Taking deep breaths and being careful to keep his balance, Ben examined the bomb. There was indeed one big strap, tightly buckled. He worked away at the buckle with his fingertips. It was tight and difficult to loosen, especially as his hands were now trembling with nerves; but after what seemed like ages, he managed it.
A flap of material. He lifted it. And then he saw the panel. The very sight made him sick to his core.
00.01.01
00.01.00
00.00.59
‘RICKI!’ he roared. ‘I’VE GOT THE TIMER. THERE’S LESS THAN A MINUTE LEFT!’ He heard his voice echo across the river.
Less than a minute left…
Less than a minute left…
‘Tell me what you see,’ Ricki barked.
Ben could barely get the words out. ‘A panel,’ he shouted. ‘Red numbers, counting down.’
00.00.48
‘Some kind of dial. And underneath the numbers there’s what looks like… like two batteries. Wires coming from the batteries leading to two terminals on the timer.’
00.00.41
‘I think that’s what’s powering the detonator,’ he screamed. ‘Shall I pull them?’
‘No!’ Ricki’s voice was firm with just a hint of panic. ‘These things are sometimes booby-trapped. If you pull the wires, it could make the whole thing blow…’
‘Then what am I going to do?’
00.00.32
00.00.31
‘Can you see anything else?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Can you get to the underside of the bomb?’
‘No!’ Ben shouted. ‘It’s strapped to Aarya. She can’t move. If I try to roll them, they’ll both go over the side. Ricki, there’s less than twenty seconds to go!’
00.00.19
00.00.18
Silence from the SAS man.
‘Ricki, what am I going to do?’
00.00.11
He felt his fingers twitching towards the wires. ‘What am I going to do?’ he repeated.
‘OK, Ben. You haven’t got any choice. Pull the wires. Now!’
00.00.07
00.00.06
Ben’s blood ran cold. If you pull the wires, it could make the whole thing blow… His fingers and thumbs felt thick and unwieldy. Clumsy. He tried to grab the wires, but his hands were shaking.
‘Ben!’ Aarya wept. ‘What is happening.’
00.00.03
There was no time to reply. His fumbling fingers managed to grab the wires. He closed his eyes, thoughts of booby traps, explosions and mushroom clouds flashing through his mind.
And then he pulled, his eyes clenched shut, his breath held.
Ben didn’t know if it would be the last thing he ever did.
Chapter Twenty-five
Silence.
Ben unclenched his eyes. The bomb was still there. Aarya was still there. He was still there. And the timer panel was blank. He felt a surge of relief. ‘It’s OK, Aarya,’ he whispered. ‘We’ve done it.’ He was almost laughing with relief.
She didn’t reply.
Ricki shouted. ‘Ben, what’s happening!’
‘The timer’s stopped,’ Ben yelled back. ‘I think it’s de-fused. I think we’ve done it.’
‘Can you crawl back?’
Ben turned his attention back to Aarya. ‘Can you hear me?’ He shook her gently. ‘Aarya, can you hear me?’
No response.
‘Something’s wrong with Aarya,’ he shouted. ‘She’s not responding. I can see she’s breathing, but… I think she’s passed out.’
‘Can you crawl back?’ The SAS man repeated his question.
‘I’m not leaving her. What if she gains consciousness and doesn’t realize where she is? What if she topples over the edge?’
A pause.
‘All right, Ben. Stay there. We need air support to winch the bomb up. I’m going back up to where I can get radio contact with Matt, see what we can sort out.’
Ben nodded, even though there was nobody to see him do it.
‘Don’t let the bomb fall, Ben. The impact could… just don’t let it fall, OK?’
‘Right,’ Ben breathed. He clutched Aarya and the bomb firmly. ‘Hurry up,’ he shouted. ‘Aarya needs help.’
Ricki didn’t reply. Ben heard him scrambling away from the cliff edge, and then all was silent once more.
Time stood still. Ben’s whole body had started to shiver — not through cold, but through fear. The bomb might have been de-fused, but he felt that even if he was prepared to leave Aarya, he could never get back along this ledge. Shuffling backwards was too precarious and there was simply not enough room to turn round.
Every now and then he called Aarya’s name. There was still no response and so he held her and the bomb firmly on the ledge. And then he simply waited, trying not to think about the danger he was in.
Ben was alone with his thoughts. He remembered the distress call when they were in the Black Hawk and his blood ran cold. He didn’t know if he was more sickened by the thought of his mother in danger, or by the uncomfortable truth that he had all but forgotten about her in the frenzy of the past few hours. Now the gravity of her situation came crashing in on him again. Every cell in his body wanted to go to her rescue; he wanted to howl with frustration and helplessness that he couldn’t.
‘Come on,’ he whispered to himself. ‘Come on…’
Ben had no idea how long he had been on that ledge when he heard it — the distant beating of a helicopter’s blades. He turned his head and looked down at the river. Sure enough, flying high over the water he saw the silhouette of a chopper pass in front of the moon. The noise grew louder and louder — Ben couldn’t see the outline of the helicopter now, but could sense its bulk as it passed. He restrained the urge to shout, knowing how useless that would be; but then the sound of the rotary blades passed and grew quieter, and he found himself yelling into the void. ‘Here! Over here!’
The helicopter carried on, over the dam and out of sight. Ben cursed. How could they just pass him by? Taking deep breaths, he tried to get a hold of his anger. Losing it wouldn’t serve any purpose up here.
And it was just as he reached that decision that he heard the noise of the chopper once more.
It was returning over the dam, slower this time, and with searchlights beaming from its side. Ben could barely look at them for fear of dazzling himself, but he could see that the beams were focused on the cliff tops and he could well imagine side gunners with their heavy weaponry keeping watch for enemy combatants on the ground. The chopper drew closer; one of the searchlights was moving over the cliff face. It picked out Ben and Aarya, and he had to cover his eyes with one arm as they adjusted to the sudden brightness. He raised his free arm and started to wave.
Suddenly he was aware of movement from Aarya. ‘Stay still,’ he screamed, moving his arms so that he could hold her firmly. His voice was almost lost under the sound of the chopper. ‘Stay still!’
The helicopter performed a couple of fly-pasts, then rose up above the cliff until it was almost directly on top of Ben and Aarya and the two of them were plunged once more into darkness. Thirty seconds passed. A minute. And then, almost magically, Ben saw a figure appear in mid-air by the ledge, suspended only by what looked like a treacherously thin rope.
It was Ricki.
He had something in his hands, a bundle of fabric, rope and metal. Holding them out towards Ben, he yelled, ‘Take these. Don’t drop them.’
Ben stretched out his arm. His fingertips barely reached, but he managed to get some kind of hold on the bundle and pull it towards him. ‘What is it?’ he shouted.
‘Harnesses,’ Ricki replied, his voice hoarse over the noise of the chopper. ‘You both need to wear them. Put them on like pants, then tighten them up. Quickly, Ben — we need to get you out of here.’