A Warm Welcome

'I don't want to hear anything more about it!' Declared Abu-awad raising his voice in pathos. 'We don't have to check him, to live in doubt and ponder ceaselessly who he really is, to guess - and to find out just at the very end of all our efforts that he's against us! Nobody bothered to consult us, or to let us know at least that he was to arrive to join our crew!' He took a deep long breath of air and looking sideways, he released the excess of air caught in his lungs with a short quick sigh. 'I don't like the whole affair!' He added turning back to Abas, his second in command and loyal operations officer.

'I don't like it either, but what are we do to do then, what do you suggest?'
They had the whole floor above the office to themselves. It was a vast apartment once, which was now turned into an office; two bedrooms served as their offices; the living room served for conferences, briefings, the lively discussions and the many meetings they used to had with the entire crew - not too long ago. They occupied the building's top floor for two reasons, safety and secrecy.

Although they were dealing with subversion, murder and various other clandestine activities, as they were in fact the executive arm of the local organization; they were disguised as cultural and press attaches, but still they were an integral part of the organization's local branch. Thus the top floor served as their base for miscellaneous purposes, and a very safe haven it was. The four rooms that were left on their floor served as hideouts for emergency cases.

These extra rooms were empty now, ready to receive any active organization members who were on the run - or those who needed to pass a cooling-off period, right after having executed a successful operation. Agents were hidden there for a short while, a fortnight or more or as long as it was necessary, in order to avoid their being caught red handed at the country's airport on their way to Lebanon, the Magreb or any other Arab country for safety.