Newton’s Fire

II

Avram glanced down at the remote control trigger in his left hand. It gave him an intoxicating sense of power. All he needed to do was pop the safety catch and press the red trigger and the world would be transformed.

But not yet …

Another tour of the walls, exhorting Shlomo and Danel and their men to stay alert for movement outside, for possible counterattacks. Not that they needed telling. They were all pumped up by adrenalin and success. Only Benyamin was looking miserable. ‘Aren’t you glad you came?’ Avram asked.

The big man just shrugged.

Avram returned to his laptop, checked for latest news. It amused him to hear the Minister for Foreign Affairs gabbling about the prisoners whose release he had already secured. And it thrilled him to see aerial footage of the Dome from the very same helicopters he could hear thundering above. He flipped through his rota of news shows, going so fast that he passed one channel before he realized something wasn’t right. He went back. Yes. Until now, every one of them had been all Dome all the time. But this one had split its screen. One half showed the Dome; the other showed only empty sea and sky. But a red banner ran across its foot.

Dome conspiracy aircraft arriving Ben Gurion shortly

Avram’s heart squeezed. How the hell had they found out? Had someone talked? But then the anchor explained about Track Changes in the prisoner-release demand. He felt furious with his own sloppiness, but he couldn’t see how it changed anything. The Israelis had to realize that shooting the plane down would mean instant and catastrophic consequences. But he kept a wary eye on that screen from then on, all the same.