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"Because it involves destroying a multibillion-dollar government facility."
One of the SEALs in desert fatigues came jogging down the dock toward Rapp. "What facility?" asked Rapp.
"Mitch, that's the president on the other line. I'm going to have to call you back."
"Don't " The line went dead and Rapp cursed.
"Mr. Rapp?"
It was the SEAL who was now standing next to the boat. Rapp let out a long sigh and said, "Yes?"
"Lieutenant Troy Mathews." The officer stuck out his hand. "General Flood told me to keep you in the loop."
He shook the officer's hand. "What's the status with this thing?" Rapp pointed at the cooler. The two men in space suits were moving a device around the outside of the cooler, pausing every few feet and then moving on.
"That's a portable X-ray machine. They're snapping some photos for us so we know what's inside."
"Lieutenant," one of the men in the space suits yelled. "I'm counting six separate firing systems."
"Six?" the officer asked in a shocked voice.
"Yes, and I think they used plastique for a molded charge. It's covered with at least two dozen blasting caps."
"Six firing systems? You've got to be shitting me." Mathews looked toward the parking lot and shouted, "Mike, I need the drill and the fiber-optic camera right away."
Rapp found none of this comforting. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure." The lieutenant started rolling up his sleeves as he climbed in the boat.
As the lieutenant stepped over the dead bodies Rapp asked, "How long is it going to take you to defuse this bad boy?"
"It all depends on how they're wired, but I can tell you it isn't going to be a cakewalk."
Rapp watched as one of the lieutenant's men ran down the ramp and into the water, where he handed over a cordless drill and a black bag. A hole was carefully drilled through the top of the cooler, and then the pencil-thin camera head was delicately inserted. The lieutenant knelt down over the cooler and watched the small TV screen as his men took several minutes to try and glimpse as much as possible.
Finally, they pulled the camera out and one of them said, "No trip wires, sir. I think it's safe to open."
The lieutenant placed both hands on the top of the cooler and slowly lifted the lid. Rapp stood behind him looking down into the jumbled mass of wires and counted the six separate sets of red numbers. They had fifty-three minutes until the bomb blew.
Rapp swore and then said, "Lieutenant, I need a no bullshit assessment. Can you and your team disarm this thing in less than fifty-three minutes?"
The lieutenant studied the wiring, looking at it from the left and then the right. "I'm not sure."
"Well,I'm not sure isn't going to cut it. You see any altimeter in there, or anything else that would preclude us from putting the device on a helicopter, and getting it farther away from the city?"
"No." Mathews looked at his two men in the space suits. "Guys?"
They both shook their heads.
Another minute ticked off on all six screens and it was Mathews who swore this time.
They'd never make it to the ocean in time. Rapp's hands were suddenly covered in sweat. "Lieutenant Mathews, this is what we're going to do. I want your men to place this cooler in the back of that blue-and-white helicopter sitting in the parking lot."
"I'm going to have to call the Pentagon for an okay on that."
In a very calm, but firm voice, Rapp said, "Lieutenant, we don't have time to argue. While your men are putting the device on the helicopter, you are going to assess your chances of defusing it, and I'm," Rapp held up his phone, "going to call the president and General Flood. If you can't tell me with absolute certainty that you can stop this bomb from going off, the most important next step is to get it as far away from the city as possible."
The lieutenant stared down at the jumble of multicolored wires and then nodded. "Okay it sounds like a reasonable precaution."