how difficult you’re making it, mon frère . Tell me, Shiloah.” The tone of Al-Saud’s voice silenced Moses’s laugh. “What do you know about the Israeli Institute of Biological Research?”
“Not much. I can tell you that the residents of Ness-Ziona, the city where it’s located, have expressed their fears about the type of products manufactured there. In the last few years, six employees have died under pretty murky circumstances, probably as a result of handling highly toxic substances.”
The ring of a cell phone interrupted their conversation. Al-Saud checked who was calling before answering. Céline. He closed and turned off the phone.
“Answer it,” Moses encouraged him. “Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s not important. Tell me, Shiloah, do you remember the air disaster in Bijlmer?” He pronounced it correctly, “beilmer.”
“The cargo plane that crashed into a building in Amsterdam?” Al-Saud nodded. “It was a huge scandal for El Al.”
“We’re trying to find out what the El Al plane was carrying.”
“Mercure is investigating?” Moses was surprised. “Why would Mercure be doing that?”
“Mike”—Michael Thornton, Mercure’s other partner—“Tony and I are broadening our horizons. We’re working on expanding the business.The pressure’s on with the UN resolution banning mercenary forces. We’ve decided to diversify.”
“Oh, mercenaries will never cease to exist!”
“I know, but the demand for our services might fall, and we have very high fixed costs. So we’ve decided to branch into other businesses, such as high-risk investigations and economic and industrial protection services. You already know that industrial and economic espionage is a serious issue. In the Bijlmer case, what we’re uncovering might help your political campaign.”
“That’s interesting. I’m listening.”
“We’ve been contracted by two of the largest insurance companies in the Netherlands, who have to cover the cost of property and human lives lost in the accident. They want to know what the El Al plane was carrying. Mike interviewed a few of the Bijlmer residents who swore that they saw four or five people dressed like astronauts wandering around in the middle of the chaos right after the accident. The health problems among the residents of Bijlmer have gotten worse since the accident. You can see it in the statistics from hospitals in the area.”
“That’s no proof of anything.”
“It is if the people all fall ill with the same symptoms, ranging from skin problems to a rare type of cancer. Though the causes of the accident are well known, it was never revealed what the cargo plane was carrying. The Dutch and Israeli authorities are not being very helpful with regard to handing over the freight documents, which has raised suspicions.”
“A great friend of mine is a manager at El Al. He doesn’t much like government shenanigans either. I’ll ask him if he knows anything.”
“That might be useful to us. We learned two interesting facts from Mike’s trip to Amsterdam. First, an employee from the Department of Cargo Operations at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport swore that there was a fourth man on flight 2681. It has always been claimed that only the crew were traveling: the pilot, the copilot and the plane engineer. However, this man swears he saw a fourth. Who is it? Why wasn’t his presence recorded? Secondly, this same employee, who was supervising the cargo, saw several Danger labels. He knew that the material was military. The man swears that while he was putting the boxes through the pressure chamber used to detect and detonate potential bombs, he saw a label hehadn’t seen before. Next to the Danger sign it read, ‘Chemical Blahetter Inc. Origin: Córdoba—Argentina.’ He noticed it because it was written in Spanish and he knows the language a little. We’re following up on that clue. We are going to get to the heart of the matter and expose it in the press. It
“Not much. I can tell you that the residents of Ness-Ziona, the city where it’s located, have expressed their fears about the type of products manufactured there. In the last few years, six employees have died under pretty murky circumstances, probably as a result of handling highly toxic substances.”
The ring of a cell phone interrupted their conversation. Al-Saud checked who was calling before answering. Céline. He closed and turned off the phone.
“Answer it,” Moses encouraged him. “Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s not important. Tell me, Shiloah, do you remember the air disaster in Bijlmer?” He pronounced it correctly, “beilmer.”
“The cargo plane that crashed into a building in Amsterdam?” Al-Saud nodded. “It was a huge scandal for El Al.”
“We’re trying to find out what the El Al plane was carrying.”
“Mercure is investigating?” Moses was surprised. “Why would Mercure be doing that?”
“Mike”—Michael Thornton, Mercure’s other partner—“Tony and I are broadening our horizons. We’re working on expanding the business.The pressure’s on with the UN resolution banning mercenary forces. We’ve decided to diversify.”
“Oh, mercenaries will never cease to exist!”
“I know, but the demand for our services might fall, and we have very high fixed costs. So we’ve decided to branch into other businesses, such as high-risk investigations and economic and industrial protection services. You already know that industrial and economic espionage is a serious issue. In the Bijlmer case, what we’re uncovering might help your political campaign.”
“That’s interesting. I’m listening.”
“We’ve been contracted by two of the largest insurance companies in the Netherlands, who have to cover the cost of property and human lives lost in the accident. They want to know what the El Al plane was carrying. Mike interviewed a few of the Bijlmer residents who swore that they saw four or five people dressed like astronauts wandering around in the middle of the chaos right after the accident. The health problems among the residents of Bijlmer have gotten worse since the accident. You can see it in the statistics from hospitals in the area.”
“That’s no proof of anything.”
“It is if the people all fall ill with the same symptoms, ranging from skin problems to a rare type of cancer. Though the causes of the accident are well known, it was never revealed what the cargo plane was carrying. The Dutch and Israeli authorities are not being very helpful with regard to handing over the freight documents, which has raised suspicions.”
“A great friend of mine is a manager at El Al. He doesn’t much like government shenanigans either. I’ll ask him if he knows anything.”
“That might be useful to us. We learned two interesting facts from Mike’s trip to Amsterdam. First, an employee from the Department of Cargo Operations at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport swore that there was a fourth man on flight 2681. It has always been claimed that only the crew were traveling: the pilot, the copilot and the plane engineer. However, this man swears he saw a fourth. Who is it? Why wasn’t his presence recorded? Secondly, this same employee, who was supervising the cargo, saw several Danger labels. He knew that the material was military. The man swears that while he was putting the boxes through the pressure chamber used to detect and detonate potential bombs, he saw a label hehadn’t seen before. Next to the Danger sign it read, ‘Chemical Blahetter Inc. Origin: Córdoba—Argentina.’ He noticed it because it was written in Spanish and he knows the language a little. We’re following up on that clue. We are going to get to the heart of the matter and expose it in the press. It
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