I really hoped I knew what I was doing. I may have exaggerated my knowledge of the computer parts to Ryan—Carter, that is. It was going to take me awhile to switch around his name in my head. I still couldn’t quite believe they’d given him such a silly alias. It’s what made me so determined to face my fear and examine the weapons. We couldn’t rely on this organization to protect us.

Carter popped off the lid, carefully laying it on the ground next to the box.

I stayed back a little, not because I actually thought it would protect me, but because I didn’t want to needlessly annoy Carter. We were both in a highly stressful situation, and I didn’t mind his insistence on protecting me because it wasn’t out of believing I was weak but something else. He cared. He wanted to keep me safe, and that made him asking me nicely to stay back seem less annoying than it normally would.

“Oh, wow.” The words flowed from Carter’s mouth as soon as he looked inside.

“What?” I joined him by the side, first trying to step on my tippy toes to look in, then jumping, then relenting and allowing Carter to lift me up to look in. “Oh my.”

“That’s one giant bomb.”

“That’s a different one from the drawing.” I had gotten a good look at that one, and this one was double the size.

“Well, from the first drawing.” He pulled out the stack of papers. “I think this is the diagram that matches.” He selected the diagram and handed it to me.

“Ok. This will help.” At least I hoped it would. I searched the paper, grateful when I found what I was looking for. “Ok, there are some things in here I recognize. I’d assumed they were for the processors we were producing, but clearly they had another use.”

“Do you have an idea of how we could take them apart?”

“Maybe. The problem is how can we possibly do this for all the boxes? There are tons on this floor and the level above.”

“Is there anything centralized? Connecting these?”

“Let me see what I can figure out.” I took the roll of diagrams and started to unroll them on the ground. Luckily most of them unrolled easily, only a few of them kept rolling back up on me.

There were over a dozen different diagrams. They were mostly bombs with two missiles. Just looking at the diagrams made me shudder.

“They all use the same centralized automation system. That’s what makes it possible for them to be activated remotely.”

“Activated meaning blown up?” Carter leaned over my shoulder.

“Yes.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.”

“No, but it means we have to figure this out.”

“Is there a way we can deactivate them from here?”

I pointed to a spot on the diagram. “Yes. The chips can be deactivated on site. Of course they will still be bombs though, and could be reactivated once someone else got their hands on them.”

“I have one other idea.” It wasn’t a pretty one, but after flipping through the diagrams and mentally counting up how many bombs were on the boat, I didn’t see much of another choice.

“What can I do?” Carter asked.

“Take out that bomb and set it in front of me.” I didn’t want to touch the thing, but there was no other choice. Deactivating bombs wasn’t in my wheel house, but I had read the research on the remote activation chips these bombs and missiles held. It wasn’t really part of my job description, but when a mid-level manager asked me to read up and write reports I’d done it without question. In the end my inability to say no to work assignments might be the only thing that would save us.

“Are you sure?” Carter hesitated by my side.

“Do you doubt me?”

“Doubt you?” He shook his head. “Not by a long shot.”

“Then you have to trust me on this. I know what this chip is. I thought they were designing them to make it easier for companies to control their computers no matter the workspace they were in, but clearly it was designed for another reason.”

“Ok. Where do you want it?”

“Over there.” I pointed to the biggest open space I’d seen. “Although we should probably move some of these other boxes over more.”

He pushed two of the crates before returning to the open crate and pulling out the bomb. He set down the silver object on the floor as I’d asked him to.

“Something about this is bothering me.” He looked down at the bomb.

“Many things about this are bothering me. What part are you referring to?” I was nervous and anxious, not a good combination.

“Why make chips with this fail safe? They don’t seem like the type to leave open such a worrisome possibility.”

“I don’t know. I wish I had an answer for you. Maybe this will all blow up in our faces, but we have to try.” Then my choice of words hit me. “Not really blow up. Ok, that is a possibility, but that’s not what I meant at all.”

“I know what you mean.” He smiled and made no other comment. I appreciated that he didn’t ask more questions. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”

“I will.” I sat down and crossed my legs. Ok, I could do this. I examined the metal casing. “You wouldn’t happen to have something I could use to open this, do you?”

He kneeled down next to me. “A screwdriver or something?”

“Yes.”

“I have this.” He pulled out one of those Swiss-army knife kind of things. “Will it work?”

“Yes.” I accepted the tool and used the small knife option to unscrew the tiny screws.

I could feel Carter’s breath on my neck as I worked. Normally that would have annoyed me, but instead it kept me relaxed. I needed to do this perfectly. It wasn’t only my life on the line if I somehow set off the bomb. There were lots of other lives on the line if we failed to deactivate these things.

I set aside the metal casing and looked at the myriad of wires and chips inside. I had to get this right. I closed my eyes and pictured all the reports I read. I was right about this. It was the chip with the little green spot on it. The problem was I had no idea what wires needed to be disconnected. I also had no clue what would happen if I tried to take out the chip. There was always a chance the bomb would go off.

