Fanis the body guard Episode 4 Rescue in Dubai

                Kera is a 32-year-old 5’5” olive skinned woman with long straight black hair and brown eyes that is an expert on Chinese culture despite her heritage being purely Greek.  Although she was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she currently resides in London, England.  Her work necessitated a bodyguard that she could trust but, unfortunately, a life devoted to her career left many friends estranged and only left one person willing to leave his life in America to join her.  This man was her cousin Fanis.

                Fanis is a 6’0” tall broad framed bald man with pale skin and green eyes.  At 35-years-old, he is feeling the effects of his body not responding as it did in his youth but he’s not old either.  Upon agreeing to be Kera’s bodyguard, he was militarily trained in weapons and hand to hand combat.  His love of travelling and other cultures led him to be fluent in Italian, Greek, Spanish, Russian and English.  None of those would really help him with where he was going, however, to Dubai.

                Kera and Fanis had narrowly escaped Dubai recently.  That was why Fanis was a little hesitant when Kera said they were going back so soon.  Kera said, “Fanis, we weren’t only there to sell a painting.”

                Fanis didn’t really ask why an art trader was constantly under the threat of people trying to kill her.  He understood people trying to steal precious Chinese artifacts but people seemed more interested in killing Kera than stealing from her.  He was willfully ignorant of anything else and Kera respected that.  That is why Fanis simply responded, “Okay”

                Kera and Fanis were back on the plane and heading to Dubai.  Kera said, “Well that libertarian Republican Justin Amash is really causing a raucous with the GOP”

                Kera was a liberal and Fanis was a far-right conservative so she ribbed him often about this and baited him into snapping.  Fanis responded back, “Yea, he wants to run for president against Trump in 2020”

                “Ah, so that’s why he’s doing this?  Steal Republican votes from Trump”

                “Yes”

                “Did he announce?”

                “No, but there’s rumors”

                “Well, I like it”

                “Yea, I wonder why the libertarians that support him aren’t a little suspicious that the only people that agree with him are leftists, media hacks and socialists.  Not even the Democrats think impeachment is a good idea.”

                “I do”

                “You’re a leftist.  Remember what our Socrates said, ‘show me your friends, I’ll tell you what type of person you are.  He should be wary of who his new friends are”

                “My adopted culture is older than my birth culture” meaning that Chinese culture was older than Greek

                “You can never lie to your blood.  You’re still Greek and even if you weren’t, you can still recognize the wisdom in the Greek philosophers just like you would Confucius or Sun Tsu”

                “That’s true.  Alright so down to business, again since I’m a woman, you have to make the pitch but I will be in your ear.”

                “This time, can you please be with me at the building so I don’t have to listen to you being attacked and feel so helpless?”

                “I actually insist on that.”

                Fanis and Kera land in Dubai and go straight to the hotel.  They unpack their things and relax a little before going to get dinner.  After dinner, they call it an early night and go to sleep.  The next day, Kera and Fanis go to the meeting as Fanis carries the painting and Kera is wearing elephant pants covering her legs and has her hair wrapped with light-weight white long sleeves.  She hates having to wear this more than anything but not showing respect to the Muslim culture in a non-tourist area of Dubai can have catastrophic consequences.  She is led to a room with other women while Fanis is led upstairs.  Kera has brought a book more to cover her mouth as she speaks to Fanis more so than to actually read. 

                Fanis walks into the room and says, “Gentlemen, I apologize for having to leave so abruptly last time.”

                “Yes, we are unsure how you knew your mistress was being attacked.”

                Fanis smiled and held up his apple watch, which actually didn’t work in Dubai.  He said, “This has an emergency code.  Only she can access it so if I get the special vibration, I come running.”

                “Understandable, I assure you she will be safe here.  Our security is the best in the world.”

                Fanis highly doubted that but said nothing.  He said, “I thank you for your hospitality.  I wish I would have thought of that last time.”

                Kera was making snide comments in his ear that he was having difficulty ignoring and keeping the conversation going with the Arabs.  He took out the painting and handed it over.  They once again inspected it.  They had some questions for Fanis that they hadn’t asked before and some they had.  Kera was quick with the answers and Fanis repeated them.  Finally, Fanis was handed the money and he said, “Alright, great, I guess we’re all done here”

                “Not yet.  Please join us for lunch.”

