The betrayal

The betrayal

"An Irretrievable Step"

An excerpt

At ten am the Egyptian ambassador was asked to report urgently before the Italian foreign secretary at the Palazzo della Famesina, which is the Italian foreign ministry in Rome.

At eleven thirty am the Egyptian ambassador was back in his office and summoned Al Azam with whom he was in a friendly relationship to join him in his office.

'Sit down Abed I've returned just now from the foreign office, where I was rebuked as a certain Amina Al Nuseiri was caught with one kilogram of heroine in her suitcase. She was sent back to Cairo.'

'I can't believe it I know her too well. It must be the Italians doings…'

'That's what I thought too,' the ambassador told his friend. 'They don't inspect people with service or diplomatic passports usually, but they showed me a genuine telegram that was sent from an anonymous source in Cairo, denouncing your aide; and there's no doubt that the suitcase was staffed with that incriminating item in Cairo's airport, just before the suitcase was loaded on the plane.'

'Are you sure sir; is it your absolute belief?' Al Azam could not come to terms with this drastic piece of news, his plan to force that American Copt to work for him was based on Amina's presence. He could do without her but he knew that he won't get a replacement from Cairo's headquarters, and she was his trump card and he lost her. He planned to send her after recruiting the American that shared her bed to Venice, to spy after the Venetian Coptic community…

How am I going to persuade this American to work for our cause without her? He pondered despaired. I'll have to offer him huge sums of money, or employ him according to his conditions, now that he's married…

'Do you have any enemies back home within the organization's ranks?' The ambassador's question barged into Al Azam thoughts like a blade of a sharp dagger.

'There were three candidates except myself for my current post, and one with more years of service than me; he was sure that he'll be elected for that job.'

'So he could be the one that ordered to plant the heroine in your aide's suitcase, and it wasn’t too hard to achieve with the deterioration of the security situation nowadays back home. The French and the British haven't given up their hopes of annulling the Suez Canal nationalization, we're on the brink of war, and it's a very convenient time for foul play of this kind…'

'But are you sure sir that it isn't a fake, that document they showed you at their foreign office?'

'Yes I'm sure Abed and I couldn't be more sure, it was sent from Cairo fifteen minutes after your request to cut short Amina Al Nuseiri's leave, from a mail office branch very close to the headquarters building. The Italians' emigration authorities were tipped two days before your aide landed at Fuimicino.'

'Is he mad or what?!? It's like committing a suicide, all I'll have to do is point him out with my finger, and declare that's the traitor…'

'Not if he's the right ties; did he ever express thoughts about becoming the organization's head?'

'He did brag that he's going to be the next head several times.'

'He's our man then Abed! I'll tell you what, write down a report of facts alone don't even hint in a single word about our assumptions. I'll add a letter with a full description of the humiliating meeting I'd to suffer by the Italian foreign minister, and I'll express my satisfaction of the excellent job that you're doing up this very today, and I'll attach a Photostat of the copy I received at the Italian foreign ministry.'

© Haim Kadman 2013 �" all rights reserved.

5.0 out of 5 stars.  In my opinion “An Irretrievable Step” is a refreshing and authentic perspective of an officer’s (and later spy’s) life. An enjoyable story written in a comfortable and easy-flowing style.

https://www.createspace.com/5423059

www.amazon.com/Haim-Kadman/e/B009Z7XL8C