I must have dozed off, because Kinch is at the radio next time I look up. I never heard him come back.
"Are things okay?" I ask tentatively, wanting to know if anyone has come up with an idea to save the day while I was sleeping. I can't believe I took a nap while all this is going on.
"No, not really," replies Kinch with a sigh. "The Colonel's laying the groundwork with Klink in preparation for not coming back."
"Is the Colonel really going to die tonight Kinch?" I ask. I hope my tone doesn't show the fear I feel in my heart.
"We can hope and pray that he doesn't," says Kinchloe. "But honestly, it doesn't look good." He shakes his head and breathes deeply. "He doesn't know how much he'll be missed."
"I'm sure he does," I reply. "It's obvious just watching you guys interact how much of a bond – a family – you've formed here."
"He thinks he's replaceable. He's not. He's just as unique and crucial to this team as the rest of us," continues Kinch with a hint of anger in his voice at his CO's apparent lack of common sense. "Perhaps even more than the rest of us," he mutters.
"Yes, but can you honestly picture him ordering one of you to die?"
"He's had to do it before…" trails off Kinchloe.
"Maybe when he was commanding the 504th, but not here," I state firmly. "He's living up to his namesake." At Kinch's confused look, I clarify, "Papa Bear. He's adopted all of you like his kids now and he'll do everything he can to protect you."
Kinch nods unable to speak and clears his throat, as if a lump had formed there at my words.
"So no one's been able to come up with any way to save the Colonel?" I ask.
"Not unless you know how to light dynamite without matches," replies Kinch as he turns back to his radio.
It's quiet for a while as I think over his last words. Light without matches…
"Holy Hanna!" I exclaim as I jump off the cot to head to Carter's lab. Kinch looks at me like I've gone crazy as I look back and smile.
"Maybe I do, Kinch. Maybe I do…"
"Carter!" I call as I enter his lab. His work table is stacked with bundles of TNT for the night's mission. He is quietly taping another bundle together. I can tell he takes pride in his work by the care in how he makes sure the sticks are tight and the tape taut and flat. It's the frown which creases his forehead and tension around his eyes that give away the stress he's under, for he knows who will more than likely fall victim to his labours.
"Carter?" I call again and succeed this time in catching his attention as he looks up to see who has disturbed him.
"Oh hi," he replies absently as he returns to his bundle and finishes it off by neatly snipping the tape. It joins the others in the stack. "Come to help?"
"Noooo, not exactly," I reply, hedging a little. Now that I'm here I am wondering if this idea has any merit whatsoever. But if I don't suggest it, I will forever wonder if my idea might have saved Colonel Hogan's life. "Do you have any potassium permanganate?"
"Why?" he asks with a little concern. "Do you have foot rot?"
"No! Of course not!" I exclaim and then remember the dark purple crystals were used in soldiers' foot baths in the trenches during WWI to prevent fungus like Athlete's Foot. "But do you have any?"
"Yeah, sure, I have a little. There's more in the delousing station stores if you need more," he says, reaching for a bottle about the size of a spice jar.
"Okay, that's a start. Now, do you have any glycerine?" I ask hopefully. If he doesn't, then my idea has just gone up in smoke.
"Of course," replies Carter, reaching for a larger bottle on a different shelf. "What do you need those for?"
"Carter, what happens if you grind up potassium permanganate and add a drop of glycerine?" I ask patiently.
"It ignites," he says with a shrug. Then his eyes widen at the implication. "Holy cats!" he exclaims and I know he's onto my idea. "How'd you think of that?"
"Girl Guides - er, Girl Scouts," I reply, switching to the American form of the world-wide organization. When he looks confused, I explain further, "It's a way I have of doing special fire lighting. I lay the fire with a nest of ground potassium permanganate in the center, and then when it's time for campfire, I tell the Brownies a story about the fairies leaving a magic potion for us to light our fire with. I let them taste the glycerine since it's just a heavy syrup. They think there's no way liquid sugar can light a fire until I pour some onto the crystals and poof! Instant campfire." I laugh at Carter's expression. "They're only 7 and 8."
"That's brilliant!" he says appreciatively. "So what did you have in mind for the dynamite?" he asks.
