"Black Hoodies Don't Matter" - Millis dropped the fish knife between Shipper's toes where it stuck with a loud THWAK! "Roxanne can handle all the Ryu-Ryu can dish out".

17 min and 31 seconds were left on the ominous counting device panel.

Shipper looked at the 3 foot blade oscillating between his knees. "Ohhh-kaaayyy. Well, let's call Ms. Roxy and the SF boys Team B."
"Team A...?"
"...is us- SEALs. We now have 17 minutes to complete our mission."
"You've performed EOD on a thermonuclear device before, have you?" Millis queried.

"The principle is simple", replied Shipper, dodging the question, "assuming it's your basic Teller-Ulam configuration". He waited for someone to make a joke about what happens when you "assume", but none seemed forthcoming. "The first stage- i.e. the 'thermo" part of 'thermonuclear'- is actually just a small atomic bomb. The energy generated from Stage 1 fission is used to trigger Stage 2, the actual fusion explosion."

"So to neutralize the bomb we just need to defuse the atomic trigger?"

"Exactly! My guess is that it's using conventional explosives to produce the critical mass implosion."

"So we just need to cut a few wires."

"Almost that simple. The trouble is, the primary fuses are designed to go off at exactly the same time, otherwise you risk a 'lop-sided' explosion that just scatters bomb parts. So the fuse circuits are probably powered by condensers."

"So?"

"So the fuse wires must be cut at exactly the same instant. If even one break occurs early, and I mean nanoseconds early, the remaining circuit paths light up instantaneously, and..."

Everyone in the room knew what "and" meant.


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This message has been edited. Last edited by: kkina,

Or so they thought.

"And" he said repeating himself "I'm not getting the deposit on the rental rickshaw back."

"Alright ! If it your basic standard Teller-Ulam device, how many wires will we have to cut simultaneously.... and do you think THIS will do it?" - Roxanne reached up under her kimono into concealment on her other thigh. She retrieved a samurai razor edged meat cleaver.

"I keep this handy to take care of unwanted advances by drunk sailors - I find it very effective"

She gracefully closed her kimono and smiled as her dragon flashed in the morning sun. The counter flashed 14:22:01.

"The SEAL team goes in first to secure the room as best we can. Millis, you're in charge of Roxanne and the guys from Sig Forum. Put this on," he said, handing Millis a headset. "We'll be in constant realtime contact. When I give you the 'go', come in with the cutter. Questions?"

"No questions," answered Millis as the SEALs filed out of the room. He turned to the SF team, "Guys, if you have weapons, now's the time to pull 'em." He had barely finished his sentence before each of them was press-checking their favorite carry gun. It was as impressive a display of personal protection pieces as he'd ever seen.

As they exited one could be heard telling the others. "Those Sig Forums guy's, we got their back."

Millis turned to Roxanne. "Bring your samurai meat cleaver and follow me now." He adjusted his headset mike .... "got a copy?"

Seal Leader responded " 10-4! Now Go!"

The Sig Forum guys followed Millis and Roxanne to the stern and flashed their signal 3 times toward the shore. 4 signals immediately flashed back, and the team slipped overboard into liquid camouflage.

The inside of the hold was dark, and smelled of Death. And fish. Lots of fish. Or so thought Senior Chief Shipper as his squad of six SEALs rappelled down to the bottom deck. He knew they were in here. Ninja. Masters of stealth, against masters of stealth. He struggled somewhat handling both his Stoner 63 and his flashlight, wondering if they'd ever figure out a good way to attach a light to an assault rifle.

Several black-cloaked figures surrounded the container box holding the bomb. Those were the ones he could see; he knew there were more, but time was working against them. Shipper ordered up the "Hush Puppies". In a moment each SEAL now held a Smith and Wesson Mk 22 suppressed 9mm pistol; not only was the weapon silenced, its auto-cycling could be disengaged so there would not even be sound of the slide racking. After several very quiet snicks, the black figures lay lifeless on the deck.

The entry team snaked their way in tight formation until they were standing directly before the device. Shipper ordered his men to continue sweeping the room visually as he removed the main cover-plate. In his periphery he could see the counter reading run past 6:00. A moment later he found what he was looking for- six wires corresponding to the six lensatic charges surrounding the fission core. Gingerly, he pulled them away as far as he could. It was these six wires that would need to be cut simultaneously or Tokyo would have two sunrises that day.

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It was just then that the shuriken struck. What the world would call "throwing stars". They each found their mark, the SEAL's body armour not withstanding. The ninjas' training included targetting the seams and weak points in traditional Samurai armor, a skill directly translatable to modern tactical gear. None of the wounds were fatal, striking only non-vital body targets, but the blade-tips were an efficient delivery method for the specialized doku poison that coated them, designed to be fast-acting rather than lethal. All six members of the tac-team fell immediately to the ground, in various stages of consciousness.

Shipper fought sudden intense nausea and dizziness as the room began spinning. He knew the mission was in danger, and there was only one last card to play. "Millis," he groaned into his headset, "Get your team in here. It's on you, Roxanne, and the Sig guys now."

"Shipper, are you OK?" Millis asked.

"Complete the mission, Captain," Shipper said and went to sleep.

"Shipper? SHIPPER!?"

"Dou shita no?," asked Roxanne. What's wrong?

"We're going in, all of us." Millis looked at the rest of the B Team. "Prep for hot entry."

Three Sig Forum guys preceded Roxanne down the rope to the bottom deck. Roxanne and the rest of the B Team followed. They looked at the device counter in shock.

"Millis, toss down the Samurai Meat Cleaver - Fast! We are at 3:12!"

