The Other Side of Dr. Wolf

Regaining consciousness, I found myself in a hospital room where someone in street clothes was checking my vitals and conversing with a nurse. I overheard them mention dehydration was worsening my infection. About to fall asleep, I was abruptly jostled. “Hey Wolf, you don’t get the luxury of resting while others have to shoulder your responsibilities.”

Opening my eyes and to my amazement, there stood Menachim (‘M’), apparently no worse for the wear. I told him, my Arab captors informed me he had been killed along with the general and our driver.

“Wolf, they were only partially correct; the General was killed, while the driver and I were wounded, during the road side attack, in which you were taken prisoner.”

I was certainly glad to see him. Anticipating my next question, he told me he was able to track me with a homing device he had glued within the sole of one of the shoes given to me by his neighbor.

“This is standard practice when the Mossad is entertaining such a valuable person,” Menachim joked. “The signal was G.P.S. traced to your location. Luckily your other hosts didn’t do a sweep for such devices and you didn’t set off any car alarms, as can sometimes happen. It was then mandatory to figure out the best tactical diversion in order to rescue you, before you were either disposed of or shipped off to Iran.”

Adopting a somber disposition, 'M'continued, “While you were being pampered, we had work to do.” It was at that moment he saw the handiwork the knife-wielding interrogator had imprinted upon my chest. “That explains your infection. Think that scar is something? I should take you down to the civilian amputee and burn wards. Those poor souls carry a reminder of terrorism that can’t so easily be concealed.”

I responded, “Menachim, I’m not complaining. I am just happy to be alive and to see you alive. How are Abbie and Mehmet? Do you have news of them?”

He hugged me and kissed my cheek. “Typical nice Jewish boy, always concerned about family and friends. First and most importantly, Abbie appears to be stable.” Purposely avoiding answering about Mehmet, he diverted, “I think you will find my other news of importance.”

A military attaché unexpectedly interrupted and Menachim translated his Hebrew for my benefit.

“Jon, Aberdam found out your identity. However, he does not know if you were killed when the terrorist medical facility in which you were being treated, exploded. A reward of ten million dollars in United States currency is payable upon your recapture or physical proof of your death, including D.N.A. identifiable vital body parts.”

“Only ten million dollars, is that all I am worth? What happens next?” I questioned.

Disregarding my attempt at humor, 'M' continued, “First, we’ll arrange to get your fingerprints altered and then assign you a new identity. How does the name Robert Simon sound? For a career choice, let’s consider a research biologist’s assistant or something on that order.”

I chuckled, “You would pick something boring.”

“My friend that’s exactly the type of work a good witness protection program seeks out. You might be surprised at your opportunities. Now, I have other matters to go over with you.”

Assured we were alone, Menachim relayed details of the counter terrorist ‘Escaping the Abyss’ operation. “Initially, we were able to gain access to the suspect areas beneath Jerusalem's Temple Mount, without being compromised. Utilizing the flexible tubing we had discussed, the heavily salinated water transported from the Dead Sea was injected into the caverns, successfully flooding a large number of them. Simultaneously, a mixture of an inert gas combined with a short acting nerve agent was pumped into the rest; diluting breathable oxygen. All appeared to be going well until an alarm was sounded and armed Arab guards entered the higher levels, firing their weapons wildly. Within minutes the shooting ceased, as the gunmen lost consciousness.”

“In several remote areas within the tunnel complex, not accessible to the gas or flooding, we electronically detected explosive triggers. Fortunately, they were situated amongst smaller numbers of the graphite encased, enriched fissionable nuclear material. Units of our Special Forces were dispatched and broke through to those sections. They radioed back fierce hand-to-hand fighting cost many lives on both sides. That said; there was one narrow tunnel that could not be secured and its contents were detonated. Thank God, there wasn’t an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.”

Hesitating, Menachim took a drink of my water before continuing, “The explosion was sufficient enough to weaken the support structures of the Temple Mount, and radioactive dust clouds leaked from resultant surface openings. We had no choice but to relocate the surrounding mixed population of Arabs, Christians, and Jews. Palestinian leaders immediately began spinning a fabricated story the whole nuclear set up was planned and carried out by the Israelis.”

Menachim looked directly into my eyes, “We had to release all the information you and Mehmet found on Abbie’s laptop to the United Nations commission empowered to investigate the incident. Unfortunately, Israel is expected to go on trial, charged with the attempted destruction of Islam’s Holy sites.”

Exasperated, he added, “We are currently restricted from participating in the actual fact finding process, other than by supplying what we knew and how we knew it, through our Foreign Affairs representative. Proceedings are expected to convene within a month. However, we did learn through intelligence resources, several prominent U.S. State Department officers are being detained for questioning.”

“Our defense rests on a loose confession of involvement by our President with various Muslim and Arab nationals, including Iranian and Palestinian agents. Wire taps revealed their collective aim was to bring down Israel and establish a subsequent larger single state entity, overseen by a joint Muslim, Palestinian Authority.”

“Sadly, the Arab engineer you spoke with at the planning site was correct in his earlier allegations and that brings shame upon our nation. How could our President, a Jew born and raised in Israel, sell out his heritage and put to jeopardy so many innocent lives? Apparently, traditional terrorist elements don’t have a monopoly on evil.”

“Simon you must understand that your rescue was unauthorized and unrecorded. In fact, your identity and whereabouts are unknown except to a few trusted souls. I must also inform you the press found out you had full knowledge of the contents of your wife’s correspondences with the son of the Iranian linked, Lebanese Foreign Service officer.”

“Regrettably, his entire family went missing and we suspect eliminated, as they too could have provided independent verification for our side of the story. They were our best hope, as Abbie remains non-communicative. Incidentally, her hospital room is under 24-hour guard. No one gets in without verifiable credentials. Soon she will be transferred to a more security favorable environment.”

“There is one other potentially supportive speaker on our behalf that we can’t seem to locate. Your F.B.I. friend Mehmet has effectively disappeared. He was in our protective custody in what we believed to be a safe house, in the Chicagoland area. However, the apartment was raided and two of our best agents killed. Yet, there was no trace of Mehmet. Even his D.N.A. was wiped clean from the apartment. The F.B.I. and Mossad are at a loss as to who was responsible. The only likely suspect is the branch chief of the State Department sub-agency, who would most benefit from our national demise. Our Intelligence agents are actively seeking Mr. Aberdam. Interestingly, he too is nowhere to be found.”