that mattered.
'Go on,' said Jalloud, taking his seat again'Here is the situation as I
see it,' said Horn. 'As we speak, the world does not even perceive
Libya as a nuclear threshold country. Your requirements, however, paint
a significantly different picture. The need for highly enriched
triggers, and sculpted tubes tells me that you are uranium, building
your own weapon, and that you have probably already obtained all the
necessary components other than those you seek from me. Your request
for an absolute minimum of fifteen kilograms of U-235 or five kilograms
of plutonium suggests that you have procured tamper/reflector technology
and are trying to build the smallest bomb you can-possibly even a
portable weapon. Am, I correct?'
No one disputed him.
Horn turned directly into the lens of the softly humming video camera
that had been forgotten by everyone in the room but him. 'I propose
something quite different,' he said solemnly. 'I am offering you an
aircraft-deliverable nuclear weapon with a forty-kiloton yield,
completely assembled with fissionable core, ready for detonation.'
in that moment the air in the conference room seemed to turn to water.
Although the Arabs knew their leader would not view the videotape for
many hours yet, they also knew that the words spoken by the old man in
the wheelchair were for him alone. Their presence had become
irrelevant.
Horn spoke softly to the humming camera. 'I can offer you a weapon of
the implosion or the gun-assembly type, and, subject to certain
conditions, I can continue to provide these weapons at the rate of one
every forty days.'
Major Karami's black eyes glittered as he fumbled for another cigarette.
At length Jalloud asked softly, 'Are you serious, sir?'
Horn's single burning eye was answer enough.
Major Karami regained his composure first. 'And what is the price of
this great gift?' he asked warily. 'There are only so many billions of
diners in our treasury.'
'Not a single piece of gold do I desire,' Horn rasped.
'What then?' Jalloud asked, puzzled. 'Oil?'
'My price, Herr Prime Minister, is control. I will provide you with a
single weapon. You will not stockpile it and wait for more weapons. You
will use it-and against a target specified by me.' Horn raised a
spindly finger. 'Only then will more weapons be provided.'
'That's ridiculous!' Major Karami exploded. 'Why not use it yourself.?
We have our own targets and we'll use our weapons as we see fit! Your
price is too high!'
'One moment, Ilyas,' Jalloud cautioned. 'What is your target of
preference, Herr Horn?'
'Thank you for asking,' Horn said softly. 'It so happens that the
target I want destroyed coincides with the one your leader has
unsuccessfully tried for years to destroy-the State of Israel. To be
exact, Tel Aviv.'
Ilse let out a short gasp from her chair behind Horn.
'Tel Aviv!' Karami exclaimed, unbelieving. He turned to Jalloud.
'Does he speak the truth?'
'Do you?' the prime minister asked.
'Tel Aviv,' Horn murmured. 'I want the Jews wiped from the face of the
earth.'
'As do we!' Jalloud retorted. 'But what good is one weapon to us? If
we have to wait forty days for another, we will be annihilated.
The Zionists have two hundred nuclear bombs.'
Horn smiled. 'Yes, they do. But think for a moment. I assume you do
not want Palestine rendered permanently unin habitable. You merely wish
the Jews pushed into the sea, yes?
Tel Aviv is the first step on the road to reclaiming Jerusalem.
If skillfully managed, your attack could even be made to appear as an
Israeli nuclear accident.'
Major Karami seemed to be debating with himself. 'Herr Horn,' he said
hesitantly, 'Israel's air defenses are the toughest in the world.
Even with the best of luck, it would be difficult to guarantee that a
single plane carrying this warhead could get through to Tel Aviv. And
even if it did, we would have no chance to mask our responsibility for
the attack.'
Horn saw that admitting this weakness had cost the Libyan major dearly.
'I appreciate your frankness,' he said. 'If you would prefer, I could
'arrange to deliver a slightly smaller, warhead-a thirty-kiloton
yield-that could be fitted with a timer and concealed inside a large
crate. It would not be nearly as compact as the American SADM-the
famous 'suitcase bomb'-but it could fit easily inside a small truck.'
Prime Minister Jalloud started to speak, but Major Karami restrained
him. 'I believe we can do business,' he said hoarsely, trying to
maintain some semblance of composure.
'Are there any other restrictions?'
'Time,' Horn replied. 'I want Tel Aviv destroyed within ten days.'
Stunned, Major Karami sat back in his chair. Horn's words coursed
through his veins like a powerful narcotic.
After endless years of cowering beneath the Zionist nuclear threat,
Libya would finally possess the means to strike back!
Karami clenched and unclenched his fists in anticipation of wielding the
deadliest sword ever to fall into Muslim hands.
Theti he went still.
'How do we know that you actually have access to such weapons?'
he asked. He was almost afraid to hear the answer-afraid that his heady
dreams of, conquest would disappear like smoke from a tent fire.
Horn smiled. 'Because I have one in the basement complex of this house,
ready for Dr. Sabri's inspection. If you gentlemen will follow me ...'
Gasps went up around the table. The Arabs began shaking each other's
hands and talking rapidly among themselves.
The interpreter did not even attempt to translate the effusive
congratulations that filled the room.
s
In the corner behind Horn, Ilse's face had gone slack. After Luhr's
drugs and the horror in the X-ray room, witnessing this nightmarish
