The Bombs in the Great Wall of China
Jerome Chan, Group 3: Fiction, Diocesan Boys' School
im carried his program to his sofa in front of the TV. He switched on the TV and began to watch ‘The
Green Hornet’ after a lot of cable fussing.
His mobile rang very soon after the program began. Jim shook his head and paused the movie.
Then he walked across the room, dropping some popcorn on the way. His mobile rang persistently,
beckoning him to pick it up.
“
Hello?”
“
It’s Eduardo. Ice Cream.” Then Eduardo hung up.
Ice Cream was actually a code name. To the ordinary, it was nonsense. But to them, it translated as
‘
code red emergency’. ‘Them’ was a trio of agents: Eduardo, Jim and Jack, who helped just about anyone to
solve crimes, take down gangsters and more. Jim grabbed a coat and his keys, and then raced to his garage.
Seconds later, a noisy Porsche peeled out. The Porsche was specially commissioned, and it roared away to the
Trio’s meeting place, namely, Eduardo’s home.
“
Sorry, I’m late,” Jim called.
“
Get a faster car,” Jack yelled back.
Jim walked into Eduardo’s study. Two men were already there, one with black hair and a stocky body,
and one with blond hair and freckles.
“
What’s the problem?”
“
We’ve just intercepted a terrorist message to his accomplices that there’s a few bombs in the Great
Wall of China, scheduled to blow up and destroy the whole thing in about 11 hours and 45 minutes, at 10 o'
clock in the morning here, at midnight in China, ” Jack replied.
“
In.”
“
Well, yes. It appears that they’ve broken into the hollow space and placed some bombs in some weak
spots, as well as some crucial architectural points. If they collapse, a considerable amount of wall will be busted.
Oh, and wait,” Eduardo hurried to his computer and played away with the keyboard. Then he rose up suddenly.
“
It seems that they’ve also located some store of treasures and took some jade and gold. They are
stored inside the belly of the Great Wall,” Eduardo announced.
“
What are you all waiting for? Let’s go!” Jim cried.
“
Wait. First things first. We need to find how to get into the hollow, traverse it to find the bombs and
catch the thief. We also need to contact the Chinese government and get some ammo,” said Jack knowledgably.
“
He’s right,” sighed Jim.
"
Would it be possible for us to find the seam and drive our cars inside the great wall?" Eduardo asked.
"
Technically, you could…but no one's ever found that." Jack said.
"
The terrorists found it and we will also. Eduardo, please organize a cargo flight to where the Great
Wall starts. Jack, will you contact the Chinese government? I hear you're fluent in Mandarin. I'll get some
ammo," Jim said and rushed out to Eduardo's weapon store.
"
Wait," Jack said.
"
What?" Jim yelled.
"
The Great Wall is not continuous. It's broken up into little segments," Jack replied.
"
Well then hurry up if we need to search the whole wall!" Jim said.
An hour later, they were all at the airport. They had with them their cars, which were loading onto the
plane, some guns and most wonderful of all, three iPads. The other two listened while Eduardo explained that
this shows the location of the bombs, themselves and the detailed layout of the Great Wall, including depth,
which was shown by colour.
They boarded the plane and sat on a row of chairs.
"
So, we've got everything except fuel, which they'll provide once we land," Eduardo said, "and the
Chinese government said that this plane would wait for us at the end of one segment of the Great Wall. They
also gave us this." He waved the iPad and pointed to some radios.
"
Let's attach the iPads to the cars. How many bombs are there?" Jack asked.
"
Actually, there are good news. Firstly, the terrorists are still trapped inside trying to get out. They will
succeed, but that takes time. And they've only planted the bombs onto some segment called the Xiaoheikou. It's
one of the oldest segments and it's almost 9 kilometers long."
"
It's going to be close. How long does this flight take?" Jim asked.
J