The Moses Legacy

Chapter 65

A trail of bullets from the Israeli patrol boat raked the water in front of them. Daniel realized that by this stage even turning back would be regarded by the Israelis as aggression, or at least non-compliance. So he cut the engine and let the boat carry on coasting forward. To further indicate his surrender, he raised his hand and stood up slowly.

Gabrielle did likewise, but then looked back, prompting Daniel to follow suit. What he saw was the Egyptian navy boat approaching at speed. At the same time, the Israeli boat had also stopped. Daniel realized what this meant. They had not yet entered Israeli territorial waters and were possibly still inside Egyptian waters. That meant that they could be taken back to Egypt.

No, the Israelis would not have fired into Egyptian waters… but might have fired on a vessel in international waters if it was deemed to pose a threat. They might have thought that the boat was packed with explosives and that he was a suicide bomber. Under those circumstances, they would have fired rather than attempt to board.

In fact he was no more than a fugitive from Egypt for trying to leave evading border control, but the Israelis didn’t know that. It occurred to him that maybe the Israelis knew who he was. They might have heard those absurd stories about the infectious disease and believed that he and Gabrielle were walking biological weapons.

‘What’s happening?’ asked Gabrielle.

‘I think we’re still in international waters.’

‘So neither of them can take us against our will.’

Daniel was irritated by her legal naivety. ‘Actually, they both can.’

‘Well, let’s hope it’s the Israelis.’

Looking at the approaching Egyptian boat and the stationary Israeli one, Daniel realized that her hope was in vain. ‘I don’t think it’s going to be.’

Gabrielle put on her snorkel. ‘Do you know what free diving is?’ she asked.

‘Free diving?’

‘It means swimming underwater, holding your breath for as long as you can.’

‘You mean we trade in getting shot for drowning?’

Her face hardened. ‘This is it, Daniel – our Butch and Sundance moment.’

And with that she dived headlong into the water, disappearing beneath the surface. Taken by surprise, both the Egyptians behind them and the Israelis ahead looked concerned. But when she surfaced again, for less than a second, she was already fifteen yards ahead and clearly swimming towards Israeli waters. The sudden realization that this was an escape attempt prompted the Egyptian coastguard officers to train their guns on Daniel.

He realized what that meant. They were ready to shoot him if he tried the same thing. Drawing deep on his reserves of courage – or desperation, rather – he drew in his breath, dived into the water, and after sinking to a depth of a few feet, began swimming with all his might. He was using the arm movements of the breaststroke, but the leg movements of freestyle and this eclectic mixture of swimming styles seemed to carry him forward faster than he could ever remember swimming.

He wasn’t sure how long he could keep it up and as panic and shortness of breath set in, he heard the sharp staccato sound of gunfire above the surface, matched by streaks along the water ahead of him. This time the firing was coming from the Egyptian side.

Painfully aware that one of these bullets could hit him, he came quickly to the surface, alerting both sides to his whereabouts as he took a deep breath and then dived under again. But now, instead of swimming towards the Israeli line, he traversed to his left, putting more emphasis on moving sideways than forwards. Only when he heard more gunfire and saw the bullet trails well to his right, did he change direction and start moving forward towards the Israeli patrol boat. By the time he surfaced, he was well away from the Egyptian gunboat and quite far towards what he thought to be the Israeli territorial line.

Again the Egyptians fired and again he dived and traversed, this time to the right. He realized now that all the firing was coming from behind him. Whether the Israelis had been given new orders or had simply realized that a man wearing nothing but swimming trunks could hardly be a suicide bomber, it was clear that the danger now came from the Egyptian side.

But when he came to the surface, the firing stopped. Daniel realized that he must be in Israeli waters. Ahead of him he could see Gabrielle climbing the ladder on to the patrol boat, being helped by several of the crew, who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Judging that he was safe from being fired upon, Daniel stayed on the surface and shifted to freestyle as he swam the last few yards to the Israeli vessel. He too climbed the ladder, but found the Israeli navy men somewhat less helpful when it came to helping him clamber aboard. However they were kind enough to give him a towel, before returning their attention to Gabrielle. She seemed flattered by this and even flashed a mocking smile at Daniel, as if noting his jealousy at the male interest she was getting.

They were shown to some quarters, given clothes and told that Captain Ben-Dor wanted to see them in ten minutes. The accommodation seemed quite comfortable and Daniel suspected that this was actually the captain’s quarters. They took turns in the shower and when Daniel emerged with a towel around his waist, he was amused to see Gabrielle looking incredibly sexy in a man’s white summer uniform that looked a couple of sizes too small for her. His own uniform was a perfect fit.

Exactly ten minutes later, they were taken to the bridge to meet the captain, a slightly paunchy man of the same height as Daniel, with a short grey beard. Anxious to explain as quickly as possible, and lacking any sense of military propriety or protocol, Daniel launched into a mentally rehearsed speech, not waiting to be spoken to.

‘I’d like to thank you for rescuing us. My name is Daniel Klein and we-’

‘I know who you are,’ said Captain Ben-Dor. ‘You’ve caused a lot of trouble.’