November 6th, 23h45 Sheraton Hotel, Muscat, Oman, No 41

Captain Cooper had deployed his satellite telephone/fax and dialling the special numeric sequence that would branch him on a decrypting line at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Sitting in a deep arm chair across from his colleague, Deutch sipped a glass of twelve-year-old Glen Livet diluted with tap water. A true connoisseur of all the subtleties of the scotch, he had picked up the habit after receiving a full course on the matter by a British Air Force officer in London. From him, Deutch had learned that the ethers making the aroma of the whisky are water soluble and release their maximum strength at 15-18 degrees Celsius, that is, the usual temperature of tap water. Anything colder, he'd been cautioned, inhibits the solution, thus impairing the development if the aroma. Thus, the British had brilliantly concluded, scotch on the rocks should be banned forever from the face of the earth.

Deutch watched Cooper's fingers flying across the keyboard, entering his simple, factual report:

"Cooper/Deutch report #004: operation BABEL TOWER

Our civilian contact has connected us with an individual potentially linked with current operation BABEL TOWER, a Caucasian male, Dr. Zeno Santucci.
Santucci was first-hand witness of telecom and navigational systems' temporary failure in South Oman desert, general Qurum region.
This individual is the first non-military witness.
Note: that disturbance, like the other noticed by US Air Force Command at Al Jasirah Base, was local in time and geographic extension and happened during severe storm conditions, i.e. when the limited amount of air traffic over that portion of the desert was grounded for meteorological reasons.
Ask instructions on witness follow-up"

A few minutes after, just the time necessary to prepare another scotch, the screen lit-up with the message:
"Please enter password: ********"

Immediately Cooper entered the sequence and the screen filled with data from headquarters' operation room:

"REPLY to Cooper/Deutch report #004: operation BABEL TOWER
Subject: Santucci Zeno; brother to Carlo, sons of Alberto Santucci (deceased).
Alberto Santucci records show heavy involvement with organised crime syndicate.
Possession of military grade telecom devices and navigational systems to be considered as a possible threat.
Zeno and brother Carlo Santucci to be considered as suspects, until further notice.
Extend scope of operation BABEL TOWER to monitor Zeno and Carlo Santucci worldwide.
Monitor and report daily.
No intervention unless explicitly ordered by this HQ.
Notification of reception of this message is required.
End of transmission"

"Whoah, what d'ya think about this?", Cooper asked Deutch who was peering over his shoulder.
"Well, let me tell you, either this Santucci guy is a real nasty crook, or he's an idiot who has wandered into a scene that he can't even comprehend! And as far as I know, he could pull his brother and God know who into the slaughterhouse"