15:30 / 3:30 P.M. IRST
All the elation of a mission fulfilled was sucked from the van. The explosives in the truck bed were supposed to completely destroy the vehicle and the weapon. As Liora narrated the view from the satellite, it sounded like neither was accomplished.
“Term Lead, what happened?” It was the ramsad.
“We’re determining that now.” Nir turned to Doron with his eyebrows raised.
“I can only tell you it should have worked.” The agent’s face was red with anger and, Nir was certain, embarrassment as well. “I’ve been blowing bombs for over a decade. There’s no reason that amount of explosives should not have done the job.”
Yaron nodded in agreement. “I checked it out too. It was more than enough. Either something was faulty with the materials or it was tampered with.”
“When would it have been tampered with?” Nir asked. “We’ve had eyes on it since we arrived in Tehran.”
“It would have to be before we got here,” Doron said.
That idea seemed far-fetched to Nir. He looked down for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Sir, we have no explanation. The explosives were checked by more than one operative and confirmed to have been sufficient. We suspect possible outside interference.”
There was silence on the coms for a full minute. Finally, Liora came on. “The ramsad said he will discuss it with you when you return and to get your team back in one piece in the meantime.”
That sounds like it will be a fun discussion. Maybe I can stay here in Iran. Homestead a little plot of land outside of Isfahan.
Dima started the van’s engine.
“At least we killed the guy,” Lahav said quietly, a bit of wonder in his voice. “I mean, we really, really killed that guy.”
Nir looked around and saw the discouragement on his men’s faces. Maybe this was the moment he needed to be a leader. “You know, Lahav, for once I agree with you. We really, really killed that guy. The Unholy Father met his just demise. Good work, guys. You did an extremely professional job.”
The mood lightened, briefly. But soon a pall fell over the group again. For the next 50 minutes they drove west along the Hamedan Freeway in silence. After passing Gharqabad, they pulled off the pavement and drove into the hills. Ten minutes of bouncing over a barely cut road brought them to the box truck. The father and son were waiting for them.
Before leaving the van, Doron set a detonator for an explosive charge that would remove any evidence left in the vehicle. Nir resisted the urge to tell him not to screw this one up. That would do no one any good.
The men were exhausted, and they stretched themselves out the best they could in the old truck. It was five hours back to Sanandaj, where hopefully a helicopter would be ready to fly them back to safety. Nir laid down, put his head on his pack, and closed his eyes.
He woke to a hand shaking his shoulder. “Nir, wake up.” It was Doron.
“Ma nishma?” Nir asked, wondering what was up.
“We’ve got a problem.”
Instantly, he was fully awake. Jumping to his feet, in the light of a battery lantern he saw Imri and Yaron speaking quietly near the sliding door. That’s when Nir noticed they were no longer moving.
A quick glance at his watch told him only two and a half hours had passed. “How long have we been stopped?”
“About five minutes. We felt them take an exit off the freeway. Then we bounced on some rough road for a couple of minutes before stopping.”
Nir was a little embarrassed that he’d slept through all that. “Any word from the cab?”
“That’s the thing. They always signal us when they stop—two hits on the side of the truck. This time there was nothing.”
Lahav was awake by now. “Guys, are we trapped in here? I hope not, because I’m going to get really claustrophobic really fast.”
“He’s right, we need to get out of here,” Dima said.
“How?” asked Imri. “The door is latched from the outside, and I’m not seeing any way to open it from in here.”
Lahav’s breathing was speeding up. “Seriously, we’ve got to get that door open. Besides, I really have to pee. I mean, it’s serious!”
“Lahav, man up!” Nir shouted. “Figure out a solution rather than whining.” Then he saw it. “Okay, Lahav, you want to get out of here? There you go.” He pointed at the tiny plastic window in the ceiling of the truck.
“Achi, I don’t think even Liora could fit through that,” Lahav said, eyes wide.
“We don’t need Liora to fit through it. We need you.” Turning to Imri, he said, “Get up on Dima’s shoulders and get that plastic shell off there.”
Imri pulled a multi-tool out of a cargo pants pocket and passed it to Dima. “Hand that to me when I’m up.” Dima took it, then squatted. Imri climbed on his shoulders and began working the screws.
“Okay, strip down,” Nir said to Lahav.
“What? Why?”
Nir was probably enjoying this more than he should. “You’ll need to shed every millimeter you can. Besides, those are new camos. I don’t want you tearing them up. Yalla! Let’s go.”
“Just pretend it’s intake day at Maasiyahu Prison and they’re giving you another strip search,” Yaron said, obviously relishing their hazing the analyst.
A thump sounded through the box, and Nir turned to see Imri back on his feet. Looking up, he saw that the clear starry sky of a late fall night showed through the hole, and the cool air wafted the stale air from the container.
Lahav had hold of the waistband of his boxers when Nir quickly said, “You can keep those on.”
“In fact, please keep those on,” said Dima. Then he squatted, offering his shoulders.
As Lahav rode the Kidon agent’s shoulders toward the hole, Nir said, “Stick only your head through first, then tell me what you see.”
Dima wedged his hands under Lahav’s backside and lifted the man until he could see through the open ceiling.
“I don’t know. It’s dark. Give my eyes a second to adjust. I see hills and dirt and rocks.”
“So we’re still in Iran,” Doron said, joking.
“What about people? Do you see the man and his son?” asked Nir.
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay, Dima, push him through.”
It turned out Lahav was slight enough to slip through easily.
“Probably could have kept his clothes on,” Imri said with a grin.
Yaron grinned as well. “Yeah, but what fun would that have been?”
Lahav stuck his head back through the hole. “They’re definitely gone. No sign of them anywhere.”
“Yalla! Just open up the back of the truck,” Nir said, a sinking feeling in his stomach.
“Oh, yeah. Just give me a minute first.”
“What do you need a minute for?” Nir yelled, knowing exactly what Lahav was going to do. But the man had already pulled his head back out. “Open the door!”
“This is not a good situation,” Yaron said. “I have a feeling we won’t be alone for very long.”
Nir had been thinking the exact thing. They hadn’t just been abandoned; they’d been left for someone else. There was no telling when that someone else would get there.
“Yalla! Let’s go,” he yelled, pounding the wall of the truck.
A minute later the metal from the latch clanked, the door slid up, and Lahav stood there with a relieved look on his face.