Upfall

Inside the windowless capsule the soldiers were illuminated by faint red lights. They had mentally prepared themselves for two or three seconds of shaking, then arrival back at the capsule bay, followed by a standard unloading and security drill inside the Dimona facility. Instead, after about four seconds the capsule twisted and turned and then flipped over. Ten seconds later in it flipped over again. Yatom looked around as best he could and saw concerned looks on the commandos’ faces, but no fear or panic. This was standard for a regular mission, but not a quick training run. At fourteen seconds they had been underway longer than on the Natanz raid, and much longer than any other training ride. At twenty seconds the capsule flipped again and Feldhandler threw up. So did Itzak. Perchansky began to scream. Yatom sought out Mofaz's eyes and detected, for the first time a hint of fear. Two or three of the men were quietly offering prayers.

The lights flickered out, plunging them into pitch blackness. Yatom gritted his teeth and stared straight ahead, where he knew Mofaz would be.

Thirty seconds in the lights came back on. Perchansky was screaming hysterically now, and Feldhandler groaned. At thirty-four seconds the capsule swung violently counter-clockwise and struck something. Then they felt a series of jarring impacts. The vehicle seemed to slow and finally came to a quivering stop. The commandos found themselves hanging from their harnesses. The capsule was upside-down.

Training took over. An inverted landing had always been a possibility and the soldiers now followed a specific drill. With one hand the men grabbed handholds that had been put on the floor, while with the other they unhooked their harnesses. Once free they swung down in a quick deliberate motion. There was much bumping and swearing, as the commandos piled into each other and hit the inverted ceiling, but the entire process took all of ten seconds. Only puke covered Itzak had any difficulty, and his was slight.

Feldhandler and Perchansky still hung from their seats moaning, but Yatom ignored them. The exit hatchway was now overhead. Yatom reached up, popped the hatch and planting a foot against another emergency handhold, grabbed onto the door frame and pulled himself out Yatom's team followed, then Mofaz and his men. Yatom's squad formed on one side of the capsule, Mofaz on the other. Shapira's team climbed out last.

Inside the capsule Feldhandler came to his senses, and managed to swing down from his seat. Perchensky was barely conscious and mumbling. He carefully undid her harness and let her fall on him, knocking them both onto the roof of the capsule. They both moaned and lay there.

Outside the commandos crouched around the capsule, Tavors at the ready. Without their primary weapons, Roi and llan drew their pistols. Roi looked at Yatom. "Colonel, can I retrieve my weapon?"

"Go!" said Yatom. "Unload the capsule."

Roi leaned back into the capsule, finding Perchensky and Feldhandler at the entrance. He pulled the pair out. Then the machine gunner, followed by Ilan, and Rafi dropped back into the capsule. The three men started handing out olive green sacks and cases with their extra equipment, including the mysterious extra crates stowed by Feldhandler. These were quite heavy.

Yatom ignored the unloading and looked around. It appeared to be early morning. The area near the capsule looked like a tornado's aftermath. They were in a forested area, but at least a half-dozen large trees, and many smaller ones, had been uprooted or knocked over by the capsule. The wrecked trees provided excellent cover, and with a few hand signals from Shapira and Mofaz, the commandos swarmed over them, setting up weapons, and looking for targets. But there was nothing to shoot at except birds and fleas.

Yatom rested his Tavor on a large uprooted tree with a rough whitish trunk—a birch. "What the hell" he thought. He didn't know why they were not back in Dimona, but if they were anywhere else, he expected it to be in Israel or Lebanon. He'd seen birches in Germany and the U.S. but not Israel or Lebanon. He pulled out his GPS. The unit came on but indicated no signal. Yatom looked over towards Mofaz who was also fiddling with his GPS, and then Shapira, who was doing the same.

Yatom trotted over to his deputy, and motioned Shapira to join them. "Does anybody have any idea what's happened, or where we are?" he said quietly.

They shook their heads.

"Is everybodys' GPS down?" asked Yatom. The two other officers nodded. All three men prided themselves on their ability to think and act quickly, but they were so obviously befuddled that Yatom just put on a disgusted expression. At least the men were doing their jobs, alertly guarding the landing area, but they were clearly awaiting some guidance.