The Square

Gerald took a look in the van. Not to steal – it was too close to his doorstep, just to know more about the two guys. Maybe it was cigarettes, booze or maybe even drugs?

He climbed over the low wall and edged to the back of the van; whose doors were still open. He felt the adrenalin as he peered around the rear doors and spotted two aluminium briefcases in the whole rear compartment.

Next, he slipped onto the back flooring of the van. He reached towards the nearest case and flicked the lock. To his surprise, the little silver clasp pinged upward. Then he tried the second clasp. The same thing happened. He could open the case.

Gerald looked around and listened. He could hear his breathing sounded loud in the back of the van. Gerald was used to the area around the squat and the noises of people moving.

He could tell if anyone was close by. No sounds. He stood a little further back from the case – now at arm’s length and then, carefully, he raised its lid.

Envelopes – the case contained envelopes. Not slim white ones, but thick orange-brown padded bags. He estimated there were about ten in the case. So he slipped one into his raincoat, hurriedly closed the case and made his way back to his own side of the wall.                                                                                                                                                                                           

He could hear his blood pumping in his head as he squatted down. He had taken a risk with these two guys. They were better fed and fitter than him. If they wanted to hurt him, it would be easy for them.

Gerald decided he would go further away before he opened the envelope. He did not want to be caught red-handed. Instead, he would go to another spot, just along the road. Not good as the squat, but a great hide-away. He crept out of his part of the squat and started walking along the road. He knew he was a well-known sighting in the area, so if he behaved then no-one would think anything of it.

Ten minutes later he was in his other hideaway. He pulled the envelope from his pocket. It was about the size of a half sheet of office paper. He fingered the top where it was sealed. There was nothing special about the way it had been closed.

He opened it in a way that would allow him to re-seal it if needed. This took a couple of minutes, and at the end he could pull the flap open with no tears or creases in the envelope.

He peered inside. There was a small metal container inside. It looked like it was made of machined steel, and had a rather unusual clasp at the top, which looked as if it needed a special machine to open it. He felt the weight in his hand. For its size, it was heavy, and he assumed the metal was thick. There was a small glass bulge at the top, like an indicator light, although it was not switched on. He wondered what would happen if he pressed it like a button but thought better of it.

He noticed some small writing. A serial number and the inscription “вольфрам” on the bottom of the container. He decided it was Russian but was too difficult to decipher.

 Then, on the side of the container, he noticed another small inscription. It was a symbol and a number 4. He recognised the symbol from back when he played school-time computer games. It was just like the logo for a game called Bioshock.

Gerald lost his nerve to delve any further with the container. It looked expensive, well-machined and indestructible. He wondered if the glass button was a control. Would it unlock the container, or worse, would it arm it?