The Black

by Neil Mosspark

  For a moment Dave wondered how productive they would have been if they had used the soldiers in the first place. The multinational effort had spent a decade arguing over which nationality of imported workers to use, based upon who was contributing more funding. These soldiers weren’t miners, but they worked harder than most of the men he had employed before.

  Dave dropped into the opening and began the now extended walk toward the newly cleared area. The reinforcing that they had set up was doing its job. A few dents in the ceiling indicated rock falls that had been prevented. He kept his glow stick up, checking the beams for cracks of buckling.

  At the farther end, he could see that the ceiling was open, wider. Some material had dropped to the floor. He walked forward, eying it suspiciously. Dave lifted his spray can and painted the area of concern before continuing down the tunnel. He knew that the follow-up crew would build safety structures for the team. There were still little bits of blue tarp scattered on the floor. Torn into little pieces. The stone had not been kind to it. It perplexed him. What had they been setting up that they needed to cover with a tarp? Tunnels were dusty, but this was too small to need to cover equipment. Whatever was being covered should have been in the way.

  His eye caught the familiar purple colour change in the stone.

  Holding the glow light up, he leaned in close to the wall. A straight vertical line delineated the sedimentary rock on the “city side” of the tunnel and a darker brown or purple-tinted rock at this far end. Leaning in closer his light, he could see that it was a clean vertical line. All the way around from the top to the bottom on both sides.

  It wasn’t sedimentary either. It was almost an aggregate, made up of compacted smaller stones compressed together like sandstone.

  Perplexed, he wandered back out to the main cavern. They had been clearing material for days, and Tony was only mildly pleased with the progression. The fact that around-the-clock-work was being done didn’t seem to satisfy the man. Despite Dave’s request to slow the digging, Tony was only concerned that they were not moving quickly enough.

  “Sergeant,” Dave called out, climbing the ladder, “we need a runner to go back up and deliver a message for us.”

  She pointed at someone, tapped her head, and a fresh-faced private appeared, notepad in hand.

  Dave handed the private two stones, one grey the other the new brown/purple aggregate, “Tell Tony that the colour of the stone has changed. We’re close.”

  After the lunch break, the crew returned to work, manually dragging and hauling larger boulders out of the hole. So many hands made such light work of the task. It was impressive to watch. Slowly the stones stopped moving, and the soldiers near the mouth shifted to get a look, whispering. A moment later, a large piece of bent metal was handed up and out of the tunnel with ease. Its blue-silver colour was reflective even in the weak light of the glow sticks. Dave could see one man carrying the solid-looking curved panel toward him with ease.

  “They found something, sir,” the young man said, placing it on the ground before returning to the relative darkness.

  Dave scratched his head. “Sergeant, we need another runner.”

  An hour later, eighteen more pieces of similarly sized metal parts were lying like an indecipherable jigsaw on the surface. Tony was orchestrating a team collecting and cataloguing the artifacts.

  “What is it?” Dave asked.

  “I have no idea,” Tony replied. Another piece came up now.

  Dave pointed to the material. “It’s not bent from the weight of the rocks. It doesn’t even have pit marks or dents.”

  Tony had removed his suit jacket, and his sleeves were rolled up. “I guess we will figure it out when we have all the pieces. I’m more concerned right now about getting through. Any idea where we are?”

  “About five hundred metres further than the transition point. I’ve never seen rock like this. It looks almost volcanic ash, but sedimentary. There are some crystalline structures to it—”

  “Sir, you need to come take a look,” the sergeant called.

  Dave jogged over, Tony following. To his credit, when the larger man hopped down into the hole, Tony followed, scuffing and dragging his expensive shoes over the stones.

  They shuffled past all of the soldiers pressed to the far wall. Occasionally, someone would yell, “Make a hole,” before they passed by.

  It took them five minutes of moving through the arrow-straight tunnel to get to the collapsed section. At the end, their orange glowing snap lights showed a large, flat wall of stone over the end of the tunnel. Each stone was mortared hastily into place.

  Dave ran his hand across the rough surface, noting that its temperature. “It’s warm!”

  Tony stepped forward, feeling it himself. “Why would they put up a barrier? They went through the trouble of digging the tunnel, to what, brick it up?”

  “Maybe to keep someone from getting hurt?” Dave stated. “We decommission mine shafts all the time so that people don’t wander in. We seal them up.”

  “Or maybe they didn’t want something getting out?” The sergeant stood behind them. Her face was a mask of apprehension. “The shape conforms to the rubble pile we just pulled out. Look at it. It’s all rough, like it was laid down on top of the pile that already was blocking the tunnel. They didn’t want someone opening it again. That metal we pulled out, reminds me of what’s left after a bomb goes off… The metal splits, splinters. They trucked it in here after they had decided they didn’t want to dig anymore and set it off to collapse the tunnel. Then they bricked up the outside? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Both of the men stepped back.

  “We’re going to need to blow it if we want to find out,” Dave said, looking at his friend.

  Tony nodded, and the sergeant began ushering her people out of the tunnel.

  The two men stood there for a few minutes, waiting for everyone to disperse.