                Fanis shrugged his shoulders and said, “I would be honored” just as Kera was telling him in his ear that he needed to stall. 

                To Fanis, free food is free food.  They brought food and drinks and Fanis ate Dolma and lamb kebabs.  Greeks would call it Dolmathes and Souvlakia.  One of the Arabs said, “A Middle Eastern invention”

                Fanis smiled and Kera said, “Don’t do it.  Let it go.” But Fanis said, “Yea, well we Greeks would argue about that.”

                Kera said in his ear, “Oh come on!” a little too loudly as the people in the room she was in glared at her but she just pointed to the book as if that’s what caused the outburst. 

                The Arab laughed and said, “Yes, I suppose they would.  Tell me, what do you think of your President Trump?”

                Again Kera said, “Okay the first one was a light joke, this time it’s serious.  Please condemn him, remember you’re talking to Muslims”

                Fanis would argue that President Trump was not anti-Muslim as the travel ban only affected countries that combine to make up 8% of the Muslim population.  Dubai and Saudi Arabia, where the people he was meeting with were from, were not on the travel ban lists.  He again ignored Kera and said, “I support the President.”

                The Arab nodded and said, “Well Mueller may testify to Congress”

                “I hope he does.”

                The Arab gave him a quizzical gaze and said, “Why is that?”

                “He’s not going to be able to answer the tough questions that the Republicans have.”

                “Like what?”

                “When he knew that the collusion was a hoax”

                “He’ll say at the end of the investigation.”

                “Then they will point out that he had the FBI notes from the investigation that had been going on since July 2016.  He was briefed by the FBI that they had nothing as he started May 2017.  They will also bring up that Andy Weissman, who was Mueller’s chief investigator on the council, was briefed in August 2016 that the dossier was unverified and salacious.”

                “What does ‘salacious’ mean?”

                “Inappropriate, wrong, and bad intentions.”

                “Ah”

                “And after they bring that up, they can arrest him for lying to Congress and perjury just like they did with Michael Cohen, General Flynn and George Papadopoulos”

                “And he can’t exactly say he knew from the moment he took the investigation because then he admits that he prolonged it for two years when he knew it was false.”

                “A little less than two years but yes.   Not to mention wasted 30 million dollars.”

                “I can see how that’s a question he wouldn’t want to answer.”

                “I’m not done.  How about if you thought collusion was real, then why didn’t you renew the June 2017 FISA in September 2017 when it expired?”

                “That is very interesting.  September 2017 is about a year and half before the probe ended.  That seems like proof that he knew what you say.”

                “Precisely.  They may also ask when did he find out that Mifsud was not a Russian agent.”

                “It is my understanding that they still think he is”

                “Mueller’s report merely says he has ties to Russians not that he was a Russian asset.  I mean I know Russians.  I’m sure you know Russians doesn’t mean we’re Russian assets or aiding their government.”

                The Arab said, “I would be very displeased if someone were to make that assumption about me, yes.  I shall be paying even closer attention to if Mueller does indeed testify to see how he wriggles out of these questions.”

                They finished their food and Fanis said, “That was really good.  It was much better than the Kebabs I’ve had back in the States.”

                “That is not high praise as most of those kebab places are for you drunk Americans leaving from poisoning yourselves.”

                “Yes, we do drink and need something to sober us up and Kebabs are usually the only thing open but in New York City, a lot of places are open and there are many Middle Eastern restaurants that are not just drunk food.”

                “Well, I am happy that you enjoyed ours.”

                “Thank you for sharing with me.”

                The Arabs stood and shook hands with Fanis and they left.  As Kera was leaving she tossed something in the corner unbeknownst to anyone and left with Fanis making sure to walk behind him as is custom in Muslim culture.  When they got back to the hotel, Kera said, “There’s something you should know now that you won’t be dealing with them.”

                “Okay”

                “They sent the hitman to kill me last time we were here.”

                “Then why didn’t they kill you now.”

                “Because they no longer could have deniability with it being on their turf and under their watch.”

                “If you knew that, then why didn’t you come with me last time?”

                “I didn’t know they were going to attempt it until after we got back to London.  The reason why I covered up is to show that I was afraid and beaten into submission by their threat.”

