code: private static long timeFromQualifier(final byte[] qualifier, 
        final long base_time) {
      final long offset;
      if (qualifier.length == 3) {
        offset = Bytes.getUnsignedShort(qualifier, 1);
        return (base_time + offset) * 1000;
      } else {
        offset = Bytes.getUnsignedInt(qualifier, 1);
        return (base_time * 1000) + offset;
      }
    }
docs: Returns a timestamp after parsing an annotation qualifier.
  @param qualifier The full qualifier (including prefix) on either 3 or 5 bytes
  @param base_time The base time from the row in seconds
  @return A timestamp in milliseconds
  @since 2.1