A SEC MAN in a crisp blue shirt drove a shiny clean Hummer down the spiral ramp and onto the cutting floor. A sec man at the sentry post waved as he passed by. Rolling through the slaves, coming very close to a few and making them jump, the driver slowed to a halt near the runoff pool. Sitting before a small wooden shack was an overseer armed with an AK-47. He rose and walked to the wag.
“About time you showed,” he growled. “I was about to start giving out the dynamite and have the slaves whack it with hammers to set it off. We got a bastard ton of rocks to clear before we can start cutting more blocks. The major don’t like it when we fall behind schedule.”
The driver climbed from the wag and reached behind the seat to lift a bulky bag into view. “Stuff it, shithead, and help me with the new explosives.”
“We got explosives!” the overseer replied hotly. “What we needed is fuse, ya idiot.”
“Not like this stuff, you don’t,” the driver retorted. Going to the rear cargo area of the military wag, the sec man released a collection of rubbery straps holding a large plastic box in place on top of a damp folded blanket Lifting off the top, wisps of mist wafted away, exposing fifty new sticks of explosive charges nestled inside, soft sponges separating each stick.
“Color’s odd,” the overseer grumped. “You sure this dynamite is still good?”
“Ain’t dynamite.”
He scowled. “Looks like it.”
“Ain’t.”
“So what is it?”
“Something called TNT,” the driver said, easing a stick from the packing. “The major says it’s much stronger, mebbe ten times, so we better use a lot less.”
The overseer glanced toward the vertical rock wall hanging above them. “Ten times!”
Lifting out a single stick, the driver carefully crimped a detonator cap on the end and added a fuse.
“One stick,” the man said. “Well, if it ain’t hot shit, one stick won’t cause us no prob. Mebbe chill a few slaves.”
“What are we supposed to do with this old dynamite?”
“Boss says burn it.”
“Burn it?”
The driver scoffed. “Easy as pie. I done it lots before. Slit the dynamite open like a fish, then toss on a match. Nothing to it. This TNT’s supposed to be lots safer than dynamite. When that stuff gets old, it starts sweating and becomes mighty unstable, blows if you fart hard. Some damn fool slave drops a rock on it, and our dicks hit the moon.”
“Don’t wanna do that,” the overseer said, leering. “Found me a slut for tonight and plan to do some riding.”
“Enough for me?” the driver asked hopefully. “The major been working the slaves so hard on the dish, it’s like doing a corpse.”
“Always room for a bud.” He smiled, nudging the man with an elbow. “You like dark meat or light?”
A shrug. “Ain’t choosy.”
As the men grinned at each other, a sharp crack echoed across the quarry. The stick of explosive in his hand jumped, and the sec man stared in horror at the gaping hole in the paper tube.
“Nuking hell!” he screamed.
“SHIT-FIRE!” Scarface cursed, working the lever to chamber a fresh round. “The bullet didn’t set it off!”
“And now they know we’re here,” Digger growled, wiping his bloody mouth. “Better run while we can.”
“Ain’t leaving just so we can get caught and dragged back here again,” Scarface growled, firing another round.
The dirt kicked near the box of dynamite, and the sec man backed away, unable to think of what else to do. Then there came another crack. The box jumped, and the whole world vanished as a titanic blast ripped apart the face of the cliff, spewing out rocks and debris for hundreds of yards. The entire side of the mountain seemed to shift position when a second explosion sounded. Although muffled by the avalanche, the concussion was still louder, much more powerful, and a geyser of stone rose into the sky on a column of boiling flame.
“Well, fuck me,” Scarface whispered as the concussion buffeted the sentry post with strident force.
The sides of the quarry rose and moved inward, dust filling the air as thick as mud. Then the countless tons of granite fell on top of overseers, sec men and slaves. More explosions came from the wags and storage sheds, but they were pitifully weak compared to the earth-shattering detonation of the fifty sticks of pristine TNT.