CHAPTER 24... is live
The story continues
All previous chapters - CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 - Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 8 - CHAPTER 9 - CHAPTER 10 - CHAPTER 11 - CHAPTER 12 - CHAPTER 13 - CHAPTER 14 - CHAPTER 15 - CHAPTER 16 - CHAPTER 17 - CHAPTER 18 - CHAPTER 19 - CHAPTER 20 - CHAPTER 21 - CHAPTER 22 - CHAPTER 23
Previously on “The bomb in the shed…”; Arthur, Jacob and Ramirez fly back from the air base by helicopter to meet Fitzpatrick’s deadline while his family are at home held hostage and unaware of the danger that their captor is threatening to unleash
And here we go with CHAPTER 24…
Chapter 24
Arthur could out the familiar pattern of the roads in his neighbourhood as the helicopter approached to land. He and Camilla had once bought an aerial photograph of their house from a door to door salesman, long before Google maps, back when that kind of thing was an intriguing novelty. The photograph was still hanging in the downstairs toilet. He knew exactly which their house was, despite it being a 1930s semi near identical to all the others in the area.
He couldn’t help but imagine what would happen to everything below them if Fitzpatrick were to detonate Bella. The initial intense flash of visible and ultraviolet light from the instantaneous release of energy that would blind anyone who saw it. Then the rapidly expanding fireball of superheated air that would radiate out from the blast point, vaporising anything in its path. And as if that wasn’t enough there was the radiation, and fallout. Gamma rays from the initial explosion and the resulting radioactive particles, dust and debris.
Everything he could see below him would be gone.
Most if not all of the people dead.
And his family were in the centre of it all.
The helicopter came in to land at a park a couple of roads over from his house. He and Camilla used to take Alex and David to that very place when they were little, to play on the swings and learn to ride a bike. That was before New Mexico and Elizabeth and Bella. It looked very different now. There were two other helicopters set on the grass, next to the carousel which Arthur used to spin a little too fast causing Alex to scream in delight and David to cry out for him to stop. And there were tents and vehicles and lots of people in uniform, with a few brave neighbours watching from the perimeter of the park. Those who’d ventured out from their houses to witness this unusual suburban carnival. Brave enough to ignore warnings of an unexploded world war two bomb, totally unaware of the true nature of the impending doom only two streets away.
As they landed Arthur checked his watch again. Just eighteen minutes until Fitzpatrick’s deadline. Would he detonate if Arthur wasn’t there in time? It didn’t bear thinking about. They were out of the helicopter as soon as it touched down, the rotors barely slowing, and then they were jogging away from the park, guided by a couple of the uniforms, straight onto a waiting jeep. They passed a couple of heavily guarded checkpoints and were ushered through quickly each time before reaching the end of Arthur’s road.
The last time Arthur had been home he’d watched the truck disappear with Bella around this corner where they now stood. What was once empty road was now home to the forward command centre, with more vehicles and tents. They were taken to a large truck with darkened windows and a couple of satellite dishes on the top.
“This is our mobile command vehicle,” explained Ramirez. “We control everything from here.”
The interior was dark, modern and packed with technology. There were multiple screens showing views of Arthur’s road and house. Plus a screen showing the current time and a countdown to Fitzpatrick’s deadline: Twelve minutes and fifteen seconds. There were half a dozen technicians in fatigues, busy with Arthur could only imagine what. And a couple of soldiers standing guard, totally still, fingers on the triggers of the rifles they were holding. Exactly what they were guarding and from whom wasn’t clear. With Ramirez, Arthur and Jacob now inside the place was getting pretty crowded. Ramirez talked to a guy who looked like he might have been in charge. Clearly he wasn’t anymore. She was getting an update on the status, nothing appeared to have changed.
“This the one?” Ramirez pointed to a two-way radio.
The guy nodded.
She picked it up. “Fitzpatrick, this is Ramirez.”
There was a moment’s wait before an answer.
