The Detonator by Vincent Zandri

Author:Vincent Zandri [Zandri, Vincent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Polis Books
Published: 2018-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

I finger the controller, shifting the joystick back and forth, thumbing the action triggers. But there’s no response. It’s as if Rob suddenly ran out of batteries.

“How much we pay for this junk, Ted? Over.”

“It was a secondhand model, remember? Over.”

“Fucking garage sale.”

“It’s Albany, Ike. Money’s tight. So they tell me.”

Time check. One minute, forty seconds. Pressing the radio transmitter.

“No time,” I transmit. “I’m going in on my own.”

“I don’t have to tell you to be careful. Over.”

And I don’t have to see Ted’s hands to know they’re shaking.

My breath warm and stale inside the oversized helmet, my soundtrack is the thump, thump, thump of pulse pulsating, drumming. Some blast suits are equipped with a digitally enhanced sight device which allows for a close-up examination of an IED from a relatively long distance. But due to the aforementioned APD budget constraints, I must rely only on my eyes. The APD paid me for my six months of Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) and Public Safety Bomb Disposal (PSBD) which resulted in my being fully certified for both. But in terms of equipment, I’m a hurting unit. I don’t have access to portable X-ray systems, projected water disrupters, or a laser ordinance neutralization system. I do, however, enjoy the use of one slightly used and therefore inexpensive portable bomb containment chamber, numerous disruption charges which I prefer not to utilize (what’s the point of planting an unstable bomb on top of another unstable bomb?), and even the use of a good old-fashioned shotgun if worse comes to worst.

I pull the pliers from my utility belt and, despite the cumbersome suit, speed-walk my way across the street to the mailbox. The judge is looking up at me, his eyes bloodshot and full of panic. He’s shouting but the gag is doing its job, making his words indiscernible. I could remove it, but better that he’s not screaming in my ear while I try to defuse this bomb before we run out of time.

Maybe the bomb material itself is something new, if not out of this world. But the setup is a classic timed IED. There are two wires connecting the timer to the fuse, which in turn is connected to the interior of the little pipe. Inside the pipe you’ll more than likely find a detonator, a battery, and an explosive that may turn out to be of the thermite or super nano-thermite variety. Something I and Rob the Robot have never before encountered. Unlike my previous occupation, the problem with bomb disposal is this: if at first I don’t succeed and this sucker detonates in my face, I don’t get to try, try again.

I examine the two wires leading into the e-Go pipe bomb.

This isn’t like the movies. The wires are not color coded. There’s no red wire and blue wire. The wires are both coated with black plastic and one of them is connected to the battery, the other to the detonator. The odds here are not fifty/fifty. There is no right or wrong wire to cut.

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