This time it was Sam who responded "With the help of the Almighty and his devout servants".
Ruby intervened, trying to move the conversation to more practical grounds "I love this quilt. Can we buy it?"
The woman, who did not introduce herself nor did she ask the names of the young couple, said "The quilt is for sale but you will have to return to collect it in the evening. Make sure to check it carefully when you pick it up. Please go to cashier and pay there and I'll put a "Sold" label on it."
Sam and Ruby left the basement and returned to their room to catch up with some more sleep. After they had rested for a couple of hours they discussed the encounter with the woman, whose name they didn't know so decided to call her Quilty. Ruby wondered what possible information she had that was so important that Segan had sent them to gather — she didn't really believe Segan's story about stealth technology. Sam had no idea but said that Quilty must have received some training in clandestine operations as she neither mentioned her name nor what her daytime job was. Ruby was not so impressed by this. She wondered aloud if the fact that they had to return to the church's basement to collect the quilt could not be a trap or even some kind of "sting operation" by the FBI. She emphasized that since the arrest of Jonathan Pollard some thirty years earlier, Israel had avowed to refrain from spying on the US. She added that if they were caught it could create a real rift between Israel and the US as the tension between the allies was very high anyway. Sam tried to dissuade her but had to admit that her suspicion was not unjustified. He emphasized that there was no incriminating evidence against them and they hadn't done anything illegal. Ruby said that they may be accused of entering the US under false identities and that alone could send them to prison or at the very least have them deported. Eventually they agreed that she would go to a café at Davis Square while he returned to collect the quilt. If all went well he would call her and say something that included the code word "Metro". If he failed to call or to use the code word she was to leave the US as quickly and secretly as possible or go into hiding somewhere safe until she could be sure that all was clear. They were aware of another possibility that he wouldn't be picked-up by the FBI immediately but would be followed until they met and then both would be gathered like Easter eggs. However, both were experienced field agents and knew how to spot and evade people who followed them.
Ruby left the hotel with her laptop computer and walked to the café and settled down with a latte on a high stool at the counter overlooking Elm Street. Sam waited 15 minutes and then walked the short distance to the same side entrance of the church and descended down the staircase. He didn't look over his shoulder but his keen senses assured him that he was not being followed. He held the receipt he was given earlier and approached the table where Quilty was seated. She looked quite tired after a long day but when she saw Sam she smiled and held out a transparent plastic bag and he could see that the quilt was inside it. He thanked the woman and she wished him farewell and added that she hoped he would enjoy the quilt. He assured her that he would and bid goodbye. With great apprehension he strode up the stairs and exited the door that led to the now almost deserted parking lot of the church. He had half expected to see police cars and black vans with dark windows but saw nobody around. It took him less than three minutes to get back into his room and remove the quilt from the plastic bag. He spread the quilt on the bed and saw that a label had been sewn on the same square with the scene of the Jordan River. At first he saw nothing written on the white label but when he looked closely against the light he noticed that there was a ten-digit number that had been created by a series on small holes probably made with a pin. He phoned Ruby and told her to meet him at the Davis Square Metro station in 20 minutes. According to their arrangement this meant that he expected to see her at the next Metro station, Porter Square, in one hour and 20 minutes.
Sam and Ruby met as planned after making sure that neither of them was followed. Sam told her about the ten-digit number that was produced by a series of pin-pricks on the label and both of them guessed that it was probably a phone number. Sam recognized the first three digits 617 as the local area code. He called the number from his prepaid phone and received a voice message box "You have reached the office of Dr. Josh Levin at the MIT advanced materials laboratory. I cannot answer the phone so please leave a message after the beep". To Sam the "beep" sounded like something from the first Star Wars movie so he guessed that Dr. Levin must be an aficionado of the film and probably not a very young man. So, hesitantly Sam said "Dr. Levin, this is the man who purchased the beautiful quilt. Could you please call me back between 8 and 9 pm tonight or between 8 and 9 am tomorrow" and he gave the number of his cell phone. He then looked at Dr. Josh Levin's webpage on the MIT website. He saw that Dr. Levin was in his late fifties, as he had guessed, and that he was not a professor which was surprising in view of the impressive list of publications on the webpage. He showed this to Ruby and she said that something must have impeded Levin's career because academic researchers that were much younger were already professors. When they looked more closely at Levin's CV they saw that he had worked for quite a few years at a private high-tech company under contract to one of the US National Laboratories before joining MIT just last year and this probably explained his academic position. Sam switched off his cell phone, planning to turn it back on only at the time when he expected Levin's call.
Sam's phone rang just minutes after 8 pm and he heard a man's voice saying "This is Josh returning your call".
Sam asked "Can we meet tonight?"
Levin said "Could you please come to my office at MIT. I'll be here at least another hour".
Sam looked at his watch and agreed to meet Josh and asked for directions. Thirty minutes later Ruby and Sam found the office on the third floor. They knocked on the door and it was answered by a gaunt man who looked emaciated as if suffering from a terminal disease. He looked very fragile and as if he would fall apart any minute. He welcomed the Israeli couple "I was told to expect you and was instructed to hand over this little parcel" and took a small plastic box out of the top drawer of his desk and gave it to Sam.
Ruby asked "Are you feeling OK?" and not waiting for an answer went over to the cooler and fetched him a glass of water.
Josh Levin said "Thanks, but a glass of water will hardly solve my health problems. I have been diagnosed with a very aggressive bladder cancer and my physicians have given me just one more month. What I am going to give you now is highly confidential and the only reason I want the Israelis to have this information is that my days on this earth are nearly over." Sam and Ruby looked very concerned, as Levin continued "That is why I am working late tonight. I need to complete a crucial part of the work before I weaken much further".
Sam saw that the long speech took its toll and Levin leaned back in his chair. Sam asked what was in the parcel. Levin gestured and said "There is a thumb drive with blueprints of a new stealth material that was developed by the private company I worked for before moving to this position at MIT. This project for developing advanced stealth materials was funded by DARPA for the sole use of the US Air Force and Navy. I know that Israel will put it to good use, and I am also sure that the US interests coincide with those of Israel". He added a highly technical explanation about a breakthrough in material science and something about a completely innovative system called Active Frequency Selecting Surface (AFSS). The idea was that a very thin absorber could change the properties of the surface with the use of broadband receivers that would reduce the reflected wave from radar systems and thus provide stealth features to the object it coated.