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Red Wire Monologue

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“Say again, Control. Should I cut the red or the blue wire?” I wait, cutters poised in mid-air above both. Status reports scroll through my eyeline, but I ignore them. Every previous time I’ve dealt with an Improvised Explosive Device of this design, I’ve cut the red wire. The IEDs look simple — but looks can be deceptive. The terrorists are getting trickier, making up for our superior equipment and training with ever more inventive boobytraps. So doing what worked last time isn’t necessarily a good idea. A gust of wind comes out of the desert, hot and dry, and blows sand over the IED. I use my airbrush to clear it off again. I’ve always been a stickler for a clean work surface, and that’s even truer now. In the midst of the silence, unbidden, the face of my wife, Samara, floats into my mind. It’s the same memory as always. *** …show more content…

I’m scared.” “Don’t be,” I reassured her, gathering her into a hug. Her hair smelled of lilies. “I know what I’m doing.” “It’s not just you I’m worried about,” she said, pulling away a little and staring intently into my eyes. “What about us –- me and the bump, I mean.” She glanced down at her growing waistline. “The insurgents get closer every day.” I put on my game face. “Do you think I’d go to work if I wasn’t entirely happy about security? There’s nothing to worry about, darling. The base is safe. You and baby Belinda can sleep soundly till I get back.” We hadn’t actually agreed on a name for our unborn daughter yet. But after my younger sister Belinda died in the food riots of ’22, I’d vowed to keep her memory alive if I got the chance. I hadn’t convinced Samara yet — she thought it mawkish –- but I was working on her. “Okay,” Samara said. “As long as you’re sure.” She balanced on tiptoes, I bent my knees, we met in the middle and I kissed her

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