The Schliemann Legacy by D.A. Graystone Page A

stroke. Heiden's name has always caused grief, pain, and revulsion. We have dreamed of vengeance for many years, my friend."
    Assi made his way back around the desk, his limp accenting his personal reason for revenge. The Memuneh also had frightening memories of Heiden. Heiden and Majdanek.
    "Where is Heiden?" David's voice cracked as he spoke the name.
    "Mardinaud doesn't say. He wants a meeting in Munich."
    "When do I leave?"
    "Wait, David. We have to get things straight before you go." Assi was self consciously playing with the pen on his desk. "I can't sanction this mission. I am sending you alone."
    "Alone?" David asked. He had worked alone in the past, gathering intelligence while on a deep cover operation. But no Mossad agent worked alone while after a Nazi. The targets were too important to risk to one operative. They always used a team of at least five men, often more. David could not understand a one-man operation.
    "I have used all my protektsia to get you on this mission," Assi confessed. "It was not an easy task. Your name brought strong resistance. Even my most loyal supporters are hesitant. Your personal involvement disqualified you in many eyes, but not mine. I trust you more than any of our agents. I trust you to deliver justice. In the end, the arguments against you turned into the logical justification for your assignment."
    David did not understand the comment, but he could imagine the pull it would take to put him in the field again. "I still don't understand. Why alone? Why not send a team?"
    "Publicity, mainly," Assi said. "In recent years, a negative bias against Israel has been building in the press. The botched missions. Innocent people dying. Many view us as heavy handed."
    "But we have justification."
    "In our eyes, but not in other's. The war was long ago for most. A concerted effort by the Arabs has turned world opinion against us. To many, we have become as bad as those we hunt. And we have harmed ourselves. That book and movie about Avner. The continuing problems on the West Bank. The military film leaked to the press. The Iran arms deal. Izat Napsu here and Pollard in America. There's been too much. We can't afford another mistake. You know what we have faced. Too many scandals."
    David grimaced at the thought of each scandal. Though he could justify in his own mind the methods of the Mossad, he knew the rest of the world often could not. Even in Israel, support for the military and the Mossad was declining. And, David knew, in the end they were still just a bunch of Jews .
    "But this is Friedrich Heiden," he protested. "He's on the list."
    "Exactly," Assi said. "I put him on that list. I can order the mission. I can have him brought to Israel. I can testify against Heiden. I can get the death penalty. What would it get us? Too many forget the camps, David. They only see pitiful old men. They don't see the monsters beneath. The action would become Levy and his personal crusade ."
    David nodded, avoiding the Director's eyes. He knew Assi was under pressure, even from within Israel. Those who sought control of the Mossad saw Assi Levy as a major hurdle. They thought he had been in office too long. Without Assi, they could shape the Mossad to their vision.
    As David began to understand his mission, he agreed with the strategy. Any exposure would give Assi's enemies the ammunition they needed to force the Memuneh's resignation. That would be disastrous for Israel. "So, I go in alone," he said. "If it folds, I'm still on my own. No official backing - I'll be a rogue. A man out for revenge."
    Assi didn't answer immediately. Finally, he looked up from his pen. "I can't offer you much support, but funding won't be a problem. Most of our accounts are still active."
    He was referring to bank accounts he had opened to hide money for operations unable to get official allocation. Like many agents, including David, Assi diverted part of the operational budget into these accounts. David had used the system