"San Salvatore in Lauro"

An excerpt of my 10th book 'An irretrievable step'.

With the shopping of whatever was needed for their next mission over on Tuesday afternoon, they strolled together in Piazza navona hand in hand.  

and had supper at the Tre Scalini restaurant at the piazza; and at the evening they prayed at San Salvatore in Lauro, where Bianca thought they should pray.

At night fall in their bed after having made love several times with sensual desperation, and when Ray felt the strength with which Bianca hugged his body; he knew he must discuss his doubts with her, and sort what bothers him out.

'Listen honey I've been thinking the last two days on our next mission, and why we weren't instructed to return to Cairo… I think we should talk about it. I know how wise you're my love.'

'It troubles me too Ray but I didn't want to remind you the previous time, when they pulled us from West Jerusalem and I was afraid in vain.'

'Yes I remember that meeting with Raed and he wished to send me alone and leave you at the hotel. Never mind I shouldn't have brought it up it's irrelevant. But let's analyze the missions we'd together as a team and try to deduce the right conclusion out of it.' He drew Bianca closer to him. 'Our six week in Luxor, which was our shortest mission was a success. Then came two weeks of doing nothing in Milano and our three months mission in West Jerusalem, which wasn't bad at all except our exposure after we left…'

'It seemed to me dubious then and much more dubious right now.' Bianca remarked clearing her throat slightly.

'Okay we landed in Cairo and were welcomed warmly, we had two months lessons to understand the Russian language and we mingled with members of the Russian Aswan dam delegation with some success; and now before this mission has ended as far as I understand we're instructed to fly to Amman and work in East Jerusalem?'

'I think it has something to do with the East Germans, Abed told us to keep away from them remember?'

'Yes you're right that must be one of the reasons and maybe the main reason. We didn't know a thing about them down there in Cairo, there was nothing about their arrival in the papers as if they didn't exist. But during the first week of our Christmas vacation I've read in La Stampa that they're scientists, which were invited by Nasser to build missiles. Another very interesting piece of news related two successful assassination attempts against the East Germans by the Israeli Mossad, and you must have read it too while we were with our family in Florence.'

'Yes I've read it Ray. Do you think that they suspect that we'd to do with it in some way, which is unclear and unknown to them yet?'

'They aren’t sure of it of course we'd no means of communication with us, but by sending us to any other part of the world and if nothing happens to their East Germans after we left, we're the accomplices we're part of the plot.'

'We might be arrested and interrogated although we'd nothing to do with it…'

'Yes there's such a possibility absurd as it may sound… We'll have to wait to our contact man in East Jerusalem and learn what our mission is, and if we won't trust it and it will seem suspicious to us, we'll seek political asylum at the Italian consulate in East Jerusalem.'

 Haim Kadman Septmember 2013 " all rights reserved.