Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Imi Morgenstern tried not to roll his eyes as his director of personnel continued his rant
for what must have been the second year in a row. If Morgenstern didn't know any better, he
would have sworn that nothing got done in Human Resources but kvetching.
“We still have all of these new kids who come in thinking that this is going to be all
James Bond all the time, ” Yossi continued. “I mean, who wants to come into Mossad to be
More importantly, Morgenstern thought, why can't this elevator go any faster? Would
jamming the button a fourth time would be too obvious?
“I mean,” Yossi continued, “you want a role model for spying? George Smiley. A goy,
but alright. Did you see Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy with Alec Guiness? He's a spy who plays
chess, only with people. Most of a spy's job is sitting around listening to people talk. The other
half is getting them into position. I mean, hell, they have to think. They don't want to think, they
can go to Sayeret.”
Morgenstern eyed the button for his floor one more time. He didn't answer that he had
spent some time with the Sayeret Matkal, Special Forces of the Israeli Defense Force, before
joining the Mossad. It's nice to see that old bigotries don't die.
Imi Morgenstern heard the ping and just kept himself from bolting through the doors like
a greyhound breaking his leash. Morgenstern got through the doors, and held up both hands, like
“Glad we had this talk, Yossi,” Morgentsern told him. “We should discuss this further
sometime soon.”
Morgenstern sighed, and then took a slow, deep, calming … and caught a whiff of smoke.
He blinked. Pipe smoke in an office building was not unusual. After all, this was Israel,
not America, and no smoking signs were more like a suggestion than anything else. However,
However, no one on that floor smoked a pipe, and neither did anyone who was high
enough on the food chain to see him. He didn't know any politician who smoked a pipe … so,
who did that leave? An agent? But agents couldn't get to see someone on his level, either. Even
the latest reports on nuclear threats came through people who already knew him by sight. And if
an officer in the Mossad had business urgent enough to report to him directly, as well as making
it through the multiple levels of bureaucracy to see Imi face to face, he would have been paged
already.
After all, that was how they did things with Imi Morgenstern, the Commander of Mossad.
Imi turned to face the wood paneled floor, and it didn't take him long to spot the source of
The smoker was pale, with a hair color that was somewhere between dark blonde and
light brown, and eyes that Morgenstern could only classify as “dark.” Despite the amount of
time that Imi had put in as an agent, trying to find words to describe this fellow proved
impossible. Unless “indistinct” was a description. Though if someone had used that in a report,
Morgenstern sighed, ran his fingers through his thinning white hair, and stared at his
secretary. Joshua Janosh, for whom the nickname “JJ” was a given, caught the look, rose, and
Morgenstern smiled. “Is there something you would like to tell me, JJ?”
“Yes, sir,” Janosh said, his voice hushed. “There's a person here to see 'someone of
importance.' I was going to wait until just before the lunch hour was over, and kick him out
The Mossad Chief smiled. If Yossi hadn't been haranguing him through his lunch break,
Morgenstern might have never even known this fellow was here. He would still be downstairs.
Morgenstern answered with his own voice softened. The smoker was ten meters away, but it
never hurt to be cautious. “I'll take longer lunches next time. What does he want?”
smoker. “What is he? Eighteen? Nineteen? And he's not local, not with a tan like that.”
“Like what?”
“Exactly.”
The secretary shrugged, then his voice dropped lower, into a whisper. “I think he's an
American. He says his name is Scott Murphy, and trust me, he's not Jewish.”
Morgenstern wanted to laugh. “With a name like Murphy,” Imi whispered right back, “I
Morgenstern raised a brow. And funny that Yossi never mentioned that in the elevator.
Or during lunch. Note to self: cut his budget. Let's see how he likes it when I have him make
“Obviously,” Janosh continued, “HR said no—not necessarily because he's a goy, but …
a foreigner?”
Morgenstern shrugged. “We tap people all over the planet for aid.”
Morgenstern sighed, then looked at his office door. There was no label on it with his
position; anyone with the clearance to be up on that floor already knew who and what he was.
There were days he was surprised his name was even on the door.