                Fanis looked at Kera skeptically and said, “Why do I get the feeling that you only acted like you were submitting?”

                Kera smiled devilishly and said, “Because you know me.”

                “So what do you want to do?”

                “You want to go to the top of the world”

                Dubai had the tallest building in the world.  Saudi Arabia was constructing a building that would be taller but it wasn’t finished yet.  Fanis agreed and they went to the observation deck to see out over the city.  Kera said, “I am kind of interested about Mifsud.  I know he’s seen with a lot of British intelligence officers so I think he’s a British asset.”

                “Yea, and the fact that Christopher Steele was MI6, I think Mifsud had connections to him and Steele told him to set up Papadopoulos”

                “That’s a bit of stretch”

                “Is it?”

                “Convince me”

                “Steele is an expert on Russia right?  He has these two Russian sources that tell him all these things against Trump and he writes this dossier about a bunch of allegations that we now know to be false.  I mean he had intimate details about conspiracies and Cohen meeting secretly in Prague and shit.  These sources told him everything Trump and Russia related.”

                “What’s your point?”

                “If Steele was such a Russian expert with great Russian sources then how come Papadopoulos and Mifsud aren’t mentioned in the dossier?  Did they not think it relevant that they hacked Hillary’s e-mails and had all this dirt on Hillary?”

                Kera contemplated this, “That is suspicious, I agree.”

                “I think Mifsud worked for Orbis”

                “Christopher Steele’s company.”

                “Yes, apparently you’ve been following it.”

                Kera made a sound indicating that she was guilty of something but wanted to just go with that story.  She asked, “So if it’s all part of the same conspiracy, why not include it in the dossier?”

                “I don’t think Steele wanted the FBI to know about Mifsud and Papadopoulos from him.   Remember this was an information laundering campaign so he wanted it to come from Downer to make it seem like separate sources were reporting bad things about Trump rather than have everything come from him and then the same information come from other places.  He wanted new information to come from other places.  In this case, Australian Ambassador Downer.”

                “I see”

                “I still think there was a FISA on Papadopoulos but it was covered up.”

                “Why?”

                “Because when they were wire tapping his e-mails and correspondence, he never told the Trump campaign about what Mifsud told him like they hoped.”

                “I haven’t read anything about Carter Page correspondence either.”

                “Yea, I know.  It’s just I’m really impressed with Papadopoulos.  I mean he leaves the 10 grand in Greece and when he lands, they search him for it causing them to scramble to make a probable cause arrest and really make themselves look guilty.”

                “Would you love it so much if he wasn’t Greek?”

                “He would have fallen for the trap if he didn’t have the genius Greek brain that’s fueled by olive oil and feta cheese.” Fanis switched to a Greek accent at the end.

                Kera laughed. “Yea I thought you’d say that”

                Kera was texting on her phone but Fanis thought nothing of it.  When they came back to ground level and walked outside, a large van was waiting for them.  Kera said, “You’re driving”

                Fanis inquired, “Where?”

                Kera grinned and said, “You’ll see”

 

                While Kera and Fanis were site seeing, a group of people were convalescing near where Fanis met with the Arabs.  They were heavily armed but it was concealed in their clothing.  They surreptitiously surveyed the layout and then dispersed nearby.  The head of the group looked at his phone and the signal came in.  He sent out his own signal to his men and they came rushing back to the office building that Fanis had been at in the morning.  Suddenly, a loud bang was heard as an explosion went off sending the security rushing to find out what caused it.  Before leaving, Kera had thrown an explosive device that could be triggered from her phone.  While security was rushing to it, the men entered the lobby and took out the now sparse security still at the ground level.  They seemed to know where they were going and took out security cameras on their way.  When they got to a locked door, locksmiths took out their kit and worked the locks while the other men turned their back to them holding semi-automatic weapons waiting to see if anyone was coming.  They were prepared to shoot on site.  The locksmiths got the door open and they rushed inside.  Soon after, 10 scantily dressed women came scurrying out and the men boxed them in as they hurried to the entrance.

 

                Fanis started driving to a programmed GPS and Kera said, “You should drive as fast as you can.”

                “We’re going to where I met the Arabs aren’t we?”