“I wondered when you might join us.” Fitzpatrick sounded tired.
There was a screen with a line on it that exploded into a jumbled mass of peaks and troughs when Fitzpatrick’s spoke, before settling back into a flat line when he fell silent. Underneath this graph there was a stream of data, presumably an analysis of his voice. Arthur could make out scores indicating his emotions, mental state and the veracity of what he was saying. Some kind of speech based polygraph. An operator was studying the results carefully.
“I don’t suppose you’d like to talk to me about what you’re doing?” asked Ramirez.
“Not really.”
The graph danced again in a short burst of patterns. The numbers below fluctuated.
“Any chance you’re going to give up those hostages and walk out of there? It would save us a whole lot of trouble.”
There was a pause, then Fitzpatrick voice came on again.
“Do you have Arthur?”
No such luck.
“Yes he’s with me right now.” Ramirez was looking at Arthur.
“Ok, send him in, alone. Underwear only, no wires. He’s to go straight to the shed, not the house.”
“And then what?”
“Then give us an hour, we’ll talk after that.”
“If I send Arthur in are you going to release his family?”
“Yes.”
Ramirez checked in with the polygraph operator. He gave her a thumbs up. Arthur felt an immediate flood of relief. There was still Bella, but at least his family would be out of there and Jacob could get them to safety
“And do I have your assurance that you won’t detonate the bomb before the hour is up?”
“Yes, you have my word.”
This got a nod and another thumbs up from the operator. Arthur wasn’t so convinced. He’d looked into the science behind polygraphs when he’d first been required to take one. It was hard enough to get an accurate read with all those sensors and the subject in the room with you. From a voice alone, how accurate could it be? Even with all the fancy AI algorithms that were probably powering it. No-one really knew why Fitzpatrick was doing this, or what he was capable of.
“Ok, I’m sending him in.” Ramirez put the radio down and looked at Arthur again. “You’re still ok to do this?”
What choice did he have?
He nodded.
“What does he want with you?” asked Ramirez. “Why an hour, is it significant?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
It probably had something to do with Bella. But what? Fitzpatrick didn’t need him there to detonate her. What else was there? Did he need Arthur to modify her in some way? It was hard to imagine how or why.
“Ok, you’ve got six minutes. Better start undressing.”
Did she mean right here in the command vehicle, in front of everyone? Cleary she did. While Arthur started to undo the buttons of his shirt Ramirez began briefing him.
“We need you to assess the situation, Arthur. Assess Fitzpatrick. What are his intentions, what’s his state of mind? Is he serious about his threat? What’s his motivation? Anything you can learn we can use.”
Arthur’s shirt was off now and he had just got started with his shoes and socks. Ramirez seemed to be waiting for a repone so Arthur nodded that he understood. It didn’t sound like a task he was suited for though, reading people. If it all came down to his ability to assess Fitzpatrick they might all be in trouble.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, Arthur,” added Jacob, clearly sense his unease.
“At some point you may have to make a call about the situation,” continued Ramirez. “A difficult one. We need a code so you can send us a signal, if you get the chance.”
“How can I send you a signal?”
Arthur was in the middle of stripping to his underwear, Fitzpatrick had said no wires. How would they hear him? Ramirez held up the palm of her hand. It looked empty, then Arthur noticed something very small on her palm, something made of clear plastic, like a squashed bead but more pliable.
“It works on vibrations. We won’t be able to hear Fitzpatrick or anything in the room, but it will capture everything you say and transmit it to us.”
Ramirez reached over and pressed it deep into Arthur’s ear, which felt extremely weird as she was doing it and just a little bit strange when she was done. It reminded him of when he’d got a Rice Krispie stuck up his ear when he was little.
“What if Fitzpatrick notices it?”
There was a second screen that now jumped to life with lines and data when Arthur spoke. He was live already.
“I think that’s very unlikely,” replied Ramirez, “but it’s a risk worth taking…”
Arthur wasn’t so sure but she seemed confident, so he carried on removing his clothes.
