Time-sensitive

The weather was good and he’d been digging in the garden when he discovered it.

He was getting on in years, but still enjoyed growing his own vegetables. He’d decided to put in a row of carrots and was turning the soil over when his spade hit something metallic. He crouched down to take a closer look. The part of whatever it was he was looking at had a cylindrical shape, with some kind of metal label fixed to it. He brushed soil away to get a better look at it. The small print he couldn’t read, but it had something like a serial number in larger letters. He stood up and considered his best move. It may well be some sort of explosive device. Who should he call? On his list, in the house, he felt sure he’d seen an emergency number. He left everything as it was and went in.

He rang the number and a woman answered. “Hello. What is your emergency?”

He said, “I’m not sure, but I could have uncovered an explosive device in my back garden.”

“I see, just hold on sir and I’ll connect you to the right people that can help you with that.”

He waited for a couple of minutes before a different woman came on. “Hello. I believe you may have found an unexploded device in your back garden. Is that correct, sir?”

“Yes. I think so.”

“Can you describe it for me?”

“Well, I can only see a bit of it, but it does have some sort of serial plate.”

“That’s good. Can you tell me what it says?”

“Only the serial number I’m afraid, if that’s what it is.”

“Can you give me that?”

“Not really, sorry. It’s quite lengthy; and I would have to clean it up a bit to read it properly.”

“No. That is not advisable, sir. It’s best that you don’t touch it at all. I should explain that our bomb disposal expert is out on a job at the moment and I don’t expect him back for some time. The best I can do is pass the available information to him. That will probably give him an idea of what we are dealing with.”

“I see.”

“So, if you can go back to it with pen and paper, take down whatever part of it you can read, then come back to the phone. I’ll wait for you. Do be careful.”

“Look. I do have a mobile phone. I could use it to take a photograph. Would that be best?”

“No, not at all, sir. It’s important that no electronic devices get near it.”

“Understood. Sorry.”

“No problem, sir. I’ll wait.”

He put the phone down, grabbed pen and paper, and went back to the thing. He recorded what he could see and returned to the house.

He picked the phone up. “Are you there?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

“OK. What I’ve got is the first part of the serial number. It read, HXT-9258, this was followed by several more numbers that I couldn’t read.”

“That’ll do fine. I’ll pass that on and call you back.”

Going back into the garden, he stood looking down at the object. He hoped he wasn’t causing a fuss over nothing. After all, he could be looking at some old coffee-making machine; he just didn’t know.

Back inside, the phone rang after a few more minutes.

He picked up. “Hello.”

“Yes. Hello, sir. Those first three letters tells our bomb disposal man what type of bomb it is. Yes. It certainly is a bomb. Now, I have some instructions to pass on. You will need to write this down.”

“OK. I have pen and paper.”

“Good. Firstly, this type is heat sensitive. As it is a sunny day, I have to ask; is it in shade or exposed?”

“Exposed.”

“All right, he suggested you create some shade for it. Maybe an umbrella or anything that will create a shadow. He says that with this type, it can be safely handled, provided you move it slowly and avoid any kind of impact. OK, so far?”

“Well, yes. I suppose so.”

“OK. He says, as you take it out of the ground, turn it over and you’ll find a circular plate at one end. This is held in place by four Philips-head screws. Would you have a screwdriver for that?”

“Yes, I’m sure I have, but… but is it safe to do this?”

“Yes. He told me it’s quite safe to handle the device, providing you follow these instructions.”

“OK, but wouldn’t it be better if I left it alone? He could come here tomorrow and disarm the thing himself.”

After a short pause, she said, “OK. Yes. That would be a reasonable idea, if it weren’t for the fact that this model may be time-sensitive.”

“What does that mean?”

“He says, because it’s been buried and kept relatively cool, the change in temperature, being exposed to heat, means that disarming it as soon as possible becomes necessary.”

“OK. He is the expert, when all’s been said and done. What’s next?”

“Good. When the cover’s off, you’ll see some coloured wires. I’m reading these now to make sure I get it right. There’ll be four wires: green, orange, red and blue. He says to cut the orange wire. He says they are quite thin and any ordinary pair of scissors will do. He also said, try hard not to disturb the blue wire! Have you got all that?”

“I think so. Can I call you back if I need to?”

“No need for that, sir. I’ll stay on the line.”

He stood, silently for a moment, before putting the phone down. A few minutes later, he was using an old deckchair to create some shade. He had a couple of screwdrivers and a pair of scissors. Pulling it out of the ground, gradually, went OK. The plate came off without any trouble. A chill went through him when he saw there were five wires! These were yellow, black, pink and grey.

Back in the house, he relayed this information.

She sounded surprised and said she would call back.

Less than a minute later, she called.

“He says he can get there by mid-morning, tomorrow. He asks if you have anywhere you can stay overnight?”