March 30, 1998, 4:00 AM, Mediterranean.
Five missiles streaked across the night sky, trailing fiery tails.
They were not headed in the same direction.
The first rose from Southern Lebanon, launched by ZZD in retaliation. The second came from the Gaza Strip, HMS in counterattack. The third, fourth, and fifth missiles - from different launch points and different factions, but all targeted at one thing.
Squid.
The "Arrow" anti-missile system activated in the seventh second after the alarm sounded. Three interceptor missiles took off from silos outside Tel Aviv, colliding with the incoming targets at the edge of the atmosphere, exploding into five fiery balls.
But the fourth got through.
It was an old Frog-7 tactical rocket, with poor accuracy, originally meant to fall into the Mediterranean. But a malfunction in its engine resulted in insufficient thrust, causing its trajectory to lower - it eventually landed next to a gas station in Ashkelon.