"Well, I was wondering if we could figure a way to lay the fuse through the ground crystals and then suspend the glycerine over top and somehow have it release onto the potassium after a delay long enough to get clear of the explosion. Do you think it will burn long enough to light a fuse?" I ask seriously having never lit dynamite before. "It lights tinder in a campfire."
"We can try. It's only 1630 so we have a bit of time to experiment," he says and I can almost see the wheels going around in his head coming up with something. "The glycerine is liquid but it's also really thick…"
"Would it go through some loosely woven fabric? Like burlap or cheesecloth?" I ask. "But it would still have to hold it long enough to absorb through, not just drop through the holes. I think cotton would be too tight a weave."
"Maybe, maybe. Let's give it a try…"
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening testing and fine-tuning our home-made bomb timer and because of this, Carter was late getting ready for the mission. Dashing off at the Colonel's bellow, he hurried to get changed and apply shoe polish to his face to blacken his features. He had already loaded five satchels with the dynamite bundles so I carefully carried them to the radio room table. With so many to be placed to gain the cascade effect, everyone on the team was going to help. It was just the Colonel who was going to be the one remaining to light the fuse. At least, so he thought. Carter had other ideas.
The team was gathered and making final preparations. All were dressed in black and grabbed the satchels to sling around their necks and over their shoulders. I slipped into the background as they finished gearing up.
Hogan had Carter go over the basic instructions on how the bundles were to be placed as a refresher and to ensure they would be placed quickly and efficiently. Carter had a rudimentary sketch of the bridge and was pointing out the key locations the sticks were to be placed for maximum effect. Then he pointed to one specific spot on the diagram.
"And this is where the one with the fuse goes," he says, tapping it lightly with a gloved hand. Before he can continue, Hogan breaks in.
"Everyone will be off the bridge before I put that bundle in place," he says, making sure to look each team member in the eye to affirm he will be the one with the fuse.
"No sir, you won't," says Carter as he stands tall and faces his commanding officer.
"Carter we've been over this and it is not open for discussion," replies Hogan. I can see the muscles in his jaw clench. He doesn't like his orders to be questioned.
The rest of the team are in mild shock over Carter standing up against the Colonel. They're exchanging glances and wondering how this is going to play out. Instinctively they know to stay out of the stand-off.
"That was before. You can't do it now," says Carter. "Begging the Colonel's pardon, but you don't have the 'expertise', sir." He throws the Colonel's words back at him and Hogan glares.
"How much 'expertise' is there to lighting a match and starting a fuse?" he demands. The Colonel's voice is getting hard and brittle and Carter realizes he's on thin ice.
"Not much," agrees Carter, "but that's not what's going to happen. Watch, sir," he says as he pulls out a spare piece of fuse, a small dish, and a couple of bottles. Carter opens the first jar and puts some purple salt-like crystals in the dish and then grinds them with a pestle. He then lays the piece of fuse across the crystals. Using an eye dropper, he drops a single drop of liquid from the second bottle onto the dish. A second later flame erupts, causing the team to step back in surprise. The fuse ignites and burns its way down to the end, leaving a trail of ash across the table. "I've created our own chemical timer and respectfully sir, unless you've suddenly gained an immense amount of chemistry knowledge over the course of the afternoon, I'm the one going to be setting the fuse."
I'm grinning from ear to ear, proud of Carter's handling of both the demonstration and Colonel Hogan. This is the 'rabbit out of the hat' everyone's been waiting for someone to come up with. Carter is patiently standing at ease waiting for the Colonel's reaction. I think the Colonel is in shock because his mouth is working but nothing's coming out. The team is definitely stunned, in awe at Little Deer taking on the wrath of their Bear more so than coming up with a viable solution to the situation.
Finally, Hogan seems to connect his brain and his mouth, breaking into a huge grin. "Good work, Carter. Now let's go blow up a bridge."
Carter deflates and flushes crimson, slowly realizing what he said to his commanding officer. He starts to stutter an explanation, then thinks better of it as the others slap him on the back and arms as they pass to head to the emergency exit. Carter moves to follow them, then turns back to look at me.
"Good luck," I say whole-heartedly. "I hope it works."
"Me too," he says with a grin, then turns and disappears down the tunnel.