Shimony countered "There is no way that Segan is a traitor but he could well be a misguided person who thinks that he is doing a patriotic thing. He was always a good tactician and operations officer but never really understood anything about strategy. Yes, David, he could be involved in this. What's more, when he was kicked out of Mossad for his private enterprise in America we had to expel two of our best operatives who were sent there by him. Indeed, Ruby and Sam are certainly capable of carrying out the operations against the Iranian scientists without leaving a trace or a shred of evidence".
David took some minutes before replying "So I think that I should find Segan and ask him about the operation".
Shimony warned him that Segan and his people were extremely dangerous, especially if they felt cornered, but endorsed David's suggestion.
David arrived at Berlin's international airport in the afternoon. His plan was to meet Ruby and confront her with his suspicions. He knew that if he called in advance she would avoid him and disappear so he intended to "accidently" bump into her. He hoped that as an old colleague, or rather ex-colleague, who showed sympathy for her plight she would accept his invitation for a cup of coffee. He knew she was perceptive and sharp and that he would have a hard time convincing her that their meeting was not premeditated but as one of Mossad's best operatives he hoped she wouldn't reject him outright. He really worried that she would alert Segan and that would complicate things considerably.
Berlin was one of the main hubs for intelligence gathering and mutual spying. The Cold War was almost forgotten by the younger population of Berlin but old habits die hard and intelligence agents still favored the vibrant city. It was said that you could buy anything and everything in Berlin if you have enough money and the right contacts. In Berlin money could buy you love, drugs, weapons and contracts to dispose of your enemies. The local Mossad station head, Julia Carmon, was one of the rising stars with high hopes of being promoted to a Section Head soon. Provided, of course, that she did a good job quietly without attracting any media coverage, and more importantly, managed to avoid scandals.
Julia was a vivacious woman in her late thirties who looked a decade younger. She had recently divorced her husband who was so busy making money and running one of the largest law firms in Tel-Aviv that he refused to join her in Berlin. According to him, her career was anecdotal and important only because of the connections and the clients she brought to his law firm, while she regarded it as a service to her country. In her younger days, before they were married she was a field agent and had participated in several clean clandestine operations that were attributed to Mossad although there was never any hard evidence. After her posting to Germany, Julia and her husband used to get together every week-end either in Tel-Aviv or Berlin. However, as happens in many arrangements of this type, the frequency of their meetings slowly dwindled and eventually they decided that they would be better off separated and finally got divorced. Now each of them was free to pursue their happiness, whatever that meant. In Julia's case happiness was to immerse herself in her work and forego personal life. Sex to her was like exercise — something you did to feel better with your body and soul without any emotional involvement.
Some senior Israeli politicians who visited Berlin regularly expected the Mossad station head to respond to their beck and call and satisfy their every whim, including things they wouldn't dare do in Israel. Julia did her best to comply but had her own red lines that she refused to cross. When the demands of those VIPs bordered on illegal fantasies she referred them to the embassy. The "cultural attaché" at the embassy was an administrative worker in the Israeli Foreign Office who received the posting in Berlin from the new general manager in order to remove him away from the headquarters where he caused more trouble than he was worth. He was not a career diplomat and quickly became more familiar with the Berlin "sub-culture" that consisted of a rich mixture of sex, drugs and the pursuit of fulfilling the most eccentric desires and perversions.
Julia knew that Segan had set up his own security firm and that its main office was in Berlin. Like all senior Mossad employees she was aware of the fact that he was disowned by Haim Shimony and left Mossad under a cloud of disgrace, but the details were vague and known only to a select few. The official version was that he sought new challenges in the private sector — a common euphemism for someone whose Mossad career was over and now wanted to make money by marketing the skills he acquired in government service to the highest bidder. As long as Segan's operations did not collide with her own work, Julia couldn't care less about his firm. She had received information that he had no scruples taking on jobs that were not perfectly within the law and that some of his employees were of disreputable character not to say fugitives from the law in their own countries.
Julia and David had worked together before so she was pleased when David called her and said that he was in Berlin and immediately invited him for dinner. However, he said that needed to meet with her on urgent official business and had time only for a quick cup of coffee, but that perhaps they would be able to get together later that night. He said that he preferred to meet at a café near the embassy rather than in the building that was probably under surveillance by all kinds of organizations from the local polizei to various terrorist groups. Julia gave him the name of a quiet little place not far from the embassy that was located on Augustae Victoria Strasse. David took a taxi from the airport directly to the café and when he arrived there Julia was already nursing her second cup of coffee and a large slice of chocolate cake stood waiting on a plate in front of her.
Julia stood up and gave David a hug and pecked both his cheeks. David responded in kind and smiled warmly at her. He gave her a brief explanation of the reason for his sudden visit, without going into detail about the suspicions that Segan's outfit was involved in the mysterious deaths of the Iranian nuclear scientists. He just said that Shimony asked him to make sure that Segan was not acting against the interests of Israel. Julia replied that she had not been instructed to keep an eye on Segan, and on the contrary was discouraged to have any official contacts with him. She added that he, and all his Israeli employees, were considered as persona non grata at the embassy and therefore kept pretty much to themselves. David asked her if she had come across Ruby and Julia said that she had heard that Ruby and Sam were now a real couple, not just colleagues, but other than that she knew little about their private lives and even less about their professional activities. However, she said that they now lived in an apartment building on Gruntaler Strasse near the corner of Badstrasse. David took out his cell phone and checked the address on Google Maps. Julia said that like many German young couples they probably shop for fresh food products at a nearby supermarket or mini-market and pointed to a Lidl supermarket near the corner but added that there were two other similar stores, Kaiser's and Euro Gida on Badstrasse, also within a short distance from the apartment building.
They drank the excellent coffee and enjoyed sharing the deliciously rich chocolate cake. David said that he had to leave now because he had to engineer a meeting with Ruby without Sam's presence. Julia said that she believed that there was a good chance that Ruby would be at the Lidl supermarket as it was the closest and had good products at reasonable prices. David then decided that he could use Julia's help and asked her if she would join him in staking the three stores. Julia gladly agreed to go back to the field and relive her days as a young field operative.