interrogated and killed Towfik and subsequently
gave the personnel dosimeter to Pierre Borg, worked in the Directorate
of General Investigations, the glamorous civilian half of the service.
He was an intenigent and dignified man of great integrity, but he was
also deeply religious,--to the point of mysticism. His was the solid,
powerful kind of mysticism which could support the most unlikely-not to
say bizarre--beliefs about the real world. He adhered to a brand of
Christianity which held that the return of the Jews to the Promised Land
was ordained in the Bible, and was a portent of the end of the world. To
work against the return was therefore a sin; to work for it, a holy task.
This was why Kawash was a double agent.
The work was all he had. His faith had led him into the secret life, and
there he had gradually cut himself off from friends, neighbors, and-with
exceptions-family. He had no personal ambitions except to go to heaven.
He lived ascetically, his only earthly pleasure being to score points in
the espionage game. He was a lot like Pierre Borg, with this difference:
Kawash was happy.
At present, though, he was troubled. So far be was losing points in the
affair which had begun with Professor Schulz,
46
TRIPLE
and this depressed him. The problem was that the Qattara project was being
run not by General Investigations but by the other half of the
intelligence effort-Military Intelligence. However, Kawash had fasted and
meditated, and in the long watches of the night he had developed a scheme
for penetrating the secret project
He had a second cousin, Assam, who worked in the office of the Director
of General Intelligence-the body which coordinated Military Intelligence
and General Investigations. Assam was mom senior than Kawash, but Kawash
was smarter.
Ile two cousins sat in the back room of a small, dirty coffee house near
the Sherif Pasha in the heat of the day, drinking lukewarm lime cordial
and blowing tobacco smoke at the fUe& They looked alike in their
lightweight suits and Nasser mustaches. Kawash wanted to use Assam to
find out about Qattara. He had devised a plausible line of approach which
he thought Assam would go for, but he knew he had to put the matter very
delicately in order to win Assam's support. He appeared his usual
imperturbable self, despite the anxiety he felt inside.
He began by seeming to be very direct. "My cousin, do you know what is
happening at Qattara?"
A rather furtive look came over Assam's handsome face. "If you don't
know, I can't tell you."
Kawash shook his head, as it Assam had misunderstood him. "I don't want
you to reveal secrets. Besides, I can guess what the project is." This
was a Ile. "What bothers me is that Maraji has control of it."
66 whyr
"For your sake. Im thinking of your career."
-rm not worried---~'
'Then you should be. Maraji wants your job, you must know that."
The Wit proprietor brought a dish of olives and two flat loaves of pita
bread. Kawash was silent until he went on. He watched Assam as the man's
natural insecurity fed on the lie about MamjL
Kawash continued, "Maraji is reporting directly to the Minister, I
gather."
"I see all the documents, though," Assam said defensively.
47
K*n Folieff
"You don't know what he is saying privately to the Minister. He is in a
very strong position."
Assam frowned. "How did you find out about the project, anyway?19
Kawash leaned back against the cool concrete wall. "One of Maraji's men was
doing a bodyguarding job in Cairo and realized he was being followed. The
tail was an Israeli agent called Towfik. Maraji doesn!t have any field men
in the city, so the bodyguard's request for action was passed to me. I
picked Towfik up."
Assam snorted with disgust. "Bad enough to let himself be followed. Worse
to call the wrong department for help. This is terrible."
"Perhaps we can do something about it, my cousin."
Assam scratched his nose with a hand heavy with rings. "Go
gave the personnel dosimeter to Pierre Borg, worked in the Directorate
of General Investigations, the glamorous civilian half of the service.
He was an intenigent and dignified man of great integrity, but he was
also deeply religious,--to the point of mysticism. His was the solid,
powerful kind of mysticism which could support the most unlikely-not to
say bizarre--beliefs about the real world. He adhered to a brand of
Christianity which held that the return of the Jews to the Promised Land
was ordained in the Bible, and was a portent of the end of the world. To
work against the return was therefore a sin; to work for it, a holy task.
This was why Kawash was a double agent.
The work was all he had. His faith had led him into the secret life, and
there he had gradually cut himself off from friends, neighbors, and-with
exceptions-family. He had no personal ambitions except to go to heaven.
He lived ascetically, his only earthly pleasure being to score points in
the espionage game. He was a lot like Pierre Borg, with this difference:
Kawash was happy.
At present, though, he was troubled. So far be was losing points in the
affair which had begun with Professor Schulz,
46
TRIPLE
and this depressed him. The problem was that the Qattara project was being
run not by General Investigations but by the other half of the
intelligence effort-Military Intelligence. However, Kawash had fasted and
meditated, and in the long watches of the night he had developed a scheme
for penetrating the secret project
He had a second cousin, Assam, who worked in the office of the Director
of General Intelligence-the body which coordinated Military Intelligence
and General Investigations. Assam was mom senior than Kawash, but Kawash
was smarter.
Ile two cousins sat in the back room of a small, dirty coffee house near
the Sherif Pasha in the heat of the day, drinking lukewarm lime cordial
and blowing tobacco smoke at the fUe& They looked alike in their
lightweight suits and Nasser mustaches. Kawash wanted to use Assam to
find out about Qattara. He had devised a plausible line of approach which
he thought Assam would go for, but he knew he had to put the matter very
delicately in order to win Assam's support. He appeared his usual
imperturbable self, despite the anxiety he felt inside.
He began by seeming to be very direct. "My cousin, do you know what is
happening at Qattara?"
A rather furtive look came over Assam's handsome face. "If you don't
know, I can't tell you."
Kawash shook his head, as it Assam had misunderstood him. "I don't want
you to reveal secrets. Besides, I can guess what the project is." This
was a Ile. "What bothers me is that Maraji has control of it."
66 whyr
"For your sake. Im thinking of your career."
-rm not worried---~'
'Then you should be. Maraji wants your job, you must know that."
The Wit proprietor brought a dish of olives and two flat loaves of pita
bread. Kawash was silent until he went on. He watched Assam as the man's
natural insecurity fed on the lie about MamjL
Kawash continued, "Maraji is reporting directly to the Minister, I
gather."
"I see all the documents, though," Assam said defensively.
47
K*n Folieff
"You don't know what he is saying privately to the Minister. He is in a
very strong position."
Assam frowned. "How did you find out about the project, anyway?19
Kawash leaned back against the cool concrete wall. "One of Maraji's men was
doing a bodyguarding job in Cairo and realized he was being followed. The
tail was an Israeli agent called Towfik. Maraji doesn!t have any field men
in the city, so the bodyguard's request for action was passed to me. I
picked Towfik up."
Assam snorted with disgust. "Bad enough to let himself be followed. Worse
to call the wrong department for help. This is terrible."
"Perhaps we can do something about it, my cousin."
Assam scratched his nose with a hand heavy with rings. "Go
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