Ah, yes, Jish… Yaki sighed. So, you’re still in Tel-Aviv, right?
Yes, but I prefer the cafés here. Say, whatever happened to ‘Ali the Yellow after I discharged?
Oh, his daughter eventually died—cancer, after all. After we withdrew from South Lebanon, he sort of just faded away. Hard to blame him, really.
And how did you end up here?
The unit became a pretty dreary place after the withdrawal. There was no more action. We became small and insignificant almost overnight. We both know perfectly well that it was you guys who obtained the bulk of the intelligence. Agent work just became kind of passé.
And yet, you’re here doing agent work, aren’t you?
Yes, well, at least here I’m stationed in a city like Vienna. If you’re gonna play spy games, at least do it in a pretty setting, right?
If you ask me, this city is too refined for a guy like you.
That’s where you’re wrong. Believe me, you look around and you think this is a city for old ladies sipping whipped coffee, but behind this tame façade there’s… Well, you can live well here, if you know what I mean.
You mean things that cost a lot of money and happen really late at night?
You can do it in the afternoon, as well.
I see… Do you have an address? My romantic life has been faltering lately.
I gather that things in academia aren’t much better, either.
Tamir didn’t reply. What could he have said?
Yaki glanced at his watch. Okay, so, listen. This is the way it’s going to work. We’re tracking her. We’re going to bug her place, as well. We’re waiting for an opportunity— and for clearance, which we don’t have yet. You see, the people giving the OK need to be convinced that it’s important enough, and then send over an expert to actually do it. Besides, we try to be as gentle as possible. The police and the homeland security office here are quite sensitive to these types of operations. But anyway, we’ll try to also plant a bug on her bag, her coat… Now, listen, you’re free to walk around the city, but try not to stray too far from the center, in case we need you on short notice, even though I can’t say with certainty that this is the only area she hangs out in. Now, take this. He pulled out a cellphone from his briefcase and handed it to Tamir. From now on, this is you. You talk to us only through this. It’s safe. Even so, we’ll send you messages to the weather app which you can only access with a password. Whenever you see on your screen that there’s a weather update, go in and put in the password. If something really urgent comes up, then I’ll just write you directly or call. Just so you know, I was instructed to take your regular phone from you, but I’m not going to do that— both because I trust you, and because it’s bullshit. If you wanted to talk on the phone, you could just buy one in any corner shop, right? They don’t think very highly of you back in Israel, do they? What did you do to earn your reputation?
Oh, it’s a long story, and not a very interesting one.
Yaki looked at him intently. I’m trusting you, but you better not fuck up. I’m not this nice when I get pissed off.
Of course. You can relax.
Now, listen, you are not trained for field work, so we’ll try to keep you out of it as much as we can. If I happen to invite you to join a stakeout, you do exactly— and I mean, exactly— as you’re told. You don’t stray by so much as a hair from your exact instructions, clear? The last thing I need in my life right now is that jackass Oz gloating, saying I told you so. Besides, she can never see you, because she’s seen you before.
Obviously. So, do you speak German? Or just enough to order a mocha and schnapps?
I didn’t have a choice. It was hard at first, but an assignment’s an assignment. He downed his schnapps in one gulp. Is there anything you wanna ask me?
Have you seen her yet?
Yes.
How does she look?
Yaki stared at him for a moment. He pulled a tablet from his sapphire-blue leather briefcase, typed in a couple of things, and handed it over to Tamir. Hold it facing the wall, he told him, don’t turn it towards the room.
Tamir grabbed the tablet and lowered his eye to glance at the screen. The picture was sharp, in high resolution. Her gaze was slightly turned and her hair covered half of her face, but it was her. Yes, it was definitely her. What was it about her that always sent a subdermal tremor running through his body? He handed the tablet back to Yaki.
She’s hard to miss, huh? Yaki remarked.
Yes.
Listen, Yaki went on, I remember last time we met that you had a thing for her.
What thing?
You were very focused on her, you wanted to know everything about her…
It was an intelligence thing.
Tamir, cut the bullshit.
He stared at Yaki in silence.
Anyone can have his fantasies, that’s fine, but I hope you realize that whatever this thing may be, it’s nothing more than a fantasy. It’s… It’s like a comic book. You know what I mean? You were a kid, you heard something over the radio, you became enamored, I dunno, but that’s as far as it goes. It’s just a story, a legend.
A phantom.
See? You’re better with words than I am.
So, why are we talking about this now?
What do you mean, why? I need to hear from you that you understand that what we have on our hands is an intelligence objective— no more, no less. Not some goddamned freedom-fighting heroine, not a princess in a tower— an intelligence objective.
Yes, yes, that’s clear.
Is it?
Yes, it’s clear.
I insisted on bringing you here against Musa and that bull-terrier Oz’s will, and everyone