Morgenstern finally rolled his eyes. “I'll go talk to him. I'm curious.”
A shrug. “Why not? I find out why he's here, put the fear of Adonai into him, and send
him home.”
The pipe smoker, Scott Murphy, coughed a little, and said, “I'm here because of John
Morgenstern, who had still been whispering, blinked. He leaned in closer to his secretary
Murphy looked right at them. “I used to hear dog whistles growing up.”
Morgenstern and Janosh shared a look, and the Mossad Commander stepped towards the
newcomer. From up close, Murphy didn't look much bigger. He might have been 5'8”, and thin,
Napoleon complex in the making. While he could respect chutzpa, this fellow was going to Tone
It Down.
Murphy smiled. “No.” He used the pipe stem as a pointer. “I saw the ashtray on every
other desk.”
So much for toning down the chutzpa, Imi Morgenstern thought. “Into my office. Let's
Once they were settled, Murphy handed him a resume. Morgenstern glanced at it.
“You're an accountant?”
have the skill sets I want. No one teaches spying in Massachusetts, unless you count the
fraternities going after the sororities, or the internal intrigues of either group. After experiencing
that level of stupidity, I think decapitation with a sword is far more civilized.”
Normally, the Mossad man would ask if that was a reference to Daniel Pearle, but
Morgenstern wanted a way to get this conversation over with as soon as possible. “You're
“I'm not against intrigue.” Murphy answered, “I'm against stupid and shallow intrigue. I
don't care if the internal office politics are like that of a high school locker room, I assume most
of the activities around here are geared towards stopping or killing the enemy, not getting drunk,
high, or laid.”
“Depends on the office party,” Morgenstern muttered to himself. He glanced down at the
education portion of the resume. Somehow, this kid had gotten into college by age sixteen.
“I had a plan,” Murphy told him. He leaned back in his chair, making himself
comfortable … a cute trick, considering that Morgenstern had picked that chair specifically to
make people uncomfortable. “A little known segment of the Harvard charter is that they have to
accept Cambridge residents. I had my official mailing address moved into the area the last year
of high school. Granted, Harvard doesn't have to keep any of those students they take in. After
an eighteen-credit summer of Harvard, getting low- to mid-Bs, I transferred to Yale, who took
me because, well, they hate Harvard. I went to the University of Massachusetts next semester,
because, frankly, they’d give me a scholarship just for attending both Universities and deciding
on them. Take two years of eighteen credit semesters, add in two summer semesters of the same
Morgenstern looked at him, trying to imagine this kid having earned all of those credits
so fast.
Murphy saw Morgenstern's face and added, “When you're my size and two years younger
then your classmates, it focuses the mind wonderfully; you become goal-oriented. The goal
being to get the hell out of Dodge.” He glanced around the room and smiled . “Though I should
Morgenstern chuckled. “I'm sure your initials didn't help in high school.”
Scott Murphy arched a brow. “I guess I should ask if your last name, Morning Star in
Murphy nodded. “The September after graduation, I followed a job offer with Merrill
Lynch in New York, expecting the least to come out of it with a tax write-off. Tuesday was the
interview with Merrill Lynch, and the streets were clogged. At 8:45, hope was in sight, and so
Scott paused a moment to relight his pipe, letting the blue smoke act as a mask. “The
building was the World Trade Center. You can also conclude how the rest of my day in
The smoke cleared, his dark blue eyes were almost black, a cold burn smoldering in
them. “Until recently, when John ‘Taliban’ Walker Lindh fired at US troops. That over-
privileged little white bread Berkeley bastard decided to fire on his own countrymen because he
couldn't take up a more civilized hobby, like backpacking across Europe or becoming a hippie in
some commune. I'm the antidote. I would like to help you kill as many of these bastards as
possible.”
With the use of the pronoun, Morgenstern couldn't decide on who Murphy meant. There
were so many bastards in the region, and some of them were fellow Mossad officers. “Any one
of them in particular?”
“If possible,” Murphy said darkly, “I'd like to kill the ones who aided the attack, the ones
who planned the attack, and everyone who was happy about it.”
