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

whom we worship; He can save us. From the burning, fiery furnace and from your hands, O king, He will save us. And if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not worship your god, neither will we prostrate ourselves to the golden image that you have set up.
    — Daniel 3:17-18

Chapter 11: Mission Instructions
    More than ever before in his naval career, Daniel felt the oppressive weight of his command bearing down on him, like a collection of large rocks that had to be balanced on his shoulders and arms, with the gravest of consequences should any stone fall to the ground. There was the unresolved tension, possibly even hostility, involving his second-in-command, lurking below the surface, waiting to emerge at some inopportune moment. There was the dispiriting cause behind the mission he had been given, followed by the dramatic breaking news about Iran – none of which had yet been revealed to the crew, and all of which he had just discovered after opening the top secret envelope handed to him by Rafi. And there was his uneasy gut, inclined to piece everything together in ways that made his foreboding worse.
    Daniel was still digesting all of the information that Rafi had just divulged to him, and trying to analyze the overall strategic picture it painted, while deciding how and when to inform the rest of the crew about the news. Daniel found that rereading momentous information sometimes transformed it into a more manageable object of study, thereby creating a certain distance from the potentially dire ramifications at hand. So he decided to read Rafi’s message again.
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    “Due to the extreme sensitivity of this information, and to eliminate the possibility of leaks during the picnic, headquarters decided to disclose the enclosed intelligence update and mission instructions only after all guests had left the premises and the Dolphin’s crew had boarded the submarine. You must decide how and when to inform the crew of these matters.
    First, the intelligence updates as of March 17:
    I. The Leviathan submarine from our fleet has encountered two critical problems:
    1) On March 15at 1836 hours, while approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the crew began showing signs of food poisoning. By the next day at 0948 hours (at position 26.94"N, 56.61"E), every crewmember was seriously sick and needed to come home for proper recovery.
    2) After headquarters ordered the captain to bring the Leviathan back to port, the submarine – being operated by a debilitated crew – was apparently detected by an Iranian Alvand class frigate and hit with depth charges at around 1115 hours on March 16. The crew managed to distance the submarine from the depth charges enough to avoid serious casualties but the Leviathan’s main sonar was seriously damaged. The Leviathan is on its way back to the port for repairs, traveling at 3-5 knots. Last contact was in the Persian Gulf at 26.21"N, 54.04"E.
    II. Iran has nuclear weapons. One hour ago, Iran declared the following to the international media: ‘Yesterday the Islamic Republic of Iran finished moving all parts of its cherished nuclear program to a fortified location that is invulnerable to any attack from the Zionist entity. Soon, God-willing, we shall complete our technological progress. And today we announce that we have stopped attacks not just from the Little Satan, but also from the Big Satan. Even the United States will not dare to attack our technological jewels now that we have nuclear missiles ready for use. Let all of the Western powers know that they are no longer welcome in the Middle East.’
    IDF intelligence has known for some time that Iran might purchase ready-to-use nuclear warheads from Pakistan, and the Mossad has independent sources confirming that Iran did indeed acquire a small nuclear arsenal from Pakistan. Now that Iran has publicly announced that it holds nuclear weapons, a variety of strategic, military, and geopolitical consequences are expected.
    Second, your