stop in the middle of a field. "Lea Three for Lea Two. We are ready. Over!" Silence all around us. You could think we were in the middle of an uninhabited desert.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat - tat-tat - rat-tat-tat-tat-tat - tat-tat
In the whole world there is only one person who can fire such musical salvos. Our friend Chalek. So the fighting in Hatta has begun. We too open fire.
From the village comes return fire. Pitiful fire. Just a few rifles, two submachine guns. That’s just a few local fighters, no army. We don’t even relocate our position, as we were taught to do. We stay where we are and keep on shooting. The whole thing is rather boring.
"Hold your fire!" It is eleven o’clock. In Hatta too there is no more shooting. "Ask if we should continue or return."
I put the cartridge belt to one side and pick up the radio. "Hello Lea Three for Lea One. Can you hear me? Over." No answer. I try again. "Hello Lea Three for Lea One. Can you hear me? Over." I can just hear a faint murmur. Then that stops. The battery is dead.
* * *
Asher discusses with Albert, the section commander. They decide to drive back to Jassir. To avoid getting within firing range of Hatta, we make a wide detour to the west.
"Pay attention to the stars," says Albert to me. He knows my passion.
The new route is more difficult than the old one. We cross deep wadis. It is difficult to stay on course. Cassiopeia is sometimes to our right and sometimes to the left of us. Ursa Major and the Pole Star have completely disappeared.
The sky is darkening. It is getting cloudy. I can only see two stars in Cassiopeia. They are to the right of us. In the middle distance, directly ahead of us, is a green Egyptian rocket.
"What direction are we heading?" asks Albert casually. "To the west," I answer.
"Good" says Albert. Then he is suddenly wide awake and brings the jeep to a halt. "What did you say?"
"We are driving toward the west, and have been for about twenty minutes."
Albert says nothing. For a moment he switches on the darkened flashlight and looks at the map. Then he turns the jeep around and