Unexploded Love

by Paul Gait

‘I’m not having an affair,’ she said, backing away from him, fearful that he might hit her again.

  ‘It’s a fun, meaningless relationship. It helps to break the monotony of my life waiting for you…to come home,’ she shouted back. ‘You don’t know what it’s like living with the apprehension when we hear of another explosion in Afghanistan. Is it you? Will there be a knock on my door? Will you be coming home? Look at poor Pete.’

  ‘Don’t you dare drag Pete into this…’ he shouted. ‘This sordid affair you’ve been having.’ His voice became emotional. ‘Pete was a great man. Not like this pathetic creature who preys on gullible service wives.’

  ‘I’m sorry…I know how much…how much Pete meant to you. I feel sorry for his family.’

  ‘He didn’t have a family. He unselfishly decided that he shouldn’t expose his family to any bad outcomes of his job…so he never got married. Perhaps I should have done the same,’ William said vehemently.

  ‘No, don’t say that. We’ve had some wonderful times. I have always been there for you.’

  ‘Have you? I wonder what else you’ve been up to when I’ve been away on other tours.’

  ‘I HAVE been faithful, I promise you,’ Liz said defiantly, stamping her foot to emphasise her honesty.

  ‘Really! So this affair with this Frank is being faithful is it?’ he questioned her in disbelief.

  ‘It isn’t what you think. It’s his birthday and…’

  ‘And our anniversary dinner!’

  ‘Well I’m glad you remembered it last,’ she said cynically. ‘Anyway, I didn’t know you’d made arrangements to go out did I? You had a face as long as a kite when I left for work.’

  ‘What do you expect me to believe? I’ve just come home after a gruelling tour and it’s pretty clear you don’t want to spend time with me anyway.’

  ‘No that’s not true. You were the one who didn’t want my company. Look at the drive home…not a word. Since you’ve been here, any conversation was like ‘getting blood out of a stone’.’

  ‘Shit, you know why I was like that. I’ve already told you. A person can only put a veneer on for a certain amount of time before the stress gets to you. I was stressed out.’

  ‘Yes I know. I had to be brave too. Especially when you were defusing bombs here in the UK. It was even worse when you went to Afghanistan. You were not only in danger of being blown up but also of being shot…I hated that and I’m glad you’re back home in one piece.’

  ‘Anyway, this isn’t about me.’ William reminded her. ‘This is about you and your triste…your so called harmless fling.’

  ‘What have I got to do to persuade you…nothing is going on,’ she insisted.

  ‘And what about meeting him tonight at 7:30? So it was him and not me then?’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous I…it was….’

  Just then their home telephone rang. It stopped their argument. They looked at each other wondering who would answer it.

  William glared at her and strode purposefully to the phone.

  ‘If this is ‘your’ Frank,’ he said, picking up the receiver, ‘then I shall give him a piece of my mind.’ William glanced briefly at the calling number display it showed ‘number withheld’.

  ‘Yes.’ he answered stiffly.

  William listened for a few moments finally saying, ‘OK. Yes of course. Repeat the location again,’ he requested, and scribbled something on a notepad that Liz kept by the phone, ‘I’ll be there in about 30 minutes max.’ He replaced the receiver.

  Liz had been studying his face for any signs of who the caller might be and wondering what the message was about.

  ‘Well, I’m back on duty. I’ve been called out. I’m standing in for the local EOD team. Apparently there’s an incident around here. So we’ll carry on this discussion later,’ William hissed, and strode to the bedroom, appearing a few minutes later in his uniform.

  ‘Are you sure that’s wise in your state of mind?’ she queried.

  ‘Yes of course. I’m a professional soldier,’ he said checking his uniform in the mirror.

  ‘Pity you’re not a professional husband,’ Liz said quietly.

  ‘What do you mean by that?’ He turned and glared at her.

  ‘I don’t need to elaborate. I think you know,’ she added, returning his look.

  ‘It’s not me having the affair is it?’ he hissed. ‘Is that why you need to justify it? Do you feel guilty about it?’

  ‘No but ….’

