Greg Iles - The Spandau Phoenix

changed to indignation.

"You'd think they'd mention it, at least. We are on El Al, for God's

sake."

Stern gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Old news, Gadi.

Besides, you never know who's flying El Al. We don't want to offend the

paying customers."

Four rows ahead, Swallow smiled with satisfaction. The conversation had

come in loud and clear over her receiver.

"I'm surprised at the number of passengers," Gadi remarked.

"Since you arranged the flight privately, I didn't expect any."

Stern chuckled softly. "I arranged this flight thirty hours ago.

General Avigur said he would get me to South Africa.

He didn't say he @ouldn't tly to defray the cost any way he could."

"I don't like it."

"Two passengers are always air marshals," Stern reminded him.

"Leave the security to them for once and go to sleep. It might be your

only chance for a while."

"You're not sleeping."

Stern reclined his plush seat and closed his eyes. "Good night."

Gadi pulled a wry face and glanced around the First Class cabin.

The blue-haired grandmother was the only other passenger up here.

That meant the air marshals had to be in Tourist. He considered walking

the length of the plane once more to try to pick them out, but decided

against it. Stern was right: he needed rest. The old woman was

certainly no threat. Reclining his seat, Gadi closed his eyes and, like

professional soldiers everywhere, dropped off to sleep only moments

after making the decision to do so. His last mental picture was of

himself helping the old grandmother to her feet, his good deed for the

day.

As the "grandmother" pretended to concentrate on the novel in her lap, a

new voice mumbled in her receiver. Professor Natterman had awakened.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Almost lunchtime," Stern answered, half-asleep already.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel like getting some answers is how I feel," Natterman grumbled. "I

think it's time you told me your half of the story."

Stern opened his eyes and turned irritably toward the professor, but the

large white bandage over Natterman's lacerated nose kept him civil. He

jerked his head toward Gad reminding the professor of their agreement

not to discuss anything- about Rudolf Hess. "What do you want to know,

Professor?"

"Everything. What about this Phoenix AG? Why did you come to Berlin in

the first place? I want to know why Ilse was taken to South Africa.

What's the significance of that?"

Stern looked over at Gadi. "I've thought a lot about that," he

murmured. "And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but your Nazi angle doesn't

fit here. At least not in the way you think. The Afrikaners are white

supremacists, of course, but that's no secret. They fought against

Hitler during the war, and damned valiantly. And in spite of their

prejudice against blacks, they@ve got a pretty good record on Jews. They

allowed a great deal of Jewish immigration during the war, which is more

than a lot of countries did."

"What about the present day? What are their ties with Germany?"

Stern shook his head. "Limited. During the past several years, South

Africa has quiedy developed extremely close relations with another

country in a very similar geopolitical situation. That country is not

West Germany, however, but Israel. It doesn't sound like we're flying

ifito a nest of neoNazis, does it?"

"No," Natterman agreed. "But you obviously have some suspicions about

South Africa and Germany. Where is the fox in the henhouse?"

"South Africa's nuclear program. The darkest corner of this dark

country."

"Does South Africa actually possess nuclear weapons?

I've heard it speculated in the news, but never confirmed."

Stern smiled wryly. "Oh, I can confirm it for you. In 1979, an

American VELA satellite detected a distinctive double flash off the

South African coast, in the South Atlantic. That flash was the result

of a joint nuclear test carried out by South Africa and Israel."

"How do you know that?"

"Because for all practical purposes, Professor, Israel gave South Africa

the bomb. Nuclear weapons are one of the main pillars of the

Israeli/South Africa relationship."

" What? "

"it was an inevitable partnership. Israel developed its first bomb in

1968, but we had several limitations. We couldn't test our weapons

without being detected; South Africa had vast deserts and two oceans. We

needed raw uranium and other strategic minerals; South Africa had

extensive reserves. South Africa also had a great deal of ready cash.

But the main tie was psychological, emotional. As the world closed

ranks against apartheid, South Africa grew ever more isolated. Before

long it was an international pariah surrounded by hostile enemies. The

siege mentality was a natural reaction, and we in Israel are the masters

of that particular neurosis."

"But how do you know all this, Stern?"

The Israeli looked at Natterman for a long time. "You asked me before

if I worked for the Mossad, Professor.

Right now I am exactly what I told you in the beginning, a retiree. But

I have done a bit of work for several government agencies.

Shin Beth and the Mossad, yes, but my longest service was with an agency

called LAKAM. Have you heard of it?"

Natterman shook his head.

"LAKAM is Israel's nuclear security force. Not in the sense of

operating the weapons, but in protecting them.

LAKAM safeguarded Israel's nuclear program from inception to completion.

That's why I know so much about the South African program."

"And is this LAKAM work what led you to Berlin? To Spandau?"

"Not exactly. What led me to Spandau was a chain of facts. A very

fragile chain with four links that spans three decades. The first link

wag a warning note-an anonymous, cryptic note written in Cyrillic

handwriting and delivered to Israel in 1967. It warned of terrible

danger to Israel and spoke of 'the fire of An-nageddon.' This note

claimed that the secret of this danger could be found in Spandau.

That, of course, was a very broad hint. Did the writer mean Spandau the

city? Spandau the prison? What? Two days later, the Six-Day War broke

out and the note was dismissed as a warning of the Egyptian attack,

probably written by a Russian with a conscience."

Stern rubbed his temples. "Now, ump ahead to the early 1970s. I was

working for LAKAM by then, and we in the agency became aware that

certain German scientistsformer Third Reich physicists-were working in

the rocketry section of South Africa's nuclear program. This by itself

was not unusual. After all, it was German scientists who built the

bombs for America and Russia. But when you c sider that the prime

minister of South Africa in 1979-the year of the secret Israeli/South

African nuclear test-was John Vorster, a man who had supported the Nazis

during World War Two, it takes on a rather different significance.

"Now, let's jump ahead again, to the 1980s. It was then, through

contacts in the Mossad, that I became aware of a neo-fascist police

organization called Bruderschaft der Phoenix, headquartered in West

Berlin-"

"Phoenix!" Natterman exclaimed. "Hurry, Stern, tell me!"

"Again, this by itself was not of great import. It took the fourth and

final link to join the others in my mind. Just three weeks ago, the

Israeli Foreign Ministry received a typed warning from an anonymous

source. The writer obviously knew of the secret Israeli/South African