The Last Israelis - an Apocalyptic, Military Thriller about an Israeli Submarine and a Nuclear Iran by Noah Beck Page B

come back.”
    “I can’t wait.”
    “Me too…Goodbye for now.”
    “See you soon. And don’t come back here with another fake shore visit next time!”
    ****
    According to protocol, the captain is always the last to board the submarine. This practice helped to maximize the odds that the deputy captain would need to conduct the pre-departure roll call only once. Boarding the submarine last also helped the captain to notice any stragglers who may have been left behind somehow. This practice gave Daniel some extra time to visit with Sivan and Esty.
    The captain found this goodbye to be more difficult than any previous one. The foreboding in his gut had been intensifying with each additional omen suggesting that this family goodbye might be his last. He peered at his wife and daughter for a moment, as if doing so could fix their image in his mind more permanently. Sivan looked graceful and poised but sturdy, like a sculpture to which playful Esty was tethered, keeping her from flying out of safe orbit. He wished he could have seen Amir and Hila again too, and tried for a moment to imagine them present at the farewell. Their airy likenesses joined for an imaginary moment but then faded as the more compelling details of reality dominated Daniel’s senses.
    He was tempted to utter parting words of love in a profound and final way, but he had resolved to keep his presentiment concealed. The captain had concluded that he had to make this as normal a goodbye as possible in order to adhere to ethical standards and to avoid distressing Sivan and Esty with what was merely his unconfirmed, albeit reasonable, speculation. Thus, for the rest of the conversation, Daniel acted as if he knew without a doubt that he was coming back in a few weeks and that everything would be fine.
    He looked down at Esty. Sivan had pinned his military insignia onto her shirt, to avoid any more traumatic, accidental losses. His daughter seemed to have an extra bounce in her step when parading around with the captain’s shoulder board on her. “Thank you for making me captain, Daddy,” she cried out, just as Daniel began to prepare his parting words.
    “You’re welcome, sweetie. But you still have to listen to Mommy.”
    “Daddy, are you sure you don’t need it to show everyone that you’re the captain?”
    “I’m sure, sweetie.”
    “Because, because if you do, then…Then I can let you borrow it for this trip…But then you have to promise to give it back to me when you come home.”
    “No, honey. It’s OK. I want you to have it while I’m away.”
    Sivan released a chortle. “Isn’t she priceless? I don’t know how you can miss such moments.”
    “I don’t either…But this is my last mission.”
    “I still don’t believe it.”
    “It is…Don’t forget: martial arts classes for Amir. I want to see him breaking bricks with his hand by the time I come home.”
    Sivan smiled. “To celebrate your return, we’ll have a brick-breaking ceremony in the living room when you come home.”
    “I mean it, Sivan. Sign him up.”
    “Yes, Sir!”
    “And tell Hila that there are no words for how proud she makes me. When I get back, I want to try to read through her solar patent,” he said, suppressing his dark prediction that this might never actually happen.
    “Good luck trying to understand it.”
    “I didn’t say I’ll try to understand it. I’m just going to try to read it…And I have some friends who are partners at venture capital funds…I want to put them in touch with her.”
    “But she’s not even done with her studies yet.”
    “Neither were the founders of Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. But they had better things to do.”
    “Yes, but they at least graduated high school!”
    “I’m not saying she shouldn’t graduate…But she could be starting down a very unique and unconventional life path. Let’s see what my VC friends say.”
    Esty interrupted the discussion about her older sister’s future with a far more