Honour Among Thieves

walked towards the barrier. 'She's crossed the road, reached the barrier, and the guard is now checking her pass,' said the voice into the mobile phone. 'As instructed, they've let her through. She's now walking across the tarmac and following another woman through the side door. She's in, the door's closed. We've got her.' 'Now you open the safe,' said Major Saeed. Scott swivelled the dials to their coded numbers, and the first bulb turned green. The Major was impressed. Scott then placed the palm of his hand on the white square, and a few seconds later the middle bulb turned green. The Major was mesmerised. Scott leaned forward and spoke into the voice box, and the third light turned green. The Major was speechless. Scott pulled the handle and the door swung open. He jumped inside and immediately extracted the cardboard tube from the inside of his trouser leg. The Major spotted it at once, and flew into a rage. Scott quickly flicked off the cap, took out the poster of Saddam Hussein and unpeeled it, letting the backing paper fall to the ground before he strolled to the far side of the safe and fixed the portrait of Saddam to the wall. A smile returned to the Major's face as Scott bent down, rolled up the backing paper and slid it into the tube. 'Now I teach you,' said Scott. 'No, no, not me,' said Major Saeed. He held his phone up in the air and said, 'We must go back upstairs.' Scott felt like swearing as he stepped out of the safe, dropping the tube and allowing it to roll across the floor to the darkest corner. The plan he had so carefully prepared with Kratz would no longer be possible. He reluctantly left the open safe and joined the Major as he marched quickly towards the Council Chamber, this time not allowing Scott any opportunity to hold him up. Hannah joined the other cleaners inside the building, and told them that her mother had been taken ill and that she had been sent to cover for her. She tried to assure them that it was not the first time she had done so, and was surprised when they asked no questions. She assumed that they were fearful of being involved with a stranger. Hannah picked up a box of cleaning equipment and made her way down the back stairs. The plan displayed on the walls at Herzliyah was proving impressively accurate, even if nobody had managed die exact number of steps to the basement. When she reached the door that led into the bottom corridor she could hear voices coming from the direction of the Council Chamber. Whoever it was must be heading for the lift. Hannah backed up against the wall so she could just see them through the thick pane of wire-mesh glass in the centre of the door. The two men passed. Hannah didn't recognise the Major, but when she saw who was with him, her legs gave way and she almost collapsed onto the ground. Once they were back in the courtyard, the Major dialled a number. Scott strolled over to Kratz, who was standing behind the truck. 'Did you manage to switch the Declaration?' were Kratz's first words. 'No, I didn't have time. It's still on the wall of the Chamber.' 'Damn. And the copy?' 'I left it in the tube on the floor of the safe. I couldn't risk bringing it out.' 'So how are you going to get back into the building?' asked Kratz, looking towards the Major. 'You were meant to use the time -' 'I know. But it turns out he's not the one who'll be in charge of the safe. He's getting in touch with whoever it is I'll have to instruct.' 'Not what we needed. I suspect that with the Major our first plan would have been a lot easier,' said Kratz. 'I'd better brief the others so we can work on an alternative if things go wrong again.' Scott nodded his agreement, and he and the Mossad leader strolled over to the truck where Aziz and Cohen were sitting in the cab smoking. As the Colonel climbed into the front, two cigarettes were quickly stubbed out. Kratz explained why they were still waiting, and warned them that this could be the Professor's last chance to get back into the Council Chamber. 'So when he comes out next time,' he explained, 'we must be ready to go. With a little luck, we might still make the border by midnight.' How could he possibly be alive? Hannah thought. Hadn't she killed him? She had seen his dead body carried out of the room. She tried to organise her thoughts, which ranged from absolute joy to utter fear. She recalled her senior instructor telling her, 'When you're in the front line, never be surprised by anything.' She felt she now had the