all day.”
“And then what? Cowboys and Indians? The money’s on the table, and a bunch of guns come out?”
“I’ll handle that part. You’ll just handle the oily parts, because you’re good at that. But the answer is yes. Armed robbery.”
“You skipped over my real question. How do you get the money on the table?”
“When we meet with Kruger and his partner, we’ll tell them that as soon as they have the big payment prepared, we’ll be prepared to turn over another X kilos, say five kilos, and that’s all we could carry from the crash site. We promise them the coordinates to the rest.”
“And for telling them this fairy tale they’ll give you twenty-five K?”
I heard him say, “Twenty-five,” and then the rain outside came harder and washed out his words. I said, “What? What?”
“Twenty-five K immediately, Nair. In our pockets. Then we go from Arua to Congo and we find my villagers, my family. A beautiful wedding takes place. Then we make arrangements for the final contact and the rest of the payment. It’s going to be a big payment, Nair, very big. Big.”
“Right. One million. You already said.”
“I haven’t said it to them yet. Maybe I’ll say two.”
“Who’s going to let you string them along all that way with just this little piece of dogshit?”
“The question to ask is—who could pass it up? Who could say no? If the claim is at all credible, they have to give it the full treatment.”
“Credible? It sounds completely and obviously false, Michael—can’t you see that? What words can I use? Nonsensical. Impossible. Out of keeping with reality.”
“Reality is not a fact.”
“Around here it certainly isn’t. God.”
“Reality is an impression, a belief. Any magician knows this.” Like a cartoon villain, he rubbed his hands together. “Oh my goodness, Nair, you just tickle them in their terrorism bone, and they ejaculate all kinds of money. If you mention the name of one of the Muslim Most Wanted—boom, they put on a circus for you.”
“You’ve skipped another question, haven’t you?”
“What. What’s the question?”
“Who is this ‘they’? Are they a fantasy too?”
“Of course not. Kruger works for them.”
“Who? Who are we dealing with besides this Kruger? Do you even know?”
“We’re dealing with the Israelis.”
If I’d had to stand up from my chair at that moment, I’d have failed. I was that shocked, and that much afraid. “Then you’re dealing with the Mossad.”
“Their involvement is likely.” And he seemed proud of it. He smiled with all his teeth.
“You’re scamming Mossad.”
“They know me. If I say I have it, they’ve got to take me seriously and get together the cash.”
The rain roared, or it was my head, but in any case the sense of things rushed away on a flood. “Michael … Michael…”
“Nair. Nair.” He got his face close to mine as if he thought I couldn’t hear. “I know those people. You know I know them. I was trained by them.”
“Michael, be quiet.”
“Let me tell you about it.”
“No. I’m feeling bewildered. Please shut up.”
He complied. I didn’t say a word. In the silence, which was nevertheless quite loud, his folly bore down on us like a tremendous iceberg. Its inertia was irresistible. In this room, in Africa, reasonable arguments were just mumbo jumbo.
“Is that enough quiet? Can I talk now? Because I want to explain one thing: I’ve got contacts, I know Mossad—ever since my training in South Africa. I can call them anytime that we want to cancel, and the whole thing’s canceled. Never happened.”
“Well, Jesus Christ, man—call them now, and call it off. Cancel everything. Mossad? You’re insane.”
“All right. I’ll cancel if you say so.”
“I just said so.”
“But let’s wait until we take it one tiny step further along. Let’s meet with these guys and their Geiger counter, and walk away with twenty-five K. Then no more. Nothing further than
“And then what? Cowboys and Indians? The money’s on the table, and a bunch of guns come out?”
“I’ll handle that part. You’ll just handle the oily parts, because you’re good at that. But the answer is yes. Armed robbery.”
“You skipped over my real question. How do you get the money on the table?”
“When we meet with Kruger and his partner, we’ll tell them that as soon as they have the big payment prepared, we’ll be prepared to turn over another X kilos, say five kilos, and that’s all we could carry from the crash site. We promise them the coordinates to the rest.”
“And for telling them this fairy tale they’ll give you twenty-five K?”
I heard him say, “Twenty-five,” and then the rain outside came harder and washed out his words. I said, “What? What?”
“Twenty-five K immediately, Nair. In our pockets. Then we go from Arua to Congo and we find my villagers, my family. A beautiful wedding takes place. Then we make arrangements for the final contact and the rest of the payment. It’s going to be a big payment, Nair, very big. Big.”
“Right. One million. You already said.”
“I haven’t said it to them yet. Maybe I’ll say two.”
“Who’s going to let you string them along all that way with just this little piece of dogshit?”
“The question to ask is—who could pass it up? Who could say no? If the claim is at all credible, they have to give it the full treatment.”
“Credible? It sounds completely and obviously false, Michael—can’t you see that? What words can I use? Nonsensical. Impossible. Out of keeping with reality.”
“Reality is not a fact.”
“Around here it certainly isn’t. God.”
“Reality is an impression, a belief. Any magician knows this.” Like a cartoon villain, he rubbed his hands together. “Oh my goodness, Nair, you just tickle them in their terrorism bone, and they ejaculate all kinds of money. If you mention the name of one of the Muslim Most Wanted—boom, they put on a circus for you.”
“You’ve skipped another question, haven’t you?”
“What. What’s the question?”
“Who is this ‘they’? Are they a fantasy too?”
“Of course not. Kruger works for them.”
“Who? Who are we dealing with besides this Kruger? Do you even know?”
“We’re dealing with the Israelis.”
If I’d had to stand up from my chair at that moment, I’d have failed. I was that shocked, and that much afraid. “Then you’re dealing with the Mossad.”
“Their involvement is likely.” And he seemed proud of it. He smiled with all his teeth.
“You’re scamming Mossad.”
“They know me. If I say I have it, they’ve got to take me seriously and get together the cash.”
The rain roared, or it was my head, but in any case the sense of things rushed away on a flood. “Michael … Michael…”
“Nair. Nair.” He got his face close to mine as if he thought I couldn’t hear. “I know those people. You know I know them. I was trained by them.”
“Michael, be quiet.”
“Let me tell you about it.”
“No. I’m feeling bewildered. Please shut up.”
He complied. I didn’t say a word. In the silence, which was nevertheless quite loud, his folly bore down on us like a tremendous iceberg. Its inertia was irresistible. In this room, in Africa, reasonable arguments were just mumbo jumbo.
“Is that enough quiet? Can I talk now? Because I want to explain one thing: I’ve got contacts, I know Mossad—ever since my training in South Africa. I can call them anytime that we want to cancel, and the whole thing’s canceled. Never happened.”
“Well, Jesus Christ, man—call them now, and call it off. Cancel everything. Mossad? You’re insane.”
“All right. I’ll cancel if you say so.”
“I just said so.”
“But let’s wait until we take it one tiny step further along. Let’s meet with these guys and their Geiger counter, and walk away with twenty-five K. Then no more. Nothing further than
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