other-side-of-deception-victor-ostrovsky

THE OTHER SIDE OF DECEPTIOS / 65enters the PLO office, they'll almost instantly arrest me and you."Small beads of ~erspiration appeared on the general's forehead.Ephraim continued, "If that happens, then of course we won't contactVictor. That will be his sign that it's time to get lost, and I mean lost.But if nothing happens, we know that we're clean.""How will he get lost?" The general's voice quivered slightly."He shouldn't have a problem with that. After all, he did get whatprobably amounts to the best training for that in the world, or at leastwe'd like to think so."The general cleared his throat, then asked, "What will they do tous?""We went through that before." Ephraim was getting annoyed. "Ithought you understood.""I do. It's just that I didn't. . . " He hesitated,"Didn't what? Do you want to back out? Because if you do, say sonow, before we make one more move. After today, there won't be away out. We are rapidly approaching the point of no return. Once Victorleaves for New York, we're committed.""That's very nice of you," I said, raising my voice at Ephraim."You're letting him back out, and you didn't even let me decide if Iwant to get on board.""You don't understand. I was talking about him. If he wants outhe can get out, but we are committed. In fact, if he leaves now and weare under surveillance, then he'll be put away just like I will, and likethey'll try to do to you. He can, however, walk away if it turns outwe're clean."The general got up, shaking his head. I had a feeling he was startingto get my drift, and was worried it would not be reversible in amatter of seconds. "I don't want out. It's just that it's starting to getvery real to me now. I never played this game before, and I had noidea what I was getting into. It's not what we are about to do thatgives me the creeps, it's how. What I want to know is this: If theycatch us, what do you think they will do to us?""You can relax if you're worried about standing trial, because youwon't. They can't afford that. They'll settle matters with us behindclosed doors; an accident perhaps, or maybe we'd be admitted to anasylum for an undetermined length of time. Almost anything is possible,except a trial.""Not a very promising future," said the general, smiling."Well, that is if we are caught before we finish what we have setout to do. I believe we won't fail; the cost to our country, let aloneourselves, would be too great."For the next few minutes, we were all silent. Then I got up andturned to Ephraim. "There is something I want from you before Iinto this.""You're in it already," he replied."I might be, but I promise you I won't do one more thing for youuntil you do one thing for me.""And what might that be?""You have to put me in contact, right nown-I pointed to thephone-"with someone I know personally from your clique in theMossad.""What?""You heard me. Someone that I know. I want to be sure you're notsetting me up.""What about the general? I thought you trusted him.""With all due respect, we both know that you could have trickedthis man ten ways from Sunday. I want someone from the Mossad,someone who knows the ropes.""I can't just expose someone to you like this.""In that case, I'm walking."Ephraim paused. "You know I can't let you do that, not with whatyou know.""Kill me then, but if you want me to work with you, you bettercall somebody on that phone now."Ephraim stared at me silently for several seconds. He then walkedover to the phone, got a line from the operator, and dialed a number.He waited with the receiver to his ear. "Reuven?" he finally said, andwaited. "Hold it for one minute." He turned to me. "Do you knowReuven Hadary?""Yes."He spelled it out to the man on the phone that I wanted verificationthat there were others in the Mossad working with Ephraim.Reuven, a man I knew and liked, confirmed it. I insisted on gettingReuven's number so that I could call in the event of a mishap and notbe totally dependent on Ephraim. They agreed, and by the time wehung up, I was satisfied. This was not a setup but a legitimate effort tobring down the Mossad, to make room for something we all hopedwould be better.I opened the window-I badly needed some fresh air. After thecigarettes, the pipe, and the fish and chips, the smell was getting to beoverwhelming."Just one more thing." I said. "How many are involved in this?""About ten people. But only the three of us know what is reallya,