After settling in the small room John removed the SIM card from his telephone and inserted a prepaid local SIM card and Angelica did the same with her phone. They detested airline food and were really hungry after the long flight from Paris. So in search of a restaurant they strolled up Day Street to Davis Square where they found an Italian restaurant that looked appealing. They ordered two of the dishes recommended by the owner who was also the cashier and had a cold beer while waiting for their food. Two steaming plates that smelled delicious were placed on their table. After the first bite both rolled their eyes and felt as if they had just reached heaven and were served ambrosia, the food of the gods and goddesses. The beer wasn't exactly the gods' nectar so they ordered a bottle of lush deep red Chianti. John beamed at Angelina who smiled back and after consuming the large plate they each ordered a double Espresso and relaxed on the comfortable seats. They strolled back to the hotel and wearily climbed up the stairs to their room. Jet-lag was setting in and within minutes they just fell into a deep sleep.
John and Angelina Smith were Mossad agents whose real names were Shmuel (Sam) Jacobs and Rina (Ruby) Rabinov and they were sent on a special mission by the ambitious operations chief of Mossad who was also Shimony's senior deputy. His nick-named was simply Segan (Hebrew for deputy) and he earned it because he was not trusted to be the chief and was doomed to retire as a deputy. People who saw him for the first time and knew about his career almost automatically thought "always a bridesmaid never a bride" because of the vibes they got from him. Segan was sure that he would not be the PM's selection for the next Mossad head unless he did something truly exceptional, some grand achievement that would be attributed to him alone, a patriotic act that could not be ignored. That is why he trusted his two close cronies, Sam and Ruby, with a delicate and sensitive mission. He promised them promotions if they succeeded and warned them that he would absolutely deny his involvement if they were caught.
Segan had explained that their mission was vital to the defense of Israel and would in no way affect the national security of the United States. He didn't need to tell them that the relations between Israel and the US were in a very delicate state, mainly because each country quietly, but not very subtly, tried to meddle in the internal politics of the other. The Israeli right wing government supported the Republican Party while the left wing openly sided with the Democrats. These relations were reciprocal — the Republicans favored the Israeli right wing and the Democrats wanted to see a change of power in Israel. There were also some personal scores to settle between the US President and the Israeli PM — everything is personal as the Godfather said in the famous movie.
In addition, since the Pollard affair in the mid-1980's when some members of the Israeli intelligence community accepted the offer made by a young officer in US Naval Intelligence and recruited him, Israel had vowed never to spy on the US. Pollard happened to be Jewish, and the fact that he passed classified information to his Israeli handlers brought forth accusations of dual loyalty of the whole US Jewish community. After all, Pollard and his handlers committed the worst sin of all — they got caught red handed. Israel officially claimed that this was a rogue operation by individuals who disobeyed their orders and also stated that the classified information was used in the fight against terror for the benefit of the US and its allies. The US did not accept these excuses and made sure that Pollard was severely punished and that the careers of the Israelis involved were callously terminated in the intelligence community.
Segan had briefed the two agents he sent covertly to the US. He said that he had clandestinely formed a closely knit group of adherent backers of Israel in the US but they were instructed to refrain from showing their support openly. They were mainly people who were respected members in their society and above suspicion. He promised that he would never ask them to do anything against the interests of the US. As yet he had not asked them to provide classified information but he had recently learned that one of them was a key player in a major technological development that was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Possession of this unique technology could enhance Israel's operational capabilities and in effect allow it to attack its enemies with impunity. Sam asked what this technology was and Segan said that it was a material that greatly improved the stealth properties of aircraft, missiles and unmanned drones. Segan said that as a senior Mossad officer it was his patriotic duty to obtain this technology, regardless of the risks involved. He repeated his warning that they were to evade getting caught at all costs. When Ruby enquired what he meant by "all costs" Segan smiled cynically and said even at the cost of your life or the lives of others.
Before departing Segan gave them the details of their preliminary contact and told them that a devout Catholic woman would be expecting them. After confirming that they were not followed by agents of the FBI or Homeland Security she would provide them with contact information to the next member in the group of supporters. This man would also make sure that they were not under surveillance and then will hand over the sensitive technology.
The next day Ruby and Sam crossed Mass Ave and entered Pemberton Farms and Garden Center. They ordered bagels with cream cheese and strong coffee and sat at one of the handful of small tables in the garden center, surrounded by orchids and other exotic plants. They had arranged to meet their contact at the annual sale held in the basement of St. John Evangelist Church that was Roman Catholic despite its name. They followed the old adage that meeting in public did not raise nearly as much suspicion as trying to conduct a secret meeting. They were to carry out a "bump" — an engineered encounter to penetrate an organization — and meet the contact that Segan described only as a devout Catholic woman who was an avid supporter of Israel. He told the two agents that she believed in the role Israel had to play in the battle of Armageddon and the return to earth of Jesus Christ to defeat the Antichrist, and was willing to help expedite the cataclysmic event.
There were several cars parked in the church's ample parking lot, many of them with infant car seats as a testament to the pro-life sign in the yard. They entered the building through a side door that had a notice directing the people to the annual sale in the basement. They descended the stairway and could hear the sounds of young children and infants even before they entered the large room where the sale was held. At a glance the goods displayed looked like those found in a poor neighborhood yard-sale — an assortment of knick-knacks, old toys, plates and cups and old pots and pans. Sam and Ruby were not there to buy anything but kept up a pretense of being interested in the merchandise. According to Segan's instruction they reached a small table at the far end of the room where some reasonably nice quilts were spread out. The matronly looking woman looked at the young couple who were obviously strangers to the tightly knit community of the church regulars, guessed who they were and held up a beautiful quilt.
She pointed to a square piece of fabric in the corner and said "Can you see the image of the Jordan River here?"
Ruby answered "The Jordan River is now just a small stream with great public relations, not a mighty river as it was in Biblical times".
The woman smiled "Perhaps the river will flow again".