Chapter 8 - The Wire
I stared at the glowing red numbers ticking backward on the explosive device.
My entire body went completely numb with terror.
I frantically searched the unconscious saboteur's pockets and found a small two-way radio.
I pressed the call button and prayed that someone would answer.
"Mom, can you hear me?" I whispered urgently into the radio.
Static hissed for a few agonizing seconds before her weak voice came through the speaker.
"Alex, are you okay?" she asked, coughing heavily between words.
"I knocked the guy out, but he strapped a bomb to the main flight computer," I explained in a panic.
I heard her take a sharp, jagged breath over the radio.
"You have to describe the device to me exactly as you see it," she instructed with unwavering focus.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and leaned closer to the terrifying gray block.
"There is a digital timer showing eight minutes, a blue wire, a yellow wire, and two red wires," I said.
"Do not touch the red wires under any circumstances," she warned immediately.
"Those are tamper triggers designed to detonate the charge instantly if they are moved."
The plane shuddered violently, indicating we were hitting a pocket of severe turbulence.
I grabbed a handhold to keep from falling into the explosive device.
"What do I do, Mom?" I pleaded, tears finally brimming in my eyes.
"You need to find the power source connecting the timer to the blasting cap," she explained calmly.
I carefully traced the yellow wire back to a small battery pack hidden behind the server rack.
"I see the battery pack," I confirmed.
"You must cut the yellow wire, but you have to sever it cleanly in one motion," she said.
I frantically searched the floor and found a pair of heavy wire cutters in the saboteur's dropped tool bag.
I carefully positioned the sharp jaws of the cutters around the thin yellow wire.
My hands were shaking so violently that I could barely hold the tool steady.
"I cannot do this," I whispered, terrified of making a mistake.
"Yes, you can, Alex," she replied with absolute certainty.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and squeezed the handles of the wire cutters with all my might.
A sharp snap echoed in the small space.
May you like
I opened my eyes and looked at the digital timer.
The glowing red numbers had stopped completely at three minutes and twelve seconds.
