Chapter 39

Question, is an inspection tour a vacation? Answer; when it gets you away from people asking for money, or in my case, I could add when my remaining guests decided they had been on the island long enough and wanted to tag along and explore what might become of their new home.

My thoughts centered on that idea for most of the flight from Sardinia to Greece. I did not have that much time on the helicopter flight to my island because my remaining guests were talking a mile a minute since this was their first vacation since I had taken them to Rome.

Once the helicopter was down and we disembarked, I was informed that there was no need for me to play tour guide for them as the company had anticipated their coming and had several escorts waiting to take them to the beach and show them the various sites around the island.

I did not get the same tour as I found in addition to the company reps, the facilitator was standing to the side with a man and a woman I did not know, while I talked to the on-site supervisor. The report he gave was short and straight forward stating the dock was finished though an issue had surfaced, saying he would take me to go see the problem later. Asking him what the problem was he stated he would show me later after my guests departed with fewer eyes. I found his statement strange but let it pass until we were alone. The rest of his report held nothing as mysterious as his first statement giving me a summary of what had been done to date reaffirming my island should be finished on time, or, at least finished on the revised completion date. Nodding in the direction of the facilitator, he stated he would show me their progress as well as the issue they had found once I was done.

Stepping away from him, I joined Mr. Facilitator and his guests who were introduced as Mr. Hansen and his assistant Ms. Pearl, both from Israel. Immediately I knew something was wrong as Ms. Pearl did not have the bearing or clothing of someone who was an assistant. The one thing I did find out was the name of our facilitator or at least the one he was using today. His name was Mr. Able. I did not believe it was his real name but at least it was something more than being called the facilitator. Once the introductions were over, I was invited over to a pavilion that had been set up nearby complete with a wet bar as well as food. Even the way they sat at the table suggested that Ms. Pearl was the real power and that Mr. Hansen was only playing the role of leader.

The food was good, wondering where it had come from I was told there was a ship anchored in one of the harbors we did not fly over on our way in. With so much food, I was grinning with the thought that I was being fattened up for the slaughter. I was not far off the mark, only I was not the one to be slaughtered. The two of them were there to investigate the possibility of hiring a certain unnamed individual (me) to do some contract work for certain interests located in the eastern Mediterranean.

Looking around to see if they were serious, I found Mr. Able well away from the three of us reloading his plate, taking his time doing so. Asking why they thought I would be willing to do contract work for them, Mr. Able stated he had been interested in me since the suspicious death of a healthy doctor a couple of years ago while I still lived in America. His death as well as other suspect activities around the same time had them wondering if my skills might be available for hire.

I denied everything and we talked for a while longer until they mentioned they had spoken to most everyone else who were not only there but also a number of former students who were more than willing to discuss anything and everything they knew about me. I would have to talk to a number of people to be quiet if I ever made a trip back to the States.

Having a picture of my life, Ms. Pearl asked if I would consider allowing my skills to be hired out if the pay was correct. I replied I was more interested in healing people rather than killing them. They agreed that healing people was a noble pursuit, but in her next breathe she asked if my aversion to killing would prevent me from eliminating a few individuals to save even more. The example she used was the last war Israel fought two years before killing thousands of civilians, adding that the terrorist group to the north was already making sounds they were preparing for another war.

I did agree with her on that count, as I had been following international news especially since the last place I lived someone tried to kill me with a nuclear bomb. Asking what I would be paid for this service I about fell out of my chair when Mr. Hansen answered saying five hundred thousand dollars per terrorist. As a completion bonus, he offered training for me and anyone else I wanted, as well as access to all weapons within their arsenal, along with technical support within Israel. Seeing me hesitate he added there were also bonuses for their most wanted. Considering what I could do, I wondered if five hundred thousand, a head would be enough to become a mass murderer whether I was known as one or not. Stating that I would pass on their offer, since I had no real desire to be a mass murderer, Ms. Pearl asked what it would take for me to work with them.

Shrugging my shoulders I stated that along with everything else they offered, my pay would be a million dollars a name on their list, with half a billion in an account that I controlled. Before I could add anything else she answered, "Deal".

I was stunned that she agreed so quickly, asking why she agreed so quickly she stated that in the last war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip had cost them over two and a half billion dollars in direct military expenditures. Then there were the cost in lives of not only Israelis but also Palestinian women and children with the International condemnation that followed. Finally, there were the economic cost and disruption to the region. Ms. Pearl suggested that if I could do what they thought I could do, I would be a much cheaper option and there was the 'plausible deniability' as they would die without any physical wounds.

Watching the two of them drive away to make their arrangements for the various funds to be transferred to accounts that I controlled, I wondered how I became the low cost alternative to mass murder. Asking Mr. Able what he thought when Ms. Pearl and Mr. Hansen departed to make their arrangements. He ducked the question stating he did not know the particulars of any deal; his job was simply to arrange meetings and facilitate agreements between other interested parties.

His answer led me to ask why he had never tried to arrange for me to return to the states to which he answered he saw nothing to be gained for me so he passed. He added even if he had become involved there would still be issues since the government still had not agreed to the previous agreement they had agreed to with me. With that admission, I found out that Mr. Able knew a lot more about what was going on about me, than I did.

The one person with me that did not like the idea of me visiting the Middle East was Sven. He did not like the idea saying there were other ways to make money other than possibly being shot at or blown up. Even the half billion dollars in an escrow account to cover my costs did not change his mind. Asking why traveling to the Middle East bothered him, Sven stated that when he had been a soldier, he had a job to do and he could go in and do the job and go home. Now that he was in the protection business and if his boss wanted to go somewhere he was fine with it. What he did not like was the idea of traveling to an area that was most likely to be shelled in the near future and that it was most likely by people he couldn't fight back. Against artillery there was no defense and he or anyone could do is either duck or not be in the area, his vote was of course to be out of the area.

By the time my tour was finished, I had received word from my banks the accounts I had given to Mr. Hansen and Ms. Pearl had received substantial deposits. I was surprised as the money was simply deposited into my own accounts and not the escrow accounts we had agreed on. I figured they had faith in me or at least try to make me feel guilty as they had already paid me.

If the opportunity to make half a billion dollars was not enough to make my inspection/vacation trip worthwhile. What the foreman, Mr. Nietzel revealed was worth the entire trip. Finding him after my other guests had departed was easy enough, the mystery he alluded to earlier got deeper as he handed me a flashlight as well as a helmet with a headlamp. Offering me a seat on one of the electric carts, he soon had us away from the dock area heading to what looked like the area the main house was to be built. When he stopped that was exactly where we were as there were stakes in the ground, what they were for I did not care.

My interest soon changed with my guide climbing into a backhoe parked nearby and soon was digging into a small ravine that was scheduled to be filled in for the foundation of the main house. Digging into the side of the ravine he showed me a cave hidden behind a number of larger boulders that had been stacked to block the entrance. Peering inside, I could see that this was more than a simple cave as the sunlight did not light up the back of the cave. Looking at my partner, he explained how he came to know about the cave after diving where the second pier was to be located, finding a submerged cavern with a tunnel leading to this cave entrance. Asking what was inside he stated it would be better to show me and with that, he turned on his helmet and flashlight leading the way into the cave. All I could do was follow.