Shadow Soldier: A Military Thriller by Roni Eliav

Author:Roni Eliav [Eliav, Roni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

SLEEP AND DREAM: MORTAL DANGER

When you are a soldier or an officer on frequent operational duty, your internal world gets deeply intertwined with the outside world, sometimes with harrowing consequences.

I stand amidst a large crowd. People are huddled in pairs and groups against the magnificent backdrop of a brilliantly colorful hall. They talk amongst themselves but I can’t hear them. Someone is leading me through the crowd but I can’t see who. We reach a secluded corner, and I stand in front of a tall old man with a magnificent white beard.

He looks at me with a penetrating gaze, and without warning says: “You will die on the night between the 27th and 28th of October.” The utterance lingers in the space between us. I get sucked out of the scene and wake up in a cold sweat. I’m in my room in the officers’ quarters of the base. It’s a hot Saturday in the middle of August. I feel disturbed by the dream, but not as disturbed as I am by the fan not working. Besides, it’s August. There’s plenty of time till October. I fall back asleep.

Finally, an operation. In the morning, we roll into al-Khiam— a village in South Lebanon— in our trucks. The village has been abandoned since Operation Litany. Each team takes a house and settles in. The soldiers review and restock their gear, adding a magazine here, a grenade there, and ammunition belts to their already engorged combat vests. I say nothing; I’ll make them take it all out later during roll call. I go to the command briefing and the intelligence briefing, and come back with maps and diagrams. The team huddles around me, and we once again go over the roles we already know so well. We’ve been waiting a long time for this, a combat operation, a three-pronged raid on three terrorist targets in Ramat Arnoun in Lebanon. We are a senior, experienced, and well-trained team; there’s a bit of tension in the air, but no fear. I’ve commanded this team for over two years now. I know each and every soldier’s strengths and weaknesses, and they know me.

American cigarettes are cheap in Lebanon, but we’re not allowed to take them out of the country. Military Police check at the gate and confiscate what they find. Christian-Arab kids run around us hawking cigarettes. Since we’ll be going out on a helicopter, all the smokers shove as many packs as they can into their vests. I go out to smoke in the sun. I light a Marlboro cigarette from a soft red pack, and suddenly it dawns on me: today is October 27th! Tonight will be the night between the 27th and 28th of October. I feel my blood curdle. The cigarette turns bland, my chest closes up, and the bright sunny sky seems to cloud over. After a couple of moments, I relax and laugh at myself for being so superstitious. I go back inside to the sound of incessant bickering and joking.

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