Chapter 9 – The rescue

It was finally D day. Annie woke up to the smell of food. Eyal was, as usual, preparing breakfast.

"I'm getting spoiled, Eyal. I should take time and learn from you."

"Annie, face it, it's just not your thing. Cooking 101 is really not that hard. With your observation skills if you'd ever get near enough to a stove or oven, you would have learned by now!"

That got him a rib poke, a second one was coming but he evaded it quite easily. Chasing each other around the small table, Annie quickly gave in and Eyal put up his wooden spoon as a sign of victory! Annie just rolled her eyes at him.

"Eyal did you get news of the intel that we lifted at the Embassy?" She said out of breath

"Yes and as I had suspected, nothing on Hans. But like they say 'no news is good news'"

"OK so we are going in blind… as usual. We're both use to these situations, it just means we have to put our 'anything can happen' hat."

"Annie, I said the intel from the Embassy came back negatively. My plan B came through."

"What plan B?"

"Good tradecraft and contacts. Here the latest on Hans. As of yesterday, he was kept in a small one man cell, sadly that cell won't be on our visit route. The closest we'll get to him is when I'll fake my respiratory problems. The visit will take the group down to a similar cell but not in the same quarters. I'll have to 'visit' that one on my own. He has two very well armed guards and he's been put through hell but is still fighting his interrogators so I'm guessing he should be at least responsive when I get to him. Same technique you had to suffer through, every hour before mealtime they interrogate him. Better that way, they save on food! Ha and the most important bit of information... no surveillance cameras for most of the visit.

"Eyal, how and when did you …"

"Told you .. good tradecraft and contacts.."

Annie knew better to push for more, Eyal's way of doing things had always amazed her, a master spy at his best.


"Annie, let's run through our plan again: The visit starts at 10 and it takes roughly a 1 hour. Top floor, Unit XI is just for history buff, mostly interrogation rooms - should take 15 minutes or less – next going down to the sinister Unit X, The Palace of Miracles, the place where countless human tragedies took place - 25 minutes. The visits brings us still a bit more underground. We will pass in a tunnel and just before taking some cement stairs, our guide will explain that these stairs where the last steps to the execution cells. That bit of information will make me a bit emotionnal. On our way to visit the punishment/execution cells, there is a room where an old boiler was, that's where I will have my stress related 'breathing problem'. You will help me in my wheel chair and I will ask to rest in that boiler room, explaining that you could come back for me after you have visited those cells. I will explain to our guide that you will be my eyes because I really want to 'see' these two cells. Don't know how much time it will take for me to get to Hans but expect the fire alarm to go off before you return for me. The man you are going to escort out will be Hans. I'll get out on my own. Annie once out, whatever happens you don't go back inside. Do I make myself clear? Hans will be your priority, Elisabeth will instruct her students to help with the wheelchair went you get to the stairs, get out quickly and finaly get on the waiting ambulance with him. The ambulance attendent, a friend of mine, will give you further instructions."

"Eyal thanks for the xxxx recap and you told me more than ten times yesterday that I should not come back for you if anything should go wrong. I got it"

"Hope you have, Annie, hope you have. I'm counting on you. OK let's get this mission on the road"


Annie and Eyal were greeted by Elisabeth. Elisabeth presented the pair to her students. Eyal had to chuckle. The group being mostly boys, his cover was not attracting any attention, most of them only had eyes for Annie. Elisabeth gave Eyal a coy smile. She too had notice that her History students were distracted just a bit. Mr. Tawlowicz joined the group and guided them to the small office where the tour was to begin. He, contrary to the students, was interested in Eyal. Thanking him for being present and especially for the article that the professor was to write of this visit. Eyal made a note to contact a friend to make sure that an article would be published in his cover name.

The visit was going according to plan. The students where making it hard for Eyal and Annie to make eye contact! They had just passed through the underground tunnel and about to take the stairs. It was now time for Eyal 'acting skills' to be put to the test.

His hand suddenly went up to his face and he signaled to Annie for help. Like an assistant that had seen this kind of reaction many times, she was at his side with his inhaler, told him to calm down and breath slowly. She unfolded the wheel chair and helped him sit in it.

Elisabeth was impressed with both of them. If she wouldn't have been read in on the action, she could have been duped by those two. Elisabeth was thinking – 'they are quite a team, Eyal would only trust an equal and this Annie Walker must be quite a spy, her being CIA, not an usual Mossad partner, especily for Eyal who worked mostly alone.'

Mr. Tawlowics proposed to cut short the visit but Eyal was adamant that his assistant see the rest of the tour and take notes for him. Eyal was wheeled in the boiler room as planned. The tour was back on track and Eyal was now in full mission mode.


