General Koliagin was more forthcoming and willing to discuss the situation. He said "David, I have information. First, let me tell you that the Iranians are simmering with anger with regard to the assassinations, they said nefarious murders, of so many of their nuclear scientists. They regard this as a plot to make them lose face in the world and also to throw a wrench in their peaceful nuclear program. They hold Mossad responsible for this, as they are sure that the CIA and MI6 are incapable of executing such an operation without getting caught. Second, they are set on exacting revenge. They know how sensitive public opinion in your country is when it comes to freeing captive Israelis. Third, this time they do not want you to release what you call terrorists in an exchange but want to force Israel to change its non-transparent nuclear policy. Finally, the FSB knows that one of the hostages is related to your Prime Minister but will not inform the Iranians."
David was speechless for a couple of minutes, only when Dima said "Hello, are you still there?" David managed to speak. "General Koliagin, if this fact gets out Israel may have to strike out with great force".
The general suppressed a sigh "Yes, you primitive tribes of the Middle East always react emotionally and not rationally. Do I need to remind you that Stalin did nothing to release his own son from Nazi captivity?" David knew that Stalin's eldest son, Yakov, was held as a prisoner of war by the Nazis and that Stalin refused the offer to exchange him leaving him to his death. The general continued "So, David, what can you tell me that the FSB doesn't know?"
David answered "You have my assurance that Mossad is not involved with any of the deaths of the Iranian scientists. Israel had never commented on this, denied or confirmed its involvement, but you have our solemn word that we were not responsible for any of those deaths."
The general was quiet for a moment "So I can tell you that all your missing citizens are held in basement of the terrible Evin Prison in Tehran". He stopped talking when he heard David gasp, but then continued "They are treated well as the Iranians are looking forward to exchanging them in return for your government's policy change, as I said."
David said "Thank you General Koliagin. Israel would be grateful if you could convey the information I gave you to the Iranians. It would be best if it were not officially passed to them but made to look as if leaked out."
The general laughed "I never thought Mossad was naïve but do you really think that the Iranians would believe that this operation of eliminating nuclear scientists could be professionally executed by anyone else? Even in the good old days, when the KGB carried out this sort of "wet" operations, I doubt if they could get away with "terminating" seven senior scientists without leaving any traces. No, my friend, it would take more than your assurance and solemn oath to convince the Iranians. There is only one thing you can do — find the offenders and turn them over to the Iranians."
David stuttered "Dima, I understand your point. Mossad will do everything in its power to apprehend the culprits. Thanks again."
David called Shimony and gave him a summary of his fruitless efforts. The only positive piece of information was that all the prisoners were held in Evin Prison and were unharmed.
Eyal was napping under a palm tree on the sandy beach of Dahab. The sound of a soft voice singing a popular song woke him up and he lazily opened his eyes looking for the source of the harmonious melody. He made a double-take when he saw that his girlfriend, Yanna, emerged from the water wearing nothing but sandals and holding a mask and snorkel. For a moment he felt just like James Bond (Sean Connery if you really care for details) in the movie "Dr. No" when Honey Ryder (he liked the choice of the name for Ursula Andress) came out of the ocean carrying a large shell and wearing an unforgettable white bikini. Eyal liked what he saw and his attention was so fully focused on the rhythmic movement of Yanna's breasts that he didn't notice the two Bedouins that approached him from behind. One of them was holding a curved sword while the other had an automatic rifle that he identified as an outdated M-1 carbine. In broken Hebrew the man with the rifle told Eyal to put his hands behind his back and the other guy stuck his sword in the sand and quickly bound Eyals hands with a plastic cable tie. Yanna tried to run back into the water but the Bedouin with the sword was much faster and tackled her before she could reach the water line. He was in no hurry to get up from her but his buddy shouted something in Arabic and tossed Yanna's Abaya and told her in broken Hebrew to cover herself and then cuffed her. A battered pick-up truck stopped just a few meters from the group and the two Israelis were hastily thrown into the back of the truck and were covered with a dirty tarpaulin. The truck sped towards the small port where a fisherman's boat was waiting. The Israelis were transferred to the boat that reeked of stale fish — even worse than the tarpaulin's smell — and were dumped in the small hold below deck.
The fishing boat headed north-east towards the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba. Yanna and Eyal were taken off the boat and placed in a closed van that left the port area and headed north to Amman. A private jet with Iranian markings, the very same plane that had flown Avi and Ari from Thailand a few days earlier, waited at the airport and they were flown directly to Tehran and transported to Evin Prison. There they were taken to cell in which the other Israelis were held. They received the same welcome that other newcomers got and after overcoming the shock of being transported from the lovely, sandy and warm beaches of Sinai to the dreary prison in Tehran told their story. The veteran prisoners told them that they had been treated nicely and had nothing to fear, except perhaps some abuse by Fatso.
Yonathan Shmaryahu, honorable MK (Member of Knesset) known by one and all as Johnny, was lying on a straw mat under the shade of a colorful parasol and sipping a cold beer. Despite his fashionable sunglasses, the late-September Mediterranean sun was reflected from the white sand of the beautiful beach, and he had to narrow his eyes and squint in order to see his much younger boyfriend, Oded, cooling himself in the water. He was not glad to see that a tanned muscular blond guy was taking an active interest in Oded and the two younger men seemed to be talking and laughing. Johnny had hoped that Oded would be so grateful for the opportunity to spend a week in the resort town of Aiya Napa and would not indulge in flirting, as he tended to do whenever attractive young men were around. Johnny and Oded had travelled from their five-star hotel in Aiya Napa to the small beach of Kermia that was practically exclusively for gay people. Heterosexuals were not chased away from the beach but were made to feel uncomfortable and usually left after realizing that most of the bathers, surfers and sun lovers had a different preference.
Oded and his new friend came out of the water and approached Johnny who sat up. Oded introduced his friend as Gustav and said that he was from Denmark and appeared to be lonely and looking for company. Johnny looked closely at Gustav and liked what he saw so he invited them to sit down and passed a couple of cold beers from the icebox they had brought to the beach. He invited Gustav to join them for dinner at one of the fanciest restaurants in Aiya Napa that was located in an old building that used to serve as a fortress.
Johnny had made a fortune as the founder of a start-up company that had created a website that served gay people who were looking for partners — for life, or for spending a vacation or just for a short fling — that managed to maintain the anonymity of its users. The main advantage of this website was that it maintained a firewall that thwarted all the attempts by criminals, extortionists and curious media reporters to acquire the true identity of the site's members. Johnny had used the money he got from selling his website to launch a political career as a successful businessman with an astute sense for identifying technological and social trends. Whenever he appeared in public he was always accompanied by his bodyguard who doubled as his very close and very personal boyfriend, a position that was now taken by Oded.