Morgenstern leaned back in his chair, studying this serious young man for a long
moment. “Normally, I believe the question should be 'what planet are you from?' But I think I
know better.”
“The land of the free and the home of the seriously pissed,” Murphy replied.
The head of Mossad laughed. “That's why I know better. We've been getting a lot of
Evangelicals into Israel lately. We're having an interesting time placing them.”
Morgenstern then sighed. This kid was interesting, and possibly more mature than some
of the agents he already had. However, nationality aside, allowing this goy into the Institute for
Intelligence would go over like a clam bake during Yom Kippur. Most of Mossad agents were
good with a gun, and had gone through military training. Murphy's anemic look was
discouraging. While Morgenstern already liked Murphy, if only for pure gall, there was no way
he was going to be allowed into Mossad. And even if they did let him in, the cultural differences
would be murderous.
Best get rid of him now. “We have a first time test for new recruits,” Morgenstern told
him. “A simple survival test. You'll be assigned a Palestinian camp to stay in in the West Bank.
We'll be happy to extract you out if you want, but if you want to pass, you'll stay until morning.
Understood?”
Murphy studied him a moment, as if he knew that this was meant to get rid of him. But,
no, Murphy couldn't possibly know that for certain. “Sure,” Murphy said slowly, “I'll just need a
“I'll let JJ know,” Imi told him, “he'll see to it … by the way, why a pipe?”
“All the cool kids were smoking cigarettes. I didn't like them very much. Think of it as
An hour later, Imi Morgenstern looked over Yossi of Human Resources, a task he found
generally distasteful. Yossi was a weasel-faced little man whose own people printed out Dilbert
comic strips with a focus on the “Evil Cat of HR” and left them all over the office; there was a
reason that Morgenstern had the deliberately uncomfortable chair. It might as well have had
Thank Adonai that he's just the paper pusher, if he were actually in recruitment, we'd
look like the French secret service. And they were outsmarted by a guy like Carlos the Jackal.
“So,” Morgenstern started, “did you know about our little gray man before you cornered
Morgenstern raised a brow. “And? Weren't you the one kvetching about how everyone
“He's a goy.”
The Commander of Mossad took a deep, calming breath. It was something he always did
in the old days, right before he shot someone in the head. Darn, and me without my gun. “Does
it matter?”
“Of course,” Yossi spat. “You know it does. We've always done things on our own. We
get some logistical support from America, but people? No. It's always been us, the Israelis,
“Absolutely.”
“Funny, that's the slogan of the Irish Republican Army. Fine company you're keeping.”
Yossi blinked again. He blinked any more, they would jam that way. “What?”
Morgenstern leaned back in the chair. “Have there been other goys trying to get in?”
“Of course. What else are we going to do? Allow people who weren't born here to enter
the intelligence services? They don't know the risks, they don't know the day-to-day struggle of
staying alive. They have not lived and breathed our troubles since they were born.”
Morgenstern restrained himself from rolling his eyes. “Save it for your political
campaign.”
Yossi arched a brow. “How did you know that I was running?”
Morgenstern made a mental note on ways and means to fire Yossi at the earliest
opportunity. Maybe drop him off somewhere in Gaza at two in the morning.
In retrospect, maybe I should have hired Murphy on the spot. If only to piss off Yossi.
Too late for that now, he's probably halfway back to Boston. Assuming anyone let him get out of
Imi Morgenstern walked into his office at six the next morning, only to find a security
The security guard nodded. “Someone in your office.” He bent down and hefted a duffel
Zev raised a hand. “By the way, one of the guys in the lobby was a little aggressive with
Morgenstern thought about it for a moment. “I assume you mean the crappy ballpoints,
Zev nodded. “Jammed the tip right into his hand. So, we knew this guy must have been
serious when he wanted to talk with you. He's either an assassin, or someone you didn't tell
Morgenstern had to think about it... did he let someone loose on an unsuspecting world,
The security guard backed up, then opened the door, letting Morgenstern go first.
