Dima leaned forward and put his hand on Nir’s leg. “That’s years of good living right there, my friend.”

“It was years of something.”

But deep down he wondered if any part of their survival had to do with that little talk with God. Who knows? Can’t think about it right now. Nicole will have an answer. I’ll ask her later.

Nir tilted his head back, and despite the fact that the Vietnam-era helicopter was racing at a very unsafe speed at a ridiculously low altitude, he savored the flight.

Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

FIVE DAYS LATER

MOSSAD HEADQUARTERS, TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—NOVEMBER 30, 2020—09:10 / 9:10 A.M. IDT

Meeting in five,” Nir said as he walked into his team’s workroom.

“Yesh! He’s back,” Liora shouted, jumping from her chair and running toward him. Dafna followed her, as did Yossi, while a smiling Nicole remained at her workstation. After a couple of hugs and a fist bump, Nir took the long way to his office, starting to the left rather than to the right.

The workroom for his analysts was large and open. He passed three empty desks no one used right now, then came to Nicole’s extremely clean and organized area with its numerous keyboards and monitors. These were the tools she used to break into the supposedly impenetrable systems of various governments, satellites, commercial enterprises, and private citizens. He touched her shoulder, and she touched his hand.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

Next he came to where Liora and Dafna had pushed their workstations together, creating an oversized electronics mass that constantly flashed and beeped and whirred as they analyzed thousands of images from satellites and cameras every day. He had no clue what at least half the machines did or how they worked. He just knew these two Millennials were the best he’d ever seen at digging through tons of visual coal to find a hidden diamond.

Next was Yossi, whose board shorts, tank top, and flip-flops went well with his oversized beard and man-bun. His intel analysis was unparalleled in Mossad headquarters, especially now that Nicole had given him access to the computer systems of most of the world’s leading intelligence services.

Nir pointed to one of the monitors. “What’s that?”

“Haleiwa Surf Challenger. North Shore Oahu. They’ve got some gnarly barrels and closeout bombs. Bucket list, man.”

“Find me someone nasty to bump off there, and I’ll bring you along.”

“P’tsatsa,” Yossi said with a grin.

Finally, Nir came to Lahav’s dark workstation decorated in Star Wars chic, complete with hanging TIE fighters and that full-sized Chewbacca who had seen better days. By the time they’d arrived home, it was obvious the young analyst was truly shaken. Nir had given him a week off and ordered him to two sessions with one of the in-house counselors.