  ‘Well you bloody well should be. If I…’ he stopped himself saying anything else. For although he was tempted to plant the seeds of guilt on her should things go wrong, this was not right.

  To do so would be to introduce a negative attitude to his work and court possible failure. A deadly cocktail. He always approached a job with a ‘can do’ attitude and so far it had worked.

  ‘I need your car,’ he added curtly.

  ‘Yes, yes that’s fine. The keys are over there,’ she said pointing at the windowsill. ‘Are you sure you should be going after all you were saying about your nerves?

  ‘Oh so now you think about me do you? Yes of course. I have a job to do.’

  ‘Just be…be careful,’ Liz whispered miserably.

  William grabbed the car keys and left, angrily slamming the door.

  Liz picked up her mobile and studied the latest message ‘Joe?’ she said to herself. ‘That’s not the Landlords name. I’d better call George and see what this is about.’

  PART THREE

  Detonation

  CHAPTER 28

  By the time William arrived at the site, he was calm and in work mode. Years of practising Tai Chi had provided him with the ability to shut out the problems of the world and restore his inner calm. Their row had been locked away in a corner of his mind and he was now fully focussed on the job in hand.

  Quickly he made his way to the Fire Chief wearing the white tabard bearing the words ‘Incident Commander’.

  After cursory introductions, William repeated what he’d been told on the phone. ‘I understand we have a man trapped in a collapsed hole next to a suspected world war two ordnance. Is that correct?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How is the casualty?’

  ‘Ok at the moment. We’ve got an air supply going down to him and he sounds in reasonable spirits.’

  ‘OK. Before my team get here, tell me what’s in place.’

  ‘The police have set up a five hundred metre cordon and evacuated the nearest row of houses,’ the Fire chief advised him.

  ‘Good.’

  ‘We have communications with the man and an infrared camera which is currently stuck on his shoulder.’

  ‘So you’ve not been able to see the suspected bomb yet?’

  ‘No, that’s right.’

  ‘Well, we’re going to have to dig a blast wall around the excavation.’

  ‘There’s a JCB on site.’

  ‘Good news. Our armoured one is on the way but we could do with getting it done as soon as possible though. Have we got keys?’

  ‘Yes and a driver.’

  ‘Right. Lets have words with him and get that underway.’

  The pair walked over to Joe, who was pacing backwards and forwards constantly checking his watch. ‘Christ, can’t they get here any faster?’ he’d demanded anxiously.

  ‘Hi, this is Joe the owner of the JCB. Joe this is Captain Witherton EOD.’ The incident commander introduced.

  ‘EOD?’ Joe asked, puzzled.

  ‘Explosive Ordnance Disposal,’ William informed him.

  ‘God, are you the only one coming?’

  ‘No, my team are on their way. In the meantime, we need to put up some protection before we start even contemplating doing anything in the hole.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘Building a four foot high mud wall all around it to divert the blast when we blow it up.’

  ‘Blow it up! Christ I hope you get Frank out before you do.’

  ‘Of course
, we’ll do our best.’

  ‘OK. Well, I’ll do the wall. I can do that.’ Joe said just wanting to occupy himself. ‘Just tell me where you want it?’

  ‘Fraid I can’t allow you to do that. It’s far too dangerous if the bomb goes off prematurely.’

  ‘For Chrissake. He’s my mate. I need to be doing something. This waiting is driving me around the bend.’

  William thought of the options and agreed, ‘Ok, I suppose you could start before our armoured one arrives. You realise you’re doing it at your own risk?’

  ‘Yes, OK. No problem,’ Joe confirmed quickly. ‘Anyway how long before your own arrives?’

  ‘It’s coming with a police escort I’d say about another 45 minutes.’

  ‘Christ, I’ll have the job done by then. Just show me where you want it and I’ll get on it.’

  William showed him the extent of the area he needed.

  ‘So when are you going to get my mate out?’

  ‘We need to reassess the situation first.’

  ‘Reassess the situation! And what more do you need to know? There’s a bleedin great big bomb down there.’

  ‘Calm down. This isn’t helping.’