  “I’m sure this is it.” Dave felt the wall again. He could see the end of the job. The excitement of completing the task assigned to him was overwhelming.

  Tony nodded. “I need to tell the oversight committee. We have to get everyone ready for this. A team has to be prepped, briefed, and ready to roll when that wall comes down. Don’t blow it yet. Prep it, but don’t crack it.”

  “Makes sense,” Dave said, walking back behind him. “When do you want to do this?”

  He felt his teeth ache and skin crawl.

  “What is…” Tony said, wincing.

  “Quick, run, get up the ladder!” Dave ordered.

  The two men ran full speed down the cleared tunnel. Dave pushed against Tony’s back, urging him along. At the side tunnel entrance, Dave could see the others scrambling out of the hole.

  “A discharge is coming!” Dave yelled up to the others, watching Tony climb.

  The crackle was already building down the shaft, and the ozone filled his nose.

  Topping the ladder, both men moved under the safety of the wire mesh with the rest of the team. Everyone took a step back. The crackle passed over them, and the air swirled for a moment. Everyone watched the walls as they flowed with yellow flickers of what could only be described as clusters of sparks or flame. Streams of wisp-like lights flared into existence, flowing across the mesh, and then vanished a moment later.

  “Tomorrow, first thing,” Tony said. “We get that open tomorrow.”

  “I’ll rig it up early in the morning. I don’t want to leave the explosives out overnight. Especially with the increased discharges, they seem stronger.”

  “Tomorrow we are going to send people inside.” Tony was all smiles.

  “Tomorrow, I get my bonus and go home.” Dave laughed at him. “You can deal with whatever is in there. I just want to get paid and take a vacation.”

  The rest of the team began working their way toward the main city entrance of the tunnel.

  The two men stood there for a moment longer. Tony waited until everyone had left before addressing
his friend. “Dave, just remember. We are saving the world… Saving it… We need to get this right.”

  “It won’t be a big charge — small. I’ll have the guys brace the tunnel tonight just to be sure. It will work.”

  Tony looked back at the hole they had come from. “I hope so.”

  Chapter 8

  Dave surveyed the group of men as they finished donning protective suits. He absently wrapped excess detonation cord around the spool but kept an eye on them. These were different than the soldiers. Quiet, less friendly. All business.

  Dave supposed you had to be if you were going to be walking through an alien force field to see what was left on the other side.

  Tony was standing next to them with a group of suits. Each looked like representatives of a different country. His hands waved as he explained the procedure. Dave knew enough about how the world worked to know that they were just the financiers here to see the payoff of their investment.

  Even with the dim chemical lighting, he could see that their faces reflected concern about being so close to the entrance of the tunnel.

  The smaller tunnel was now surrounded by plastic walls, creating an airlock, complete with a vacuum filtration system. Dave was sure it would quickly be overwhelmed by dust when his charge went off. The stone wall was scheduled to be dropped in ten minutes. He had walked the tunnel himself, placed the charges carefully, and strung the length of det cord, keeping an eye on it for breaks and weak points as it unravelled.

  All that was left was the thumbs-up from Tony to indicate that the team would be ready to go in immediately after the blast. It made Dave nervous, since the blast typically unsettled the rock, and it could easily cause a collapse even after the detonation had subsided.

  Tony told him that after the blast, the new team would take over. All Dave had to do was open it up.

  He didn’t like it. The teams had done their best to reinforce the last section, but accidents happened. It had been a point of intense discussion that he wanted to check it before people used the opening. When he had brought it up, Tony discounted the request, telling him it was too dangerous. Dave pulled Tony aside and stated that there might be radiation, biological agents, bad air, chemicals on the other side. They were not sure.

  He argued that he could have been given a suit to check for them before they exited the tunnel, but they didn’t want him down there in case there were other issues. The justification was that if they needed to seal the tunnel in an emergency, he would be the most qualified.

  None of the other crews were working now. The worksite was limited to those who had the security clearance, and thanks to Tony, he was getting double pay to keep his mouth shut.

  Tony turned away from the suits and checked with the green men in pressurized hazmat suits for a moment before striding over to Dave.

  “Looks like we are good to go… How does this work?” Tony asked.

  “I’ll set it off, we give it a minute for the tunnel to clear and for any loose debris to fall if it’s safe, then you can send your guys in. They really need to be bracing the area around the wall. It might collapse—”

  “These guys are aware of the risks and paid to take them. Just do it, let them worry about the rest.”

  Dave nodded and pulled the last puzzle piece, the chemical igniters, from his pocket and attached it to the end of the cord.

  “Everyone ready?”

  “Do it.”

  Dave shifted his ear protection into place before lifting a small handheld air horn. The crowd flinched as he held down the top for a five count.

  “Firing! Ten-second delay!” Dave yelled, repeating it three times before pulling the pin on the igniter. A small puff of smoke billowed out as the chemicals combined, burning toward the charge. Placing it on the ground, he stepped away quickly. His mouth twitched as he counted softly to himself, ensuring he was safely far enough away.