“… We’ll have three signals.” Ramirez continued. “Signal 1: If you manage to talk Fitzpatrick down or nullify the threat in any way then just say All clear. We’ll know to come in fast but light, we’ll assume the situation is under control.”
Arthur didn’t feel at all comfortable about removing his trousers in front of everyone, especially Ramirez. She probably wouldn’t be bothered, but it still felt awkward.
“Signal two: If Fitzpatrick is no longer able to detonate the bomb, or you think there is a strong chance he can be disabled before detonating the bomb then we need a different signal. Mention Camilla, by name. If we hear her name then we come in fast and heavy with the sole priority of nullifying Fitzpatrick before he can detonate.”
Which meant killing him presumably. Arthur had his trousers around his ankles at this point and was struggling to remove them which made it hard to concentrate. If that was the sole priority for the raid what were the chances that Arthur would be nullified at the same time? It didn’t make signal two a particularly attractive option.
“And Signal three?”
Arthur was down to just pants and vest now, his clothes in a neat pile on the floor next to him. It was chilly in the van and Arthur could feel the goose bumps on his skin. It would be colder outside for sure.
“Signal three: If you believe there’s a risk Fitzpatrick will detonate the bomb but you judge he can’t be mollified then ask to speak to your wife, not by name, use the word ‘wife’ . We’ll know it’s time to take immediate action.”
“Which is?” Jacob had asked before Arthur could.
Ramirez looked uncomfortable for the first time Arthur had met her. “Missile strike,” was her reply.
Which sounded awful, but made sense. The shed, house and everything in the immediate vicinity would be immediately vaporised, including Bella. As long she hadn’t been triggered there would be no nuclear reaction, so no nuclear explosion. There would be some damage from the dispersion of radioactive material but the effect beyond the impact zone would be minimal. The cover story of an unexploded world war two bomb was starting to make a lot of sense.
“How long?” asked Arthur. “Between the signal and the strike?”
“Two to three minutes, depending on how quickly we give the signal this end.”
“That doesn’t give Arthur much time to get away,” said Jacob.
Ramirez didn’t comment.
“I’m not supposed to get away,” said Arthur. “I’m supposed to stay there until the end. Make sure Fitzpatrick doesn’t get a chance to detonate before the missile strikes.”
Fitzpatrick would have no way of knowing what was coming. The signal would seem innocuous. Why wouldn’t Arthur ask to speak to his wife if he got the chance? The missile would be travelling faster than the speed of sound. The impact would happen before the noise of the missile reached them. Arthur would know what was coming though. For those ninety seconds he’d know he was living the last moments of his life.
Ramirez nodded. “It’s a last resort option, Arthur. Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
“Why haven’t you sent in the missile already?” asked Arthur. “Why last resort?”
He was glad they hadn’t blown up his house of course, otherwise his family would be dead. But doing so would ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of other people. Why not go straight to scenario three?
“Were don’t know if Fitzpatrick intends to detonate. The analysis on that is inconclusive. And the missile strike is highly accurate, but not 100% fool proof. There’s a chance, however small, that it will miss.”
Arthur looked over at the display again. Is that what their assessment was based on, voice analysis? That was a hell of a gamble. Ramirez was right of course, no missile system was a hundred percent accurate. But in clear weather, with a visible stationary target and no counter measures it was as close to a hundred percent as it was possible to get. Wouldn’t an immediate missile strike be the safest play? Perhaps not. With the cost of failure so high even the smallest degree of doubt was problematic.
Maybe that wasn’t the whole story though. Ramirez was inscrutable at the best of times. Maybe she was keeping something back. Another factor that weighed the decision in favour of reserving the missile strike as a last resort.
Maybe Ramirez still wanted Bella.
That’s it for Chapter 24, I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. Chapter 25 will be out the same time next week, Friday at 4:00pm UK time.
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