  ‘Calm down, calm down…don’t you tell me to calm down. My mate is either going to suffocate or be blown sky high any minute and you tell me to calm down…for Chrissake. How can anybody remain calm?’

  ‘Sorry, I appreciate your frustration but we need to ensure that we don’t jeopardise the rescue effort and…’

  ‘For fuck’s sake just do something.’ Joe climbed in to the JCB and started building the wall around the hole as directed just as the bomb squad arrived.

  William quickly briefed them about the situation and as one of the team went to relieve Joe of his digging duties, William and his number two Smithy, went to the monitor screen which the Fire and Rescue team had already set up.

  Joe reluctantly climbed down from the JCB and let the army man take over the digging duties.

  ‘Why the hell didn’t they fly here? Surely a helicopter would have been quicker?’ he asked the Incident Commander.

  ‘They reckon by the time they’d transferred their equipment into a helicopter they’d be here anyway. Apparently it’s a relatively short distance. Same time, no advantage,’ the Fire chief advised him.

  ‘If you say so,’ Joe said, unconvinced. ‘So what are you going to do now?’

  ‘We need to work with the EOD team and they’ll let us know what they want us to do.’

  ‘Well, while you’re looking after your own ass, my partner is playing nurse maid to a ton of explosives,’ Joe continued, irritated by the delay.

  ‘Just calm down. You getting up tight isn’t going to help your mate,’ the Fire chief coaxed calmly.

  ‘Well you don’t appear to be.’

  ‘The longer we spend talking to you, the less time we have to do anything for your partner. Now unless you calm down, I’m going to get the police to escort you off site.’

  ‘I …Jesus…OK, but please do something,’ Joe said, exasperated by the delay.

  ‘I repeat, we’ll have to wait for the Bomb Squad to tell me what they have found…Where are you going?’

  ‘I’m going to talk to them myself.’

  Joe made his way to the monitor screen where the bomb disposal team were talking to Frank.

  ‘Can you at least tell me what’s going on?’ Joe demanded from William.

  ‘Hello. Well we’ve established that it is likely to be a bomb.’

  ‘As if we didn’t already know that.’ Joe added cynically.

  Ignoring his cynicism, William continued, ‘it’s not ticking at the moment.’

  ‘So what does that mean?’ Joe demanded irritably.

  ‘It means just that, it’s not ticking. There’s no way of knowing how much time the detonator has used up…It’s like an old watch. You shake it and it will start again but you don’t know how long it will go before it stops.’

  ‘You mean it could go up any moment?

  ‘Yes, and it’s only a short time I’d imagine.’

  ‘Shit! The guy has been down there for hours now. Can’t you move faster? Joe implored.

  ‘It’s no good rushing into this…it ain’t going to go away. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get my team to start getting the equipment deployed.’

  ‘Do you mind if I speak to my mate please?’ Joe asked.

  ‘No, go ahead. You’ll need to put the headset on though.’

  ‘Ok, thanks.’ Joe did as directed and spoke quietly into the headset microphone. ‘Frank, can you hear me?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said wearily. ‘Is that you Joe? What’s keeping the buggers?’

  ‘They’re building a bit of a mud wall using your JCB.’

  ‘A wall, whatever for? Tell ‘em to be careful with my JCB,’ Frank interrupted. ‘… it ain’t paid for yet.’

  ‘I’m sure they know what they’re doing.’

  ‘Why would they want to dig a wall for Chrissake? Why aren’t they getting the shit off me to get me out?’

  ‘It’s a precaution.’

  ‘Precaution for what?’

  Joe wished he’d never started the conversation. ‘In case…in case after… they’ve got you out and…they have to blow the bomb up in situ,’ he lied.

  ‘Well so long as they don’t blow it up with me next to it.’

  Joe swallowed hard at the thought.

  William re-joined Joe and picked up a second headset.

  ‘Hi Frank. My name is William I am the Ammunition Technical Officer with EOD and I am responsible for defusing your friend down there. However, first I need to try and find out some more about the bomb. What does it look like?

