The Increment: A Novel - By David Ignatius Page 0,117

everything is strange and nothing is strange. It would surprise him if I was in Mashad and didn’t come to see him. And what will I do when I am there?”

“Nothing,” said Harry. “You just carry this in your pocket.” He handed him a device that looked like something between a small brick and a fat cell phone.

“What is it?” asked the Iranian.

Harry knew it would be easier for Karim if he didn’t know what he was carrying. But he had told enough lies.

“It can change the way a computer operates,” said Harry. “It has a powerful pulse that burns some of the chips and connections inside. It’s like a ‘taser,’ if you know what that is. It has been calibrated very precisely to do its work. You need to be with your friend Reza when he logs in. You need to lay the jacket down so that the device is resting on the computer processor. That’s the hard part. Then you need to stay there with him for an hour while this does its work. We’ll have a power source outside to feed it. Do you think you can do that?”

“Probably. Reza is proud. He will want to show me what he has been doing. If I tease him a bit and tell him that we are doing all the hard work at Tohid, he will have to show me. That is the weakness for every scientist, sir. We must show our colleagues how smart we are.”

Karim had Reza’s phone number in his Palm Pilot, and they debated whether to call him in advance. Harry thought that would be too risky, but Jeremy from the Ashgabat station said the SIS knew how to use a GSM relay inside Iran to make it appear that a call was coming from there. So they decided to phone Reza. No sense in risking their lives for a clandestine rendezvous in Mashad with a person who was away from the city.

Karim sat with Harry and Adrian in the makeshift operations room at the villa. Atwan was out of sight; Harry had insisted on that; he thought it would spook the young Iranian to see the rococo Arab financier, in addition to compromising his security. But the technicians had done their work. Karim dialed the number on his Iranian cell phone. They waited while the phone rang, once, twice, ten times. A recorded voice in Farsi and English asked the caller to leave a message.

Harry shook his head: No message.

“Wait five minutes and try again. Maybe he was away from his phone.”

Karim tried a second time, and again there was no answer. The air went out of the room.

“Wait thirty minutes,” said Harry. They tried to busy themselves, looking at maps of Mashad and pondering where they would stay the night if they had to. Karim had the phone cradled in his hand. Eventually Harry looked at his watch and nodded. Last try.

Reza answered on the third ring. He had recognized Karim’s number. He was delighted to hear from his old friend. You could hear the noisy enthusiasm through the little earpiece of Karim’s phone. Karim said that he was coming to visit his relatives in Mashad, the cousin whose family he had lived with back when he worked at Ardebil Research Establishment. He would be in Mashad the next day. Could he come see Reza at the laboratory?

“Rast migi?” answered Reza. Are you serious?

Yes, Karim said. He was already en route. He would arrive the next day in the early afternoon. He proposed that they meet at Ardebil at two.

“Man hastam!” said Reza. I’m there! It was too boring in Mashad. All the old friends had gone. Just bring your pass, he advised Karim. He would tell the guards.

Adrian talked with his team that night. They would be leaving at first light the next day. It was agreed that Hakim would go to the site with the power source that would drive the chip-burning taser. He had to be within five hundred yards, but judging from the overhead reconnaissance, that shouldn’t be hard. The outer perimeter was only three hundred yards from the compound. They talked about how to handle young Dr. Karim. And they talked a good while about his Iranian friend Reza, a conversation that was difficult for every member of the team, but necessary.

Harry joined them as the planning meeting was ending. He had been having one last run-through with Karim. Now he wanted to see each face in Adrian’s