Shipper rolled over and groaned trying to open his eyes but fell back into deep sleep.

"Heads Up!" Millis yelled. The cleaver flashed downward into the hold as Roxanne carefully moved the six wires into parallel configuration.

"Damn! The surface of the device is totally spherical. We need a cutting board."

One old veteran Sig Forum guy looked at the counter.

The digits flashed 2:01:01. "Hold it Roxi!" Dan exclaimed. "This thing may be more dangerous than we thought!...... This counter is made with Nixie Tubes - WAY OLD technology! I haven't seen one of these since the 60's. Who knows what else is in this thing? - but it definitely may be pretty spooky to deactivate."

"Nixie what?" a young pup Sig Forum member piped up.

"Tubes," was Dan's reply "We use kryton tubes today, but back in the days before the internet, they used tubes. And transistors. You know, electrical stuff."

"Sowhattawedonowyamoron.... we can't cut the wires, and we can't outrun a thermonuclear explosion." Millis yelled.

"EUREKA!" came a disembodied voice from the gloom.

The young pup Sig Forum guy held up a plank pulled from the floating muck and detritus at the bottom of the hold. "We can use THIS for a cutting board!

Roxy questioned " But what about the obsolete design of this thing? Can we still assume that the basic blueprint came from the Teller-Ulam mold? What if this sucker is loaded with bubble gum and duct tape? What if only some of wires must be cut to deactivate it?

Millis pondered..... and lit another Dominican.

"It's simple basic geometry - Six detonators - Six wires. I recall from my Physics 301 class last semester that the primary explosion must be exactly symmetrical and simultaneous to trigger the secondary fission reaction." explained the young pup Sig Forum guy with arms descriptively subscribing a sphere.

"Six equally spaced detonators, six wires equals six perfect simultaneous explosions."
Millis continued to ponder as he twirled the Dominican on his tongue. Roxi held the six wires in perfect parallel alignment.

The Nixie Tubes flashed 1:59:32

"Don't hit the tritium sac," said a voice out of nowhere.
"What? Who said that?" demanded Capt. Millis.
"It'll release radioactive gas." It was Shipper, going in and out of consciousness. "You want everyone in the room to die of cancer in ten years?"

Mills peered down into the device's main cavity. Sure enough, there was a rather delicate-looking foil bag not a half-inch directly under the splayed fuse wires. On it were the familiar yellow-and-black radioactive warning symbols, and the lettering, "DO NOT BREACH".

"It's OK, the cutting board will shield that sac," replied Millis.
"I don't need a cutting board. I just need this." Roxanne fluorished the maguro bōchō knife she'd been carrying with her the whole time, handling it more like a sword than a knife. She was not a newcomer to swordplay. With its 27-inch blade, the bōchō was long enough to cleave through all six fuse wires in a single stroke.

Millis checked the time. "Damn, we talk a lot. 12 seconds left on the clock. It's now or never, Roxy. Don't miss, we're not going to get a second chance."

Roxanne settled her stance and lightly held the big knife in front of her. Inside her head, she heard the voice of her sensei reminding her to "let the sword do all the work".

The weapon swung smoothly above her head, then immediately back down again just as the counter read :01.

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" Damn! I was sweating bullets there for a minute!". Dan smiled and high-fived Roxanne.

"Quiet! - I hear something in my headset" Millis strained to grasp the meaning of the crackling in his earpiece. "I think the SEAL Team is regaining consciousness.

Dan stared back into the blackness of the hold. "Yeah, I see a couple of them stirring."

Millis figited. "That's over, but pardon me - we still need to save my daughter."

"No problem" blurted the Sig Forum young pup. "All we have to do is remove the tritium sack, disable the device, remove the primary detonators, reset the timer, put it all back together and deliver it to the terrorists. They will be none the wiser."

Oh, is that ALL we have to do? Roxanne chimed. She expertly inserted the fish knife into the sash of her kimono. The bright iridescent eye of her dragon tattoo seemed to wink at the young Sig Forum guy.

""""We can "getter done" - The Sig Forum guys have not failed us yet."" Millis interjected. " And...... don't forget, the clock is still running on that rickshaw rental."

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"There's one other detail," said Shipper's now familiar voice, "we'all still have to get out of here, with a few of them hoodies running around, and pissed as hell that they ain't dead."

"Right, those flying knives came from somewhere. What do you propose, Master Chief?"

"It's just Senior Chief, and you just leave that to me and the boys." Shipper addressed his quickly recovering crew, "Mount up for hot extraction."

One of the Sig Forum boys reaches down to retrieve a few of the blades thrown their way.
"Hey, I've got one these back home. Anyone else want this?"

We've got to get the hell outa here! This is no time for a Karma! Grab your Effin gear and... wait, is that damascus steel?

A hushed voice is heard from the back "unlucky number one."

Roxanne slowly picked the throwing star from the Sig Forum boy's hand and inspected it carefuly.

"Here is a news flash guys..... this IS damascus steel! Do you realize the significance of this? This throwing star was made in the Near East...NOT the Far East. Look at the difference."

Roxanne retrieved the Samurai Cleaver from concealment on her thigh....

" See how the edge of the Samurai Cleaver has long wavy lines.... and the throwing star has the very small reticulated dark lines all over it!"

Roxanne's voice lowered and her tempo slowed.

"This throwing star is from the Mediterranean . . . I'll bet my dragon tattoo it is from Persia. This means only one thing gentlemen - we are dealing with different terrorists than we thought."

Shipper's eyes widened as he inspected the star and verified Roxy's proclamation.

Silence fell over the team.

Hushed voice from the back.... "Brilliant deduction Sherlock. Unlucky number two!"