  ‘It’s too dark down here, I can’t see anything, apart from my life rushing in front of my eyes.’

  ‘Are you able to move?’

  ‘A bit. The ladder stopped a lot of shit falling in on me. It’s created a bit of a void underneath me.’

  ‘OK. Well we’ll pass a light down so you can see better…and we’ll start gently moving some dirt out of the hole by hand.’

  ‘About bloody time too,’ Frank said, relieved.

  ‘We can’t rush these things, I’m sorry…’William apologised. ‘The next thing is figuring out how we can start clearing the mud without putting more pressure on the pile.’

  ‘What about using the bucket of the JCB?’ Joe suggested.

  ‘No, my guys are using it to build the wall. We’ve got a special harness that we can suspend somebody from the boom of the Rescue unit or a tripod.’

  ‘How long then?’ Frank asked hopefully.

  ‘Soon…The trouble is I’m told the side of the hole keeps collapsing…’

  ‘Yes, it’s pretty unstable as I found out to my cost.’

  ‘We’ve got to move the tender closer or we set up a tripod so we can suspend one of our team over the top to start removing some of the earth.’

  ‘The tripod sounds a safer bet,’ Frank agreed. ‘I’ve got all the mud I want down here without adding to it and having a fire tender for company.’

  ‘So what we’re going to do is pass a light down to you so you can see and hopefully feed information about the bomb back to us. But first we need to make some space for the light to go down.’

  ‘I’ll need to dig some more space around me so I can move my head and see it then.’

  ‘OK, be very careful. We don’t want to excite your companion.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I shall be extremely careful.’

  ‘We need to identify the bomb and what sort of fuse it’s got as soon as possible.’

  ‘OK. But it’s pretty tight down here.’

  ‘We’re also checking the bomb records to see if we can narrow it down that way. Remember. Any fall of mud at the wrong time and we’d all be scattered across the site.’

  ‘Tell me something I didn’t know.’

  CHAPTER 29

  The team on the surface were working frantically to g
et everything in place to make a safe rescue attempt, but for Frank the time dragged on with no visibility of progress and no change to his dreadful situation.

  ‘What’s keeping you buggers?’ Frank groaned.

  ‘Sorry Frank. We’re just getting the tripod in place and suspending the boss over the hole,’ Smithy informed him.

  ‘I’ve had enough now. Just get me out of here.’

  ‘Yes, I appreciate that. Just hang in there. We’ve moved some more dirt from around the ladder and hopefully we’ll be able to get a light down to you.’

  William’s voice broke in to the link. ‘Hi guys can you hear me?’

  ‘Yes,’ they chorused.

  ‘Right Frank. Tell me when you see the light…and I’m not talking about religion here.’

  ‘Steady on. That sounds like the mud falling on ‘sleeping beauty’ here.’ Frank cautioned.

  ‘OK. Steady as she goes.’

  The EOD officer continued to thread the flexi cable with a new camera and light down towards Frank.

  ‘Should be down now, can you see it?’ he asked, his voice slightly strangulated by the harness suspending him.

  ‘I saw the light to start off with, but it’s gone off. Is it still switched on?’

  ‘Yes. It’s obviously gone the wrong way. I’ll pull it back and try again…damn.’

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Don’t worry. It’s stuck for a second.’

  Another small avalanche cascaded down rattling off the bomb’s metal casing.

  ‘Well done. You’ve started the bomb ticking,’ Frank informed him sarcastically.’ Christ they called me a clock watcher but I didn’t think the alarm would be quite so big.’

  ‘Sorry pardon. Ah that’s got it,’ William said, pulling the jammed cable free.

  ‘Aren’t you going to retire to the safety of your shelter?’ Frank asked cautiously, hoping that the rescue was not going to be postponed yet again.

  ‘No Frank, I think we’re in this together. Tell me when it stops ticking,’ he said calmly.

  ‘Thanks Pal, whoever you are, for not deserting me.’

  ‘That’s my job. Although I’m sure being suspended like a puppet on a string wasn’t in my job description.’

  ‘What if I bang it?’ Frank asked.’ Perhaps it’ll stop then.’