Avi loved the quiet of the desert. Normally he spent the shift of guard duty sitting in the entrance to the kibbutz. There he could get a good five or six hours of studying done on an average shift. Not bad considering that he was paid for the privilege This evening was different. For some reason someone decided that this hole in the ground required two men to protect it. Some kind of archaeological discovery, or so they were told at the beginning of the shift.
In the light of a full moon the desert had a kind of magic appearance. The silver light reflected from everything. A kind of half light that reflected off everything, changing the mundane into something mystical. Literally a work of art. Tonight, however, there wasn't a moon. The darkness was blanketed everything. Although one could make out the rough outline of mounds of dirt and even vaguely the tire tracks their vehicle made through the layers of collected dust the day winds blew everywhere, it was a darkness you wouldn't want to explore in. Depth perception was severely limited and you wouldn't one able to tell the difference between a ditch or a hundred meter deep galley
What was common to both the moonless and moon lit desert was the silence. Without the sun the reptilian inhabitants, the snakes, scorpions and others, borrowed into their lairs, waiting for the morning sun to warm them up and restore them to active life. What people didn't realize that, once the sun went down, there was very little to gold the sun's heat. After just a few hours the desert was a cold, dark silent place.
They told him he couldn't put a lamp on. No studying tonight. What he would be doing in another few minutes was catch a couple of hours of sleep. His partner was quietly stretched out in the back of their pickup. Thankfully he didn't snore, but in the dessert silence, even his rhythmic deep breathing sounded loud to Avi's ears. Somewhere far away in the background Avi suddenly heard a vehicle. Probably some military patrol on its mindless back and forth trip along the local highway.
As Avi strained to listen to the engine sounds, and to try to determine from which direction they were travelling, he realized that he heard another sound in the silence. A soft rustling sound muffled by the ground between him and the dry river bed just a few hundred meters away. The longer he listened, the more convinced he was that his imagination was not deceiving him. There was something moving there. Slowly Avi moved to the cargo bay of the pickup where Gad was sound asleep.
'Wake up!' he urgently whispered into his partner's ear. When Gad started stirring, Avi placed his hand over Gad's mouth to stifle any sounds he might make.
'What's happening?" Gad urgently asked in a hoarse whisper when Avi finally removed his hand from Gad's mouth. After explaining in a few whispered phrases what Avi suspected was happening, the two silently crawled away from their truck, weapons in hand, to a pre-prepared pile of rocks and earth where if attacked they would be better protected from bullets or shrapnel. more importantly, their secure position was a good fifty meters away from the truck, but had a good view of all the approaches to the hole in the ground they were guarding. If anything heavy was fired at the truck, it wouldn't affect them, but if anyone tried approaching the archaeological find, they'd be in a perfect place to give them a warm welcome.
Having arrived, they snuggled into the dust and pebbled floor. Now all they had to do was wait.
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