The Pure

course I’ll do it.’
    ‘Don’t even think about it, then.’
    ‘OK, OK. Trust me.’
    ‘I trust you just like you trust me,’ said Avner.
    They both smiled, and Uzi cleared his throat. The hot night sat heavily around them.
    ‘Do you think we should check on the Poles?’ said Uzi. ‘They’ve been quiet for almost an hour.’
    ‘You’ve gone soft,’ said Avner. ‘Check on them if you want.’
    Uzi snorted and sat back. For a while he looked out of the window into the darkness. Then he got out and went round to the back of the van. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard a voice.
    ‘Uzi.’ His ear hadn’t itched this time.
    ‘What do you want? I’m busy.’
    ‘It’s night-time. We arranged to speak in the night-time.’
    ‘If there’s nothing to speak about, we don’t need to speak,’ said Uzi under his breath, glancing warily around.
    ‘But there is something to speak about. There is a lot to speak about.’
    ‘I’m sure there is. But I’m busy right now, OK? I’m on an operation.’
    ‘You didn’t tell me anything about an operation.’
    ‘I don’t have to tell you everything. You’re not my mother. This is a personal operation, it has nothing to do with you. You’re going to drive me crazy, you know that? You’re going to drive me crazy.’
    There was a silence and Uzi thought the Kol had gone. But then, just as he was reaching out to the door handle, the voice spoke again.
    ‘Believe in yourself, Uzi,’ it said calmly.
    Uzi shook his head and sighed. Avner’s face could be seen watching him quizzically in the wing mirror. Uzi made a gesture that all was well. Then – tentatively – he opened the door of the van.
    There were the three men, like felled logs in the half-light. It was as silent as a morgue. His fingers were itching and he cursed. He climbed inside, closed the door and squatted among them, holding a cigarette lighter aloft. A chill came over him despite the heat. He couldn’t account for this feeling of dread; in the past, this never would have bothered him. Before doing anything further, he lit a cigarette from the flame of the lighter and inhaled deeply. One of the men coughed and let out a low moan. At least he was alive. The other two did not move.
    He stretched out his free hand and rested it lightly on the shiny chest of the man nearest to him. It might have been anybody; they were covered in tape from head to foot, there was nothing individual about them. The chest was rising and falling normally. He removed his hand and shuffled on his haunches over to the third man. His chest seemed still. Uzi flattened his hand on the chest and applied a little pressure. Nothing. The cigarette lighter flickered out, plunging the world into blackness; only the red glow of the cigarette remained. Silence sat tangibly inside the van. Uzi sparked the lighter and looked again. He turned his face to the side and lowered his ear to the man’s nose. Nothing – nothing. The lighter went out.
    Just as Uzi was about to light it again, there was a crackling, jolting sound and something collided against his face. This was followed by a muffled moan, and a muffled shriek, which was joined by another, lower voice, all the more unnerving for its lack of volume. Uzi was knocked again, and overbalanced on to his back. The parcelled men were bucking and rearing in the darkness all around him, making unearthly noises. He got to his hands and knees and scrabbled on the floor, trying to find his lighter. The van was bouncing on its suspension, creaking. He knew he should call out, but he couldn’t. Pride or terror, perhaps both. His eyes opened wide, then wider, he couldn’t see a thing. The weird cacophony continued all around him, these alien sounds, the crackling of packing tape, bodies wriggling and jack-knifing like fish.
    The door was flung open, the overhead light came on, and there stood Avner, Beretta drawn. With a succession of sharp blows with the butt of his weapon, together with a stream of Russian curses, he subdued the chaos. Then he helped Uzi climb down.
    ‘Look at you,’ laughed Avner, closing the door. ‘What’s happened to you?’
    ‘Fuck you,’ Uzi replied, ‘just fuck off.’
    He got back into the van and put another cigarette between his trembling teeth. He had no lighter. He cursed, beat his fists against the dashboard.
    The door opened and Avner climbed in, still chuckling.
    ‘What’s so fucking funny?’ said Uzi.
    ‘Relax, my friend,