Chapter 26
It was a few minutes past five in the morning. The first rays of light shone around the tops of the Judean mountain range. In a few minutes they would turn red and soon a new day would begin.
The view from the window of Avi Eitan’s bedroom in Mazkeret Katya was worth all the shekels he had paid for the house. About twenty miles to the East, Jerusalem was about to wake up, but today he did not have to report there for duty. He had managed to get a half-day off to take his family to the airport.
Next to him, his wife Morav was starting to wake up, after having felt her husband move. Avi admired once more her ebony Ethiopian body, and thanked God once again for their two daughters. It was definitely worth all the criticism he had faced from his parents to marry Morav.
“Avi, isn’t it a bit too early? The flight is at ten o’clock, this time it’s not so bad to live close to the airport.”
She stood up. Avi looked at her without answering for a while, then moved his eyes back to the window and whispered.
“It’s not a trip like all others, Morav, you know,” he said calmly. “You might never come back to Israel, and I might not be able to join you up there in Cyprus.”
Morav inched closer to Avi, and took his head in her hands.
“Do we have another chance, Avi? The pressure of all the refugees at the borders is becoming unsustainable, and food reserves are depleting, after many years of fly swarm attacks. Good for us that the government worked out this deal with Turkey….a planned exodus from the Promised Land.”
She let Avi go and moved to the table next to the bed. The travel documents papers were there, written in four languages: Hebrew, English, Greek and Turkish.
“According to this, we will relocate to a small town just outside of Magusa, on the old Turkish side. The inhabitants have been moved to Anatolia two weeks ago, along with most of the Turkish-speaking population. I wonder what the government gave Turkey to get North Cyprus in exchange.”
“You can imagine, Morav,” Avi replied, “lots of military aid for Turkey to continue the war against Pakistan and India and secure control of Northern Iraq and Syria.”
“I wonder if they also gave them the technology to build the killer flies. It looks like we control it, or better, we have a major part in creating this monster, although many sources claim they were invented by the Americans and copied by the Russians.”
Avi kept silent, then asked Morav.
“Is that a statement you are making based off of your Google research or are you looking for some sort of confirmation from me? You know there are some things I cannot tell you.”
“You do not need to tell me. Back to the topic of our trip, I would have preferred to be moved to one of the properties bought on the Greek side of Cyprus, but it looks like those positions all went to the well-networked elite. This shitty world really never changes.”
Morav looked at the clock. She had enough time to take a shower before waking up her children. She turned back to Avi.
“What’s the plan for those of you who stay behind? I mean, do you think you will eventually flee or resist till the end?”
Avi answered immediately, as if he was expecting the question.
“There is no clear escape plan. We have to make sure that Israel can be rebuilt once the crisis is over, which basically means defending certain areas at every cost and to be ready to surrender some others if the situation gets ugly. After the experience from last year along the Jordan valley, I can tell you, it is not easy to fire at a crowd of desperate people seeking nothing more than to flee famine and war, even if you know that terrorists are hiding among them. You actually would like the terrorist to open fire at you, not to be the one who pulls the trigger first. So yes, we are prepared to give up some land to gain time, if needed.”
Morav kept silent. The Jericho and Jordan valley massacres of 2044 had left a wound on Avi’s spirit that had not quite healed yet. She checked her packed bags once again, among them there was a small sketch from Chagall that Avi had given her upon their engagement.
“You must bring this one with you. We cannot risk to lose it in some looting.” Avi said briskly, as Morav was still checking the small package.
“Do you expect a lot of it?”
“From anyone that stays behind. Well, many looters might turn out to be Israeli Arabs simply because they are not part of Plan Lot, but they won’t be alone. This one I can tell you, looting is one of the things we will have to turn a blind eye on most of the time. Not to mention that…anyway, it’s getting late now, let’s wake up the girls.”
Morav went into the girls room, and Avi started getting in his uniform.
One hour later, they were driving through the security gates of Ben Gurion International Airport. Avi could spot a long row of Superjumbos on the runways. They never stopped shuttling between Tel Aviv and Cyprus. The girls did not talk during the trip, but as they passed the security check, Yael, the younger one, broke the silence.
“Is it true that in Cyprus we’ll have a house by the seaside? And we can play at the beach the whole year?”
Morav turned towards her from the front seat and smiled, as she swiped her watch and projected a set of pictures on the car screen system.
“Well, it’s not exactly on the beach, but not far away at all, you see?” she zoomed in and out of the 3D view, “You can get to the sea with this small ramp of stairs, after walking a few yards down this alley.”
Yael’s mouth opened in astonishment and anticipation.
“Mom, and is it true that the flies can’t get there? That you do not have to rush to the shelter while they are spraying the pesticide around and things smell bad for days afterwards?”
“Yes, darling, it is true. Cyprus is in the middle of the sea, so fly storms cannot reach it. They fall dead over the sea.”
“Ooooh, wow, that’s just great!” Yael could not contain her enthusiasm, then she looked around and felt the rest of the family was not sharing it. She stopped for a while and then she came up with the explanation.
“If only dad could come with us now. When will you join us in Cyprus, daddy?”
Avi tried to dodge the question, pretending he was paying attention to how well the car was self-parking next to the departure hall, but Yael didn’t give up.
“The car parks alone, you don’t have to watch it. When will you come to Cyprus with us? Ytzhak, the dad of our neighbors, is coming with the rest of his family.”
“I still have some work to do here, Yael. But I will join you soon, it’s a promise.” He got out of the car, opened the door and gave Yael the biggest hug.