Getting his gun, Hans DNA and his usual MO … a couple of small bombs more suited for starting fires that blowing up building … all of this came out of the bottom of the oxygen tank. He was all set. Now to find Hans. Backtracking to the beginning of the tunnel and picked locking the other door. No problem, door 2 opened in less than 30 seconds. Now down some stairs, through another dark and damp tunnel and on the lookout for two guards. Didn't take him long to spot them. Not a lot of cells in these small quarters. Taking a look at his watch, he knew he had about a 10 minutes time frame to get Hans out and in the wheelchair.

Now how to take care of the guards. Using his gun was out of the question. Taking one out would give the other one time to sound the alarm. Springing into action, his plan took form rapidly and was swiftly executed: Throwing a stone at the cement wall, one of the guard approached Eyal. Swift neck twist and he was down. The other guard didn't have time to react to his partner not coming back - He also fell to the same technique. Now to finally free Hans.

Opening the cell door proved to be a bit longer than he would have like. What he saw when he finally opened the door made him cringe? Hans was foremost a friend, not only an asset and he felt guilty for having in some way put him in this situation. Eyal put his hand on Hans shoulder. Hans woke up and pulled himself back to the head of his small bed as if he was expecting another beating. Eyal tried reassuring him but to no avail. Hans didn't recognise him.

'Dammit, must be darkness induce blindness.' A couple of Hebrew swear words followed.

"Eyal is that you?" Hans faint cry surprised him.

'Well this is a first, my temper getting me out of a bind instead of in one' "Hans, yes, it's Eyal, I'm here. Going to get you out. Can you walk, we're got to get moving."

"No, broken feet I think, everything hurts…. Eyal I can't see a thing"

"Yes, I notice, don't worry it should be temporary. Give me a minute I have some gifts for you caretakers."

To that Eyal place the guards for it to look as if they had been knocked out by small explosions cause by an unfortunate "electrical fire". Place two bombs into the light bulb socket. Those bombs when ignited would cause an out of control fire in Hans's cell and hopefully with the 'remains – DNA samples' that he had just place would prove that Hans had died in the fire. The fire should have time to consume the cell completely before somebody noticed. That was the key to his plan, if anyone notice the fire before the cell was destroyed, his charade would be discovered. Turning the light bull for it to light, he now had less that 30 seconds to get out of the cell before the heat from the bulb made his bombs go off.

OK fire started, next step and only about 4 minutes to go, get Hans into the boiler room and wheelchair

"Hans, I'm going to put you over my shoulder. I'm guessing it's going to hurt but I'm asking you not to scream. Think you're up to it"

Hans couldn't seem to master the words for an answer but manage to nod he had understood.

Eyal lifted Hans on his shoulder, up the stairs, into the tunnel and out the door. Eyal had another surprise for the guards, he put the padlock from the door the visit had entered through on the door # 2. Just another diversion to gain time.

"Hold on Hans we're nearly home free"

Opening door # 1, practically running through the tunnel, Eyal was, with a minute to spare, in the old boiler room. He installed Hans in the chair.

"Well buddy, going to give you a sedative. Really don't think you're up to understanding all of what is going to happen from here one. Better you be in the arms of Morpheus, sorry my friend just another small pick for you to endure!"

Suddenly Eyal heard some talking, the group was coming back a couple of minutes early. 'Damm just hope the sedative has time to act, got to get out of here and pull the fire alarm.'

He now had to get out and leave Hans faster than he had planned. By now Eyal could smell the smoke so pulling the alarm was more than a priority it was a necessity to assure that everyone was safe. Getting to the alarm was easy, he had spotted two coming down. As he pulled on it, he felt a stinging pain in his side, turning around to see what was the causing it, he just had time to see the face of a Russian soldier staring at him. The last thing he heard before passing out was the alarms. 'At least that went off, Annie, Hans and the group should be safe'

Annie and Elisabeth, hearing the fire alarm, spran into action. Guards were running towards them and instructing them to stay together, not to panic and follow them. Elisabeth made sure her group was calm, getting out in an ordely fashinon while Annie put her language skills to good use, explaining to the guards that her employer was resting in the boiler room. The guard offered to help her escort 'the professor' out.

Coming out and walking to the exit was quite a task with a wheel chair. A good thing the guards were helping! It was chaos, people running everywhere and nowhere. Suddenly Annie notice a couple of guard hovering over a tall dark figure. She immediately recognise Eyal. Her heart jumped a beat but she had to make sure Hans got to safety. She had promise Eyal that much. Reasoning herself, she continue on, got Hans out and into the waiting ambulance. As the ambulance attendant reached out for Annie hand to pull her in, she turned around and darted for Elisabeth. She explained to Elisabeth what she had seen.

"Elisabeth I'm going back inside. I have an idea on how to get Eyal out. Can you take over for me with Hans? They are supposed to wait for Eyal at an undisclosed place. I just can't leave him there. Make sure you get out of here with sirens wailing I need it for my plan to work, please"

Elisabeth just nodded while trying to stop her by reminding her that Eyal did not want for them to go back in but to no avail. Annie, wheelchair in hand was heading for the prison.

To be continued