In the sudden silence, Tobie became aware of the fans slowly circling overhead, moving the hot air, ruffling the edges of the napkins on the tabletop before her. She tried to think back to that conversation in the Deutsches U-Boot Museum-Archiv, in Altenbruch. What had Marie Oldenburg said? “He claimed that amongst its other cargo, U-114 carried a secret veapon-what you Americans like to call a veapon of mass destruction.”
Had anyone actually used the word “atomic”? She didn’t think so. They’d heard those dreaded words-weapon of mass destruction-and simply assumed they were dealing with an atom bomb.
George Farrah said, “It’s the ultimate threat Hollywood loves, isn’t it-terrorists armed with a nuclear bomb? Do you know why?” He leaned forward, answering his own question. “Because we all grew up with Cold War tales of an all-out war between the Soviets and the Americans that would obliterate life on earth as we know it. The thought of terrorists with such a weapon taps in to those fears.”
“I don’t know about you, but I find the idea of terrorists setting off an atom bomb in New York or San Francisco pretty scary.”
Farrah sat back in his chair. “Of course it’s scary. The sudden death of thousands is always scary-not to mention the radiation sickness, the contamination. But is it really the worst that could happen?”
When Tobie kept silent, he said, “You Americans killed-what? Two hundred thousand people when you dropped your bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A sixty-year-old bomb would be even less deadly. It might kill a few thousand-maybe ten thousand. Horrible, yes. But it would be one event. Over. Finished. Whereas, this…” He paused, his arms spreading wide, only to drop listlessly to his sides.
Tobie forced herself to keep her voice calm and even. “What kind of biological weapon are we talking about?”
Farrah shrugged. “According to Baklanov, it was something the Nazis discovered at Dachau-a disease that strikes only those of Semitic origin.”
“What? But that’s impossible.” She hesitated. “Isn’t it?”
“You think so? Look at what European diseases did to the American Indians half a millennium ago.”
“But that was because they had no built-up immunity.”
“True. But there are some diseases, such as sickle cell anemia or alcoholism, that still strike those with certain genetic backgrounds. You are familiar with the story of the Passover?”
Tobie said softly, “On the night of the Tenth Plague, the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the Israelites and spared their firstborn.”
Farrah nodded. “If this disease is let loose upon the world, it will be like the original Passover, only in reverse. And it won’t simply kill each family’s firstborn. It will kill everyone of Semitic origin. Millions of people. Tens of millions.”
She sat very still, torn between disbelief and the hideous realization that he might-just might-be telling the truth.
He said, “There have been many attempts in the last eighty years to develop such things, you know-bioweapons that will target only specific ethnic groups. The Israelis and South Africans have tried it. So have you Americans.”
“I don’t-” She broke off.
A ghost of a smile crinkled the edges of his green eyes. “You don’t believe your government would do such a thing? Look into it. I think you’ll be surprised by what you find.”
She wrapped her hands around her now cold teacup. “When Baklanov offered you this weapon, what did you tell him?”
“What do you think? I want my homeland back, yes. And I want revenge. For the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been killed in the last sixty years. For the millions more who are dispossessed and homeless. But this weapon?” The man’s eyes were so wide with fear, she could see the milky whites surrounding the irises. “That stupid Russian. He didn’t know Arabs are Semites, too. If this disease gets loose, it won’t just kill the Jews. It will kill the Arabs as well. All of us.”
Farrah’s voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned closer. “Think about it. All across the Middle East, across Europe, across the United States and Latin America, anyone with Middle Eastern ancestors-Jew, Christian or Muslim…All will die.”
“Latin America?”
“But of course. The Arabs ruled Spain for over seven hundred years, remember? After the Reconquista, many Arabs-Muslim and Jew alike-converted to Christianity and stayed. From Spain, their descendents spread out across the New World. If this pestilence is set loose, it won’t just devastate the Middle East. It will decimate half the world.”
She didn’t want to believe him. But his fear was too real, too palpable. Her voice was now a dry, cracked whisper. “So who has it now? Who hired the Yalena?”
“You think if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you?”
“But you must know something!”
He pushed back his chair and stood. The interview was at an end. “I know what I have told you. That is all.”
She followed Amin through the same mean, narrow streets down which they’d walked earlier, only, somehow, everything now seemed changed. She saw a dark-haired little girl in a red skirt jumping rope beside a bullet-chipped doorway, and thought, If we don’t stop what these men have planned, that little girl will die. And so will that boy spinning a soccer ball on his finger, and that young mother laughing at-
Amin said, “Mind your step,” and put out a hand to keep Tobie from stumbling into a muddy puddle in the hollow left by a missing tile.
She jerked her attention back to him. “Thank you.”
With the approach of evening, the streets had filled with long blue shadows. Women carrying plastic shopping bags thronged the sidewalks; boys dodged honking rows of cars. Tobie said, “Did you know him? Jasha Baklanov, I mean.”
“The Russian?” Amin shrugged. “I’ve dealt with him. He’s-”
The Palestinian broke off, his head turning as the whine of a motorcycle coming up fast cut through the noise of the crowded street. Looking just beyond the hotel, Tobie spotted a dark blue Kawasaki with two black-jacketed, visored riders weaving toward them through the stalled line of dusty cars.
“Shit,” she whispered.
As the Kawasaki pulled abreast of them, the rear passenger drew an MP4 from beneath his jacket. Amin shouted, “Look out!” and pushed her down as a spray of bullets ricocheted off the wall beside them.