“We don’t have to do this.” Carter put a hand on my shoulder. “We can find another way.”

“What other way? We can’t just sit here and wait. No offense, but I don’t have the highest faith your bosses can take care of this.”

“I have to say I agree with you, but that doesn’t mean I want you putting yourself at risk.” He removed his hand, and I immediately missed his touch.

“I’m already at risk.” There was no sense pretending. “Don’t pretend otherwise.”

“Do you want me to disconnect the wires? You can wait on the top deck. It might not reach—”

I cut him off. “Oh, so the magical weapon isn’t going to reach me on the top deck? Come on, it would blow up the rest of these boxes… hey, earlier you said we can’t dump these boxes because we wouldn’t find out who wants them, but what if that’s our only choice? We can’t let these weapons fall into the wrong hands.”

“Whoa.” Carter shook his head. “I know where your mind is going. We can’t do that.”

“Can’t because it isn’t what your bosses want? Come on, destroying these weapons is the most important thing.” I was right, and he knew it.

“We can’t because you have to survive.”

“What if we could get off the boat first?” An idea was forming.

“How? Someone has to set off the bomb.”

“Not necessarily. Can I see that diagram again for the really large bomb? The one twice the size of this one?”

“Sure.” He flipped through the rolled up papers and flattened the one I wanted in front of us. “Yes!” Excitement flooded me. “See that?” I pointed to a dark black section on the bottom of the bomb.

“I see it. What is that?”

“A timer. We can set it. Blow everything up here in the middle of the ocean where they can’t hurt anyone.”

“How long can we set the timer for? How can we get away from the boat before it goes off?” He asked question after question, but he didn’t argue.

“A lifeboat. I saw one up on the top deck. We’d take Matheson and that captain too.”

“Ok, and what happens when our enemies show up? We fight them while on a life boat?”

“Your bosses are supposed to get here as back up anyway. We don’t have to be here.”

“I do. That’s part of the mission.” His expression turned serious. “I can’t just abandon ship.”

“Then screw the mission.” I jumped to my feet. “I’d like to live, and I’d like you to live too. I’d even like to see you when this is all over.”

His face relaxed. “I’d like to see you too, but that’s going to be hard if we let these lunatics go and don’t find out who they really are. Besides, I don’t know what my bosses are going to do.”

“You may have a point with the first one, but the second is a joke. Your bosses try to mess with you, and I’ll take care of them.”

“Feeling feisty huh?” He grinned.

“I’m not willing to sacrifice my life and yours for this.” I was right, and I wasn’t backing down. “Let’s find Matheson. He might know a faster way to find the bomb we need.”

“All right. I can’t promise he’s going to like it.”

“Then he can stay on the boat and blow up for all I care. Even if I manage to take the chip out of one bomb, do you realize how long it’s going to take me to do the others? This is our best course of action.”

“I hate that you’re right.”

“Why? Don’t like a girl calling the shots?” I put a hand on my hip.

“No. I don’t like that we have to do this. Stop trying to make me out to be a sexist pig.”

“I’ll try not to. It’s a habit.” I was so burnt after what the Wellingtons did; it was hard to remember that so far Carter had done nothing but help me. “Ok, let’s go talk to Matheson.”

“You’re the one who’s going to tell him.” Carter rubbed the back of his neck.

“Why me?”

“Because if I were him I’d have a far easier time listening to you than me.”

“Works for me.” I eyed the bomb on the floor. I couldn’t believe I’d be opening another one. I led the way up both sets of metal stairs. I wasn’t worried about making noise this time, and before long we reached the door to the pilots room.

I knocked.

Matheson pulled the door open. “Back so soon?”

“We need to destroy these bombs,” I spilled out.

“I was wondering when you were going to figure that out. I would have suggested it myself, but this isn’t my mission. The doc’s partner made it clear he appreciated the help, but this is your business.”

“He’s not a doctor.”

“I know, but I either call him that or I call him kid.”

“Doc works.” Carter met my eye. “Hope is right. This is the only course of action. If the Rangers are coming, it shouldn’t matter. We have to be getting close to the new drop site. The buyers should be somewhere in the area. This way we can make sure the weapons don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“I assume we’ll be off the boat when you blow them up? Want to take this louse with us?” He pointed a thumb back inside the room to the tied-up captain.

“Yes, he may prove useful later.” Carter glanced at me as if to make sure I agreed.

I nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

Matheson smiled. “Good. What do you need before we go?”

“I need to find this bomb.” I unrolled the diagram.

“Got it. I know exactly where it is.”

“Great. Let’s find it. While I work you guys need to collect supplies.” It felt good to take charge. I had no room in my busy head to doubt myself. “We may not get picked up for awhile. As I told Carter, I’m not putting my trust in anyone outside of us.” I pushed away the idle question swirling through my mind: was I making the right decision?