Chapter 18
Yaakov was driving north along the coast, to one of the secured houses used by the Mossad for highly reserved meetings.
He was surprised by the choice. Every time Eyal and he had to talk, they usually met in quiet coffee shops in downtown Tel Aviv.
To ease the tension, he turned the radio on and found a talk show hosting half a dozen politicians from the main parties. Just like in many other countries, they were arguing about the overhaul of the welfare system. As Telomerax usage was spreading among Israelis, the center-right Likud was calling for the State to reduce its commitment to pay pensions if people stayed young and fit longer. The left-side was arguing massively against the contribution system and calling just for a higher retirement age value, possibly around 120 years, while yet another politician from the religious right asserted that the real solution was banning Telomerax altogether, and let people die the old way.
Yaakov realized he had never asked Eyal if he had been taking the drug, even though this was no guarantee to stay forever the boss of the Mossad. He quickly got bored by the discussion topics, so he turned the radio off and started looking for a parking space.
When he entered the small studio in a beach condo, Eyal was sitting on the table, with his back turned toward the sea.
"How are you doing, my friend?" Yaakov started the conversation while shaking his hand, "I was a bit surprised by your request. Usually I am the one who asks for meetings, but it's okay. I do have some interesting news."
Eyal sat back and told Yaakov calmly,
"Well, then maybe we can start with your new bits of information. My stuff is not so urgent."
"It's from Dr. Picard, you know he recently moved to Sardinia, under the pretext he was no longer feeling safe in Brazil and needed to move away from big cities," Yaakov said, slightly hurrying to get to the point.
"Are you sure he didn't move to get out of our reach?" Eyal abruptly interrupted him, "We have less control there than we had back in Brazil. We had a deal, after all."
Yaakov was surprised. They had already been discussing this for few months.
"Um, no, I told you already. He keeps talking to us and helping from time to time. Indeed, he's just sent me the final findings about our biodrone and he wants to make sure we know, in case we have not yet realized it.."
"Ah, thanks for reminding me," Eyal interrupted him again. "Incidentally the guy also has access to our electronic fly technology. Are you sure he is not giving his research away to other countries? Maybe hostile countries?"
Yaakov was becoming more and more puzzled.
"Well, since the time we started using the fly, more than fifteen years ago, you do not need Dr.Picard if you want to get your hands on them," Yaakov spoke up, as if he started pleading his defense.
"You just need to be on good terms either with the Lebanese or Iran. You also told me we decided to share our know-how with the CIA, right before the Rome attacks."
"You do not need to remind me, Yaakov. There were reasons behind the agreement with the CIA. We anticipated that the world was falling apart even before the death of the Pope, and so we struck a deal with them. By the way, we still do not know who really killed the Pope or why, since all the countless videos taken at the time have been altered. Anyway, what does Dr. Picard want us to know?"
"It's very simple. He has studied how we use Telomerax to increase the fly’s natural lifespan, and he has told me our researchers have been doing a very good job. The flies are immortal. Have our team in the secret labs of Dimona realized this, Eyal? I never heard about this when I was involved in the program, but several years have gone by since then."
Eyal did not answer and looked at Yaakov. He was clearly aging, albeit at a slower pace than one would have expected.
"I couldn’t tell you, even if I knew, so why are you asking? Anyway, thanks for the information”, Eyal said, swiftly grabbing the memory pill that Yaakov had put on the table. "You seem genuinely worried."
"Louis was very convincing, I assure you," Yaakov continued, "the problem is that the flies can transmit immortality to their offspring, if they mate. You can imagine the scenario. Infinite swarms of immortal flies."
"Has Dr. Picard also calculated the chances that this happens? We have been using them in fairly limited numbers, I think they all die before being able to replicate meaningfully."
"He did not give me precise data," Yaakov replied, "a lot obviously depends on environmental conditions. He thinks however that we are talking about a critical mass of about a million biodrones. When I heard that, I felt relieved. We were nowhere close to those figures with our program."
Eyal kept silent for a second too long, moving his eyes away from Yaakov and on to the memory pill.
"Eyal, are you planning to produce the biodrones on such a scale? Or is it just a move to create a deterrent beside nuclear weapons, given the turmoil that is happening in the Middle East again, with the new Iran-Pakistan crisis?"
Eyal could see that the fear of Yaakov was genuine, so he decided to get back to the reason of the meeting.
"Yaakov, I am the one asking questions here. It's about Plan Lot. Have you ever talked or hinted about it to anyone outside of our circle? For some reason, the Russians know something about it. We have done all the checks, there has been no mole inside the Mossad nor in the Prime Minister office. You are one of the very few we could not fully verify. The only one, I would say."
Yaakov looked surprised. Eyal wondered if his old friend was now simulating. No, he could not believe that Yaakov, one of the few to have full knowledge about the Plan, revealed it to the Russians or any other foreign power. But a leak, a momentary lapse, could not be ruled out.
"I never told anything to outside powers, not even when I was kidnapped by the drug cartels. I know how sensitive this information is." Yaakov was now feeling resented.
"Are you absolutely sure? Maybe you just did not realize, while you were under drugs. Those gangsters have nothing to envy us, when it comes to making people talk.."
"Shit, Eyal, you know I went through all the drug checks when I was back in Israel. I was simply anesthetized. I told you all about it." Yaakov suddenly remembered the remarks of Helena about the mysterious deaths in the US.
"Eyal, back to my topic, is anyone thinking about a large scale deployment of the biodrones? Maybe our friends in Langley?"
Eyal did not answer, looked at his smartwatch, and whispered "live news now" towards it.
The smartwatch found the first available newsfeed, it was the BBC World Service first afternoon edition, and then passed the information on to the TV set of the room. The skyline of Chicago appeared on the screen.
From behind the anchorwoman, it was possible to see fires rising from the area around McCormick Place, on the Southern lakeside.
Yaakov realized what was about to happen and asked Eyal, desperately hoping he denied it.
"Please tell me that the Americans are not going to use the flies to stop the revolution."
"Unfortunately I cannot tell you anything, Yaakov. As we have no evidence, we won't take any action against you. Yet we can no longer cooperate. I am very sorry."
Eyal stood up and walked towards the door. Before opening it, he turned back to Yaakov.
"You can keep watching the news, if you want. Just close the door behind when you go. I must leave now."