  The cord flashed, and the room rumbled like thunder. Dave smiled as he watched the suits flinch hard. Small stones erupted from the ground and dust lifted from the floor, burning down its entire length instantly. The rapid combustion raced through the tunnel toward the wall packed with explosives.

  Silence.

  Everyone waited.

  Dave’s brow furrowed, and his gut twisted. He waited another ten seconds before removing his ear protection.

  “What happened?” Tony whispered.

  Dave shook his head. “Not sure. Probably an interruption in the line. We have had a few due to the discharges.” He hated it when demolitions failed. It increased the level of danger and the prospect of getting blown up by your explosives. Sure enough, a crackling wave of energy ripped across the mesh in the ceiling and down the walls. As expected, the yellow wisp-like lights floated out from the walls toward the suits. They huddled closer together, like a pack of sheep watching the spinning flame like apparitions.

  “They are harmless,” Tony yelled at the suits, smiling, and the group relaxed.

  “First time down here for them, isn’t it,” Dave stated.

  “Yup.” Tony kept smiling through his teeth. He turned back to Dave. “Fix this. Right now.”

  “Alright. Alright. I’m going to take a look. I don’t think it is a hang fire; it’s probably an interrupt. Just need to restring the cord. It’s only going to take a few minutes.”

  Tony turned away and walked toward the crowd of suits. Dave could see them nattering at each other.

  Walking over to the open tunnel, his heavy work boots clumped down the ladder before trudging down the length, looking for where the cord had been cut.

  Maybe the workers were right?

  He checked over his shoulder in the dark, shifting the roll of det cord in his hand while the other lifted the light high. The hair on the back of his neck was raised, and he felt like he was being watched. Dave took a deep breath. Being nervous with explosives was the first step in an accident. Chastising himself for being paranoid, he resumed his search.

  At the wall he could see that the det cord was hanging off the wall only a few feet from the explosives, the end severed cleanly as if with a sharp knife. It wasn’t pinched like when they used wire cutters.

  Looking at the purple/brown floor, he could see where the cord had detonated down its entire length and stopped three feet short.

  Dave looked down the tunnel. He could see clearly down the length. No one was behind him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

  “Better make this quick,” Dave muttered, bending down to grab the det cord.

  There was a smell of ozone building.

  “What are you doing?” Tony asked.

  Dave jumped, staring at his friend.

  “What’s wrong?” Tony said.

  “You snuck up on me. Not cool. I’m working with explosives here!”

  “You’ve been down here for a half hour,” Tony stated.

  “What are you talking about?” Dave reached down to pick up the cut end of the cord and could see it glowing.

  “What’s that smell?”

  “Cordite — run!” Dave stated, realizing that the burn had not completed, only slowed. Both men tried to run. Dave watched as Tony dropped to the floor. A fist-sized stone rolled to the side under his foot.

  “Get up!” Dave hauled the skinny man to his feet by the collar of his suit before stepping into the wall of thick air.

  “What... What’s going on?” Dave put his hand up, feeling the air in front of him. It felt spongy.

  “I think my ankle’s broken,” Tony said, wincing and taking his foot out of his shoe. The loafer was jammed between two small stone outcroppings.

  The ozone was building.

  “We need to get out of here!” Dave reached back for the cordite, opting to try to pull the slow-burning material out of the shaped charges that covered the wall.

  He struggled forward through the thickening air, trying to understand why they weren’t dead yet.

  Ice-cold air pooled around his legs like
rising mud, holding his feet in place. Struggling, he pulled out the utility knife from his pocket and stretched forward to cut the slow-burning cord. The smoke seemed to hang in the air, wafting up from the entire length.

  The length of cord was brightening like the sun. His hand reached out and bumped against another spongy pocket of air. He could feel it constricting as it entrapped his hand.

  Dave couldn’t look away from the wall of explosives. The cord was evaporating into the air.

  “Tony get up, you gotta get out of here.” Dave squirmed as the invisible concrete flowed over him, working its way up his chest. Turning, he could see his friend flailing on the floor like a clothed swimmer. The pressure built, wrapping around his face, and he jammed his mouth shut instinctively. It constricted around his cheekbones, forcing its way up his nose.

  Looking at the missing det cord, he knew what happened next. Slow motion or not, there was going to be a violent explosion.

  A crackle enveloped them, and he forced his eyes shut, fighting pressure covering his lids. Struggling with all his strength, he was able to raise his arm only a short distance.

  His mind scraped and clawed for possibilities of survival.

  The flash blazed through his eyelids, and the light felt as though it was passing through him. He could feel the heat on his face and hands. He tried to scream from the pain.

  Chapter 9

  “Dave! Are you okay?” Tony said, shaking his friend.

  The large man opened his eyes to darkness; he was sore everywhere. His skin felt as though he had gotten a bad sunburn. The dry skin around his eyes crinkled when he squinted. It was dark and his eyes hurt.

  His mouth tasted like ash, and the air burned his lungs.

  “I can’t see,” Dave said swinging his arms wide. “Where’s the glow stick?”

  Feet shuffled nearby. “You speak the English. Good. This is good,” an old man’s voice consoled.