Juan Moisés De La Serna - The Spy

I will not say that I did not do it, because my bosses wanted results, but it was always justified, so some scientists disappeared during their vacations, or had to suffer the kidnapping of a relative to get them to cooperate. Nothing nice, but work is work!

I was not in charge of that part, just of asking the questions and validating the knowledge that these scientists gave me.

And then they were released, because once we have discovered their keys, it didn't matter what they did.

Although more than one had to be visited again, because they developed different keys after being trapped, to continue hiding their messages....

In the meantime and in order to remain undercover, I had a second life as a university professor, which allowed me to access libraries and approach other professors, being updated with them latest work and informed of what they knew about other scientists have discovered, anything of interest to me.

Without knowing the rest of the faculty served as my ears, in case they found any scientist had made any type of discovery, then without anyone knowing, I visited them in order to get the information out of them.

At that time, I had even acquired a certain reputation in the world of chess, but only in friendly games, since I tried not to appear in public events that could discover my identity, in case I had to change my destination, so that nobody could recognize me.

Despite that, some universities they used to call me to give a lecture from time to time, and after this, I used to play two chess games with those who were supposed to be the best in that institution.

To tell the truth, I used to win the first game without a problem, and the second one, I would not say I let them win, but I did not want to leave the institution that had invited me in a bad position.

And when no one saw me, I sent the corresponding report of my progress weekly, as well as the information I had obtained from those scientists who managed to cooperate.

Everything seemed simple, and one could already say that I was an expert in it, when a new destination arrived, Israel.

At first I was surprised, I had no previous idea, at no time they had suggested or asked me anything, so I asked to confirm the instructions, it was not the first time I had received false instructions, due to my position and handling of the delicate information that I always had in my hands.

I had to learn to be cautious just in case, as they say, since on more than one occasion I had fallen into someone's trap, as it happened in Spain, and that despite the time elapsed, I couldn’t find out who wanted to make damage me so bad back then.

After confirming the instructions, I got rid of the support team, the one that was in charge of doing the dirty work, kidnapping and extortion, and I took my suitcase to an uncertain destination, a British colony that had few signs of progress.

At first I thought that it was some kind of punishment, although I did not understand the reason, it did not seem to me that I had done a bad job at any time, although it was not the first time that those who bothered or did not perform their function well were sent to an inhospitable destiny from which they almost never returned.

I did not know where I was going, I only knew it was desert, quite the opposite of what I had enjoyed so far, with mild summers and rainy winters, but in any case a pleasant temperature, but the desert!

I had left my professorship at the university, my privileged position, that kind of comfortable life I had, and everything to go to a desert, I did not understand! But orders are orders! And you always have to be willing to meet them.

It would be like coming home, well, at the origin of my military training, there in Arizona … in Arizona ?, yes, there it was, then it had not been in Pennsylvania!, that was surely the place where I found my first love.

This memory makes me change dates or places, and the worst thing is that I don't even realize it, until someone tells me, and not even with that.

I still remember once I was talking to someone, about an upcoming appointment, I don't know what, I think, about the doctor, and I was telling him that on the sixth day of next month.

– Of course! – the voice on the other side of the phone told me -See you next Thursday .

– Thursday ?, I have said on the sixth, and it is Tuesday.

– No sir! I have it here, next day, the sixth is a Thursday -. -What? not, miss !, next Thursday is the ninth -.

– Are we talking about March?

– Sure, Miss! What! Do you think I don't know what month I live in? -

– But …– she hesitated. -Which year?-

–Well, what will it be ?, from 1984 – I answered surprised of her

question.

– No sir, it is not that year! We live in 1990, surely you are looking at an old calendar- she replied.

–In 1990 ?, what are you talking about ?, we live in 1984, or am I not going to know

in what year do I live? – I asked annoyed.

–I don't want to contradict you, sir, but it's 1990.-

– Well, I don't believe it, let's see! Who is the president …?

–Sir, I don't think this conversation leads to anything." I would be grateful if you could contact me with another person with whom I could resolve this issue to end it.

Then my wife put on and solved everything, apologizing about my bad head.

Actually, despite everything, and after cutting, I was still convinced that I was right and not her, thankfully my wife reassured me by saying:

– Nothing happened, she is new! Do not worry that I will take you to the doctor on the day of the appointment.

They are things of the memory! which, over time, you know, it is normal that there is some failure from time to time, but it always put me in a very bad mood when someone made evident my forgetfulness.

Sometimes I spent hours thinking about what I had forgotten, trying to understand how or why it happened.

Although my anger almost did not last, because after a few minutes I had forgotten the reason for the anger and left it.

How much time wasted trying to remember …!, On some occasions I was able to find out what it was and I was surprised that I was angry at that insignificant thing, but I was not able to control my emotions.

Over time, I was increasingly uncompromising, it bothered me above all, that others did not fulfill what they had said or what I expected them to do.

On the other hand, when I was wrong or something happened to me, I always found some justification for it, minimizing that mistake by telling myself that it was a matter of age.

How different it was now from when I was young! Then I was a faithful achiever and without allowing myself to fail for any reason, and of course, I had no memory failure, moreover, thanks to my work and chess, I had a memory that some even compared me to a walking encyclopedia.

To anyone, the mitzvot, the six hundred and thirteen precepts of the Torah, might seem like many, but for me it was the natural way of life, everything was planned, what should or should not be done, and there was no possibility of error, which gave me some peace of mind knowing how to respond when a new situation arose in life.

Although I do not consider myself a religious extremist, I do believe that I am a good Jew, at least that was what I said to my captain, whom I accompanied to Israel, from the British base.

They had taken me as an interpreter, since my boss did not know Hebrew, because although it was an British colony, that language was not spoken and known by all, being Hebrew the most used among those arriving from different parts of Europe.

My captain had asked for my references , because he was not sure of my loyalty, since they had had some other problem with the collaborators, as they called the civilians who generously lent themselves to acting as interpreters.