. He holds him in this position as the guard begins to croak, until his body droops over and his sten-gun crashes to the floor. Mahmud takes him to a narrow space between the lavatory and a cargo cabin. The spot is dark. He notices a sofa there. It's probably the guards that sit here.