Local time – 8:35pm, Sunday 17th June, 2011.
Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Alex watched Henry slide back under the truck. Her mind was jumping between a worry about what they might do if the code didn’t work, and what they would have to do if it did. Neither scenario seemed like a safe one, and there was too much dread inside to her to settle on a preferred outcome. Ahmed also watched on, with a similarly panicky expression, while Alex read out the numbers slowly and clearly for Henry to type in.
‘7… 7… 7… 8. That’s it.’ Alex heard the plastic numbers bleep as they were pressed one by one. When the last number was entered, she held her breath, waiting for something to happen.
After a few seconds of complete and terrifying silence, Henry said, ‘I think that worked.’
‘Really? Why? What do you see?’
She slipped under the truck next to him, too impatient to wait for him to explain. The 12 numbers were still on the screen. Henry pointed to the top left of the plastic box.
‘See this green light. It only came on when I put the last number in.’
‘It might just be showing that the correct number of digits have been entered?’ Alex suggested. There was no obvious ‘enter’ button or anything else to press to see if it worked. Alex stared at the numbers, trying to come to terms with what she was looking at. A code to unlock a nuclear weapon. Yet, all she wanted was know what the little green light meant. When nothing had changed a minute later, Alex and Henry crawled back out.
‘We need your code,’ Alex said to Ahmed. ‘I don’t think anything will happen until the second code is entered.’
‘We’ll know if the second one is correct,’ Ahmed replied.
‘How?’ Henry asked, still not ready to speak to the Pakistani as if they were on the same team.
‘Because the transporter’s doors will unlock.’ Alex realised when he said ‘transporter’ he meant the truck. She had been too scared to touch anything on the vehicle, but now inspected it more closely. There was a door on each side, for the identical cockpits. The doors were made from solid steel and had a square hole where a clasp could be opened. Henry was less nervous about touching it, and gripped the clasp. It was solid, and he couldn’t make it move.
‘Ok. Well it’s definitely locked now. So let’s try your code. Give me your phone.’ Ahmed didn’t move.
‘I won’t help you unless you undo my cuff.’ Alex looked at Henry and he nodded, but she noticed him tighten his grip on his gun. She took the key out of her satchel and unlocked the handcuff. Ahmed’s arm fell down with a thud. He stood up gingerly, flexing his fingers to ease the pins and needles.
‘I will enter my code. It is safest for all of us if none of us has both codes.’ Ahmed sounded slightly more confident now.
‘Ok. But don’t try anything stupid. If you enter the wrong code and we’re locked out, I’ll shoot you.’ Henry’s anger was back. Alex was shocked by the callousness of his threat, and gave him a look that told him so. But she said nothing.
Ahmed was already sliding on his back towards the code box. Alex crouched down and watched him scrolling through his phone. He then held it close to his face, so he could see the numbers on the lit up screen. Carefully, he pressed the buttons on the keypad. Alex counted the twelve bleeps. As soon as the last bleep had sounded, Henry again grabbed the door handle and this time, it clicked downwards in his hand.
Alex’s mouth fell open in shock. They had just successfully unlocked a nuclear missile transporter. Henry was already climbing into the cockpit when Ahmed came out from under the vehicle. He didn’t need to be told his code had worked. The worry and pain was momentarily erased from his face, and Alex again thought how much he looked like a child, but now an excited one.
‘What are we going to do with it?’ he asked, looking only at Alex. Henry jumped back down from the cockpit, holding the gun at Ahmed’s head and said.
‘You’re not doing anything. You’re… ’ Before Alex could think, she stepped in front of Ahmed, so the gun was pointing at her instead.
‘Don’t even think about it.’ She glared at Henry, hoping he recognised how furious she was. There was no way she was going to let him shoot the unarmed and wounded man. Ahmed might have been responsible for the deaths of two of their team, but they killed two of his team. And now he had helped them, they couldn’t just murder him for no other reason than ridding themselves of a problem. She had promised they could move the weapon together.
‘I wasn’t going to shoot him. I was just making sure he knew he wasn’t coming with us.’
‘But he is coming. I said he could. So he’s coming.’
Alex put her hands on her hips and moved even closer to Henry, so the gun was almost touching her. His shoulders slumped and he lowered the gun. He didn’t agree, but he also said nothing when Ahmed went round to the other side of the vehicle and climbed into the cockpit. Alex climbed onto the metal step, ready to pull herself into the other cockpit, when she saw Henry walking towards the Mossad agent on the ground with his gun back out in front of him. She jumped down and followed him towards the man, who lay splayed out on the ground. The bullet wound in his side had bled out to form a large oval shaped stain on the ground.
‘What is it?’ Alex asked.
‘I saw him move. His foot twitched. I’m sure.’
Alex crouched over the man and put her hand on his neck, feeling for a pulse. As soon as she touched him, she could tell he was still alive. Just. His pulse was very faint, but his skin was still warm and she thought she could even feel his chest moving as he breathed.
‘He’s alive. We’ll just leave him. Someone will come eventually.’
‘Ok. But take his phone. We don’t want him coming to and calling the cavalry.’ Henry pointed with his gun. Alex could see the shape of the phone in the man’s jeans. She reached in and pulled it out. Just as she turned to stand up and walk away, the man’s eyes flicked open. They were blood shot and unfocussed, but Alex could see he was looking at her. There was a fury in his look that scared her.
He opened his mouth and sucked air, as if he was struggling to breathe. He was trying to speak, but no sound was coming out. She crouched lower, trying to read his lips, or hear the whispers between the breaths. Henry was walking away, and hadn’t noticed the man was conscious. Alex was about to stand and walk away too, not wanting to speak to him. But then she recognised two words which made her move closer still. ‘Bernie ... destroy.’
‘What did you say?’ She asked. Henry turned when she spoke, and ran back over to her. Before the man could get anything else out, Henry’s last two steps became a short run up. He looked like a footballer launching a ball into the air as he kicked the man hard in the side where he had been shot. A sickening crunch could be heard when Henry’s foot connected with the man’s ribs. Alex jumped back, furious.
‘He was talking to me! He was trying to tell me something!’
‘He was trying to scare you!’ Henry said. ‘He was sent here to get you! Why were you getting so close to him! He might have grabbed you!’
‘He’s half dead! Probably three quarters dead now! You didn’t have to kick him!’
‘Someone has to keep you safe Alex. Let’s go. People might arrive at any time.’ Henry ran back to the vehicle and jumped in the cockpit. Alex followed, looking back at the man whose eyes were closed again. She jumped into Henry’s cockpit, which meant sitting close up against him in a seat designed for one person. But she didn’t mind that.