                “Yup”

                “You came with me for reconnaissance to plan this didn’t you?”

                “Yup”

                Fanis nodded and pressed on the accelerator a little harder.  He got to the building about a minute before the men came rushing out of the door as the building was on fire.  The captain opened the back of the van and rushed the girls inside first before his men jumped into the back.  The captain was the last one to get in and he slammed the door shut and Kera screamed, “Drive!”

                Fanis slammed the accelerator down as security with machine guns fired at them.  The women screamed but nothing penetrated the van and they hadn’t thought to shoot the tires.  At least, if they did, they missed.  Fanis got away and he said, “Where are we going?”

                Kera plugged in her phone and the GPS took over as it directed Fanis to an airstrip.  The cargo plane already had the carriage lowered and Fanis merely drove the van into the plane.  It then closed and the plane rushed forward.  Fanis put the van in park and pulled the emergency break and everyone rushed out of the van trying to get strapped in before the plane took off.  Although they didn’t make it, nobody fell catastrophically just minor bumping into the person next to them.  Shortly after takeoff, they were all strapped in.  Kera smiled and said, “Good work gentlemen.”

                The men said nothing and Fanis shook his head.  He looked at the 10 women and said, “Hello”

                They didn’t respond back.  Fanis took out his phone and typed it into his translator app into Arabic and showed it to them.  One girl took it and typed in Arabic, “Thank you” which it translated to English. 

                Kera grabbed the phone and typed, “You’re free” and they nodded putting their hands together and bowing as the universal “thank you”

                Fanis said, “Let me guess.  This was the Arabs’ harem?”

                Kera said, “No, they were selling them for prostitution.”

                “Good old human trafficking”

                “Yup”

                “So you made them pay you to have their prostitutes stolen from them.”

                “I did give them the painting too.” Kera said with a smirk.

                “What are we going to do with them?”

                “We need to go to Switzerland to deposit the money.  We’re going to leave them there and they can figure it out on their own.”

                “So you’re throwing them into a country where they don’t speak the language to figure it out for themselves?”

                “Do you have a better plan?”

                “No, give them a taste of freedom and see if they like it.  If they go back to enslavement that’s their problem.”

                “I would agree.  Innovate and adapt or die.”

                “Yea”

                When they returned to London, Kera’s men went their separate ways and Kera said, “We’re going to go home and get changed into something more formal”

                Fanis shrugged his shoulders and said, “Alright, more surprises”

                Fanis got dressed in a shirt and tie and Kera put on a nice dress and they went to meet with an English intelligence officer.  He articulated after some small talk, “Now, we think that President Trump may declassify various documents that may make her majesty’s government look bad.”

                Fanis said, “Yes but it makes the American’s CIA, FBI and DOJ look worse.”

                “Quite right but you’ll understand that my concern is with England.”

                “Of course.”

                “Kera tells me that you have followed what the mainstream media hasn’t been telling the American public.  I would like to know what you know about England’s role so we may properly prepare.”

                “Distance yourself from Halper and Steele.”

                The Englishmen rubbed his chin, “Interesting you mentioned Steele.  He is a trusted FBI source and has impeccable credibility.  I know most of the Carter Page FISA Is redacted but there is a spot saying that they have no derogatory information about source 1, which Is Steele.”

                “And that’s exactly what’s going to get the FBI in trouble”

                “How do you mean?”

                “10 days before the FISA, Steele talked to the Assistant Secretary of State Katheleen Kavelec.  She exposed him in at least five lies.  The current FBI director Christopher Wray just found out about it and rushed to get it redacted and classified, which only led people to draw their attention to it and those that have access found that she had hand written notes.  Only her typed memo was marked classified not her notes that led to the memo.”

                “What are the five lies if you don’t mind me asking.  I assure you that your confidentiality will be paramount and nobody outside of this conversation will know you provided it”

                “I do not have access to classified information.  This is all public information.  You just need to know where to look.”

                “Alright then speak freely”

                “First lie is that Steele told Kavalec about Alfa Bank having a back channel in Trump Tower sending pinged messages back to Russia.  He alleged it was some secret code so Trump would know to call them using their back channel”

                “Alright”

                “If that were true then why was Cohen in Prague trying to set up communications?  Why not just use the back channel?  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  The FBI already investigated that in the spring of 2016.  The New York Times even reported on 10/31/16, just eight days after the FISA that the FBI concluded in the spring that it was innocuous information and could have just been spam.”