Sitting in the chair across from his desk was a dank, dirty, aromatic fellow, wearing rags
that a homeless person would have rejected …
“It's morning,” Scott Murphy said from the chair. “And I'm back. I hope you enjoy some
Morgenstern looked to Zev. “Sorry, yes, I am expecting him... sort of.” He took the bag.
He strode over to his chair, then placed the bag on the desk and looked inside.
“For AK-108s and –74s.” Murphy shrugged. “I talked a few of them into allowing me to
dry fire their guns. I'm sure no one will miss them for a day or two.”
“From suicide bomber kits.” A large grin formed around the pipe stem. “My mom let me
play with her bomb disposal kit while I was growing up … as she watched, of course. I picked
up just enough to stay alive. I didn't mention she was on the bomb squad?”
Morgenstern did a very good job at not gaping like a fish at market. This man is a
nothing— no training, no preparation, and tossed into the deep end with the hungry sharks—
and yet, he's still alive, with souvenirs. “How did you get through the camp?”
Murphy puffed away a few times before he allowed himself a small smile. “I grew up in
Brooklyn for the first ten years of my life, near Atlantic Avenue, so I speak Arabic with a
Palestinian accent.”
Morgenstern shook his head. “But it's not possible that they bought into your story so
quickly. You had no cover ID, you had no documents to support any story you might have told
them—”
“You forget,” Murphy said, “there are multiple charities in America that support Hamas
— which our State Department has yet to label a terrorist organization. I merely used what
numbers I recall as my 'references.' I think we can both agree that the 'charities' are terrorist
fronts?”
The Director of Mossad put up a hand to still him. “You're going to sit there and honestly
Murphy gestured into the back with his pipe stem. “And, you might want to check the
notebook. Those are supposedly names and contacts of several terrorist cells backed by Osama
bin Laden and Saddam Hussein...” he shrugged. “But I figure if those are real, they wouldn't
have told me. I wouldn't buy into them— either they're fake, or you probably have them tapped
already.”
At this, the goy chuckled. “Have you ever walked Cambridge at night?”
“Hmm.” Morgenstern thought it over, noting Murphy's physique. “What is your attitude
on physical activity?”
“We would be hard pressed to put in a spy who has trouble fighting.”
He smiled. “I don't consider a close quarters scuffle a 'fight' if it only lasts four seconds.
I think it's, maybe, a way to get your heart rate up a bit. Besides, if I get shot at, I can't imagine
that I'm doing my job well.” He gestured with his pipe stem. “Besides, the guard downstairs
would probably disagree with you. Like I said—” he put the tip of the pipe stem back in his
“It's not,” Murphy replied, “but wandering around can enable you to collect useful trivia.
Give me thirty seconds and a paper clip, I can play havoc with your electrical system. Not to
mention kill someone eight ways with a pen.” Murphy kept a straight face for a moment, then
laughed. “And I spent some time with the Anarchist's Cookbook before I got on the plane—
somehow, I had the strangest thought that El Al security wouldn't approve of me carrying it on
board.”
Morgenstern leaned back in his chair, pondering the situation. With some more training,
this might work … “I should probably tell you, I looked into the situation down at human
resources. Apparently, you're not the only one who's interested in joining the Mossad.”
He nodded. “Several of the Evangelicals who have immigrated also applied for
“So, you form a Goyim brigade and move on.” Murphy shrugged. “Would it really be so
hard? I can imagine that you would have Rabbis kicking around your ranks, would it really be
so hard to enlist a few priests? I understand Franciscans run the Christian holy places in
Morgenstern tried to think of the last time he heard a civilian use the phrase “dead drop”
that wasn't in the context of the latest spy novel. “You've given this a lot of thought, haven't
you?”
A shrug. “I'm a numbers guy, I try to think ahead. Making the pieces fit is more or less
what I did in accounting. Though I think I will prefer spying. It should be less boring, if nothing
else.”
Imi Morgenstern sighed. “I hope you're not expecting to be James Bond when you're
“No. Bond's messing about, heavy spending, gambling, and screwing around always
seemed like a good way to get killed—by a bookie, a jealous ex, a casino that disliked his
“George Smiley.”
Morgenstern smiled. “In which case, if you want to be an antidote to John 'Taliban'