Slaton remembered Director Nurin’s plan. It will tell you where and when to strike … a tactical opening that is ideal for a man with your gift. Use it. The director had set him up to die, and in doing so had put Christine at risk. Slaton had to understand completely. “How did it work? Was Nurin feeding the Iranians intelligence? Was he actively sabotaging his own strike teams?”

“Yes,” Hamedi said. “Behrouz told me he had an agent who gave accurate warnings—where and when the attacks against me would come. This agent was clearly planted by Nurin.”

“So good men were sent to the slaughter, sacrificed.”

Hamedi, his face riddled with angst, said, “Yes. This part filled me with sorrow, but clearly the director thought it necessary. I tried to consider things from his point of view. A military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would put at risk hundreds, even thousands of Israeli soldiers. Would that not be worse? Israel is desperate to stop Iran, and my importance to the program has been widely accepted. Clearly Nurin felt that if he did not make attempts against me it would only fuel Behrouz’s suspicions. He had to make it look as if Israel was trying to eliminate me.”

Fifty yards away Slaton saw two policemen scouring the base of the jetty, their flashlight beams scanning the water for survivors. In a matter of minutes they would reach the breakwater.

“But now,” said Sanderson, “Behrouz is gone?”

“Yes,” Hamedi confirmed. “Our friend here was quite innovative, but there is no doubt—he is dead.”

“And no one else in Iran shares his suspicions about your background?”

“I don’t think so,” Hamedi said. “Behrouz always retained a card-player’s mentality—something like this he would have kept to himself until he was certain. Others helped in his search, of course, but they were only low-level people with no understanding of his larger suspicions.”

“So,” Slaton reasoned, “if you were to turn up as a survivor tonight—you could still go back to Iran and carry through your plan?”

Hamedi thought about it. “Yes. With Behrouz eliminated, I’m sure there will be a fight for his position—one that will last weeks, if not months. For the time being all security will be focused on one thing—the imminent test. I am more secure now than I was an hour ago, and all I require is four more days. Allow me that, and I can give Israel her greatest victory since the Six-Day War.”

Sanderson drew a heavy sigh. “I’m not a political man by nature, but clearly the world could use a little more time with Iran. I could turn Dr. Hamedi in, say that I found him in the water. He’d be back in Iran tomorrow. And I have to confess this would also get me out of a rather deep professional hole I’ve dug for myself.”