                “Spam?  Like an advertisement”

                “That’s right.  Things that everyone spends money and tries to avoid at all costs.”

                “And this Alfa Bank”

                “It is a Russian financial firm but who cares?”

                “Yes, I suppose I have banks sending me advertisements too.”

                “By the way, Brennan had this story too when he briefed Capitol Hill and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and the gang of eight so although he may not have seen the dossier till December, he certainly knew about the information in it well before.  The Americans know Brennan was talking directly with Steele.”

                “Why does that matter?”

                “Well, Steele told the FBI that he was only sharing information with his client, in this case Fusion GPS and the FBI.  That is in the FISA too”

                “And we know he leaked it to media outlets”

                “Especially since he admitted to Kavalec that he talked to the New York Times and Washington Post.  We know now that it was a lot more media sources.  Let’s not forget the most glaring example.  He is saying all this to a state department official who is neither his client nor the FBI.  As soon as he utters the words, he’s contradicting himself because he’s not talking to Fusion GPS or a FBI official”

                “I am beginning to be embarrassed with the professionalism and intelligence of our intelligence asset.”

                “Luckily he’s a former asset”

                “Indeed.  Please do not let my embarrassment dissuade you from continuing”

                “Steele also tells Kavalec that the collusion is being run out of the Russian consulate in Miami”

                “I suppose there are records to indicate that’s false.”

                “Even better, there is no Russian consulate in Miami”

                “A simple internet source could have aided him before he told that lie.”

                Fanis smiled and said, “Quite right,” which prompted Kera to subtly slap him in the leg since she knew he was mocking the Englishmen.  Fanis continued, “Also in the notes was that Steele told her that he needed the information out before Election Day”

                “I believe that would speak to his motives being political rather than intelligence based.”

                “I couldn’t have said it better myself.  The last one is the thinnest”

                “Well, four pieces of blatant lies is more than sufficient to destroy a man’s credibility.  What is the fifth bit that may not be as blatant?”

                When Steele is telling Kavalec about these Russians that are travelling to and from the US, she is taking notes on the exact dates that they came and left.  So she’s checking the travel logs.  She does write Cohen’s name in this area of the notes but in the typed notes the two Russians travel itinerary is not redacted but in the middle there’s a sentence that is.  I think that sentence is that she checked the travel records of Michael Cohen and found out that he had never been to Prague.”

                “Well that is consistent with what you told me earlier about Alfa Bank.  He didn’t go because he didn’t need it because of the back channel in Trump Tower”

                “I also told you that that back channel was spam.”

                “I agree but it does negate one piece of evidence against it.”

                “But it doesn’t refute the main evidence against it.”

                “Yes, I do agree with that.  It appears this Kavalec woman has completely destroyed the career of Christopher Steele.”

                “Steele should have been able to keep his story straight.”

                “He got cocky since all these Americans that hated Trump were believing everything he said.  His cockiness led to stupidity and sloppiness.  This sloppiness makes England look very bad.  I believe you have convinced me that your counsel to distance our great nation from Christopher Steele is in order.  Thank you sir.”

                ‘You’re welcome”

                “Cheerio”

                “Good bye”

                Fanis said to Kera, “If it came down to it, do your loyalties lie with England or America.”

                Kera grimaced and said, “I guess America but it’s close.”

                “You arranged a meeting with a British intelligence agent to tell him what I knew.”

                “I did, you didn’t have to oblige him.”

                “Like I said, I don’t have access to any classified information.  I don’t know anyone who does so it just seemed odd that he would want to speak to me.”

                “What if he didn’t know that you are a lay person?” Kera said with an ear to ear grin

                “That’s kind of what I’m getting at.  How do you represent me?”

                Kera smiled coyly and said, “Oh cousin, you’re simply my bodyguard.”

                He glared at her suspiciously but his mouth turned upward and said, “Oh you lie much better than that little cousin.”

                “Let’s get something to eat I’m starving.”

                Fanis chuckled and nodded.  He knew she was distracting him from the question but he’d let her avoid it.  He agreed and went to get food with Kera.