Max didn’t understand what she was doing, but did as he was told. Not knowing if he was dealing with a corpse or a live body, he lifted Jack beneath the shoulders, taking care not to move his broken arm any more than was necessary. Jack was heavier than he looked. It took him and Lili a couple of attempts to get him off the ground. The kids nearby shuffled across the floor to open up a path towards the back of the dining hall. Lili avoided Max’s gaze as they carried Jack to the back of the hall. After a moment, the general low hubbub returned. ‘Put him right against the back wall,’ Lili said, loud enough for only Max to hear. ‘We can place him so that he covers the cable. That way, they won’t see that you’ve cut it.’

Max had to hand it to her: it was a good idea. At the back of the hall, they laid Jack on the ground so there was only a tiny gap between him and the back wall. Lili stood directly in front of Max, who was still crouching down over Jack. Max understood why: it gave him a moment of camouflage to pull the razor from his back pocket without anybody else seeing.

He pulled out the razor and concealed it in his palm. He could sense Lili walking away from him. He continued to lean over Jack, as if tending to him. He put one finger on his neck and pressed lightly against the jugular, feeling for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. Relief flooded over him. Jack was alive. Barely, maybe, but alive. With his other hand he reached behind the unconscious recruit. He grabbed the two cables, one black and one red. He felt the nape of his neck tingling, as though somebody was watching him. But he knew that was just his anxiety. This was his best chance to cut the cable.

He let the red cable fall and rested the sharp edge of the razor blade against the black cable. He half expected his hands to be trembling, but they were not. All he could do was hope Angel had given him the right information and this was indeed the cable he needed to cut.

‘Now or never,’ he muttered to himself.

He sliced the cable in two.

Nothing happened.

That was good. He didn’t know for sure that he had disabled the IEDs, but at least he hadn’t detonated them. He placed the two ends of the severed cable behind Jack. He made a show of checking Jack’s pulse again. He hoped the unconscious recruit was going to be okay. But he also hoped he didn’t wake up too soon and try to move.

‘We’ll get you out of here, mate,’ he breathed. ‘I promise …’

– What’s happening?