Chapter 0

Chapter 0

 

It was pitch black.  There were only two faint sources of light.  Far in the distance, the setting sun projected an orange glow that barely penetrated the blackness, a tiny orange pearl gleaming in the darkness.  In the other direction, an eerie electronic green light shone dimly and obscured.  Nic took a long slow lungful of the stagnant air and held it as he reached for the plastic cover that blocked the electronic green light from emerging.  Lifting the cover, the room suddenly radiated green, illuminating the dark space.  He shook his head, his hands instinctively rising to his face to block the brightness that bombarded his dark gray eyes. He rubbed them into focus and took a quick glance at the jagged and misshapen walls that rose from the ground behind the small box. He bit his lip and fought through the momentary distraction to focus on the task at hand.  The green light flickered slightly every second as the time ticked down.  33:45... 33:44... 33:43.

Nic reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his PED, a portable electronic device.  The screen on the PED snapped to life with a touch, and Nic held it out to take a picture of the flickering green digits.  The entire cavern illuminated for an instant as the flash of the camera cut through the darkness like a lightning bolt.  The screen on the PED showed that the green light was attached to a silver metallic tube about as wide around as two grown men and just as tall.  The tube was laid on its side, resting peacefully like a gray resistor atop a rocky circuit board.   As the flash extinguished, the metal object disappeared, only a black silhouette against the rocky green walls.  To one side of the PED screen a clock appeared and resumed countdown, matching the green light tick for tick.  32:58... 32:57... 32:56.

Another agent would be nervous by now, but not Nic.  He had been trained to recognize the signs of nerves and live comfortably with them.  An alert message popped up on the PED screen, blocking the picture of the silver metallic container.  “No Internet Connection.”  The message beeped and Nic instinctively turned to the fading orange pearl in the distance and snapped into a quick sprint.  He knew what he had to do.  Would there be enough time?  He inhaled disciplined breaths as his feet pounded, one after another, on the hard rock of the cavern floor.  The light drew closer and the walls of the mining cave transitioned from the unnatural green haze to dusty beige as the cavern transitioned into a tall tunnel, about twice Nic’s height in diameter, the entrance to the underground mining cave.  .  Nic's eyes were fixated on the electronic screen in his hands, waiting for a connection.  An antenna icon on the screen was covered with a red “X”.  Only as Nic stepped out from the interior of the cave, into the waning light of the late afternoon, did the antenna spring to life and another message appeared, “Connection Established”.  The message faded and was replaced once again by the clock that continued to tick, 32:10... 32:09... 32:08.

The picture of the silver tube reappeared in the foreground, this time accompanied with a stream of data scrolling across the screen.  As Nic expected, the first words that flashed in large red Consolas font at the top of the screen were “Nuclear Bomb”, followed by a list of specifications.  The model was XC-218, designed in 2035 by the former country of Russia.  The bomb was known for its compact design and cheap parts.  It was nicknamed the “Briefcase Bomb” due to the rumor that the majority of the bomb parts could be fit in a pair of non-descript briefcases.  This, of course, was an exaggeration, but the truth was that the bomb was easily assembled from a very small set of materials.  The blast of such a device would cause a temperature in excess of 5000 degrees Celsius at its core.  Nic’s eyes lingered over the words “5000 degrees Celsius” and a new fact box opened that showed this temperature is comparable to the surface of the sun.  The bomb would produce about 2 megatons of energy, which is considered a light and portable nuclear device by this day's standards.  A simulation on the screen of the impending blast showed that the nearby mine would collapse during the blast.  Extrapolating the shockwave showed a high probability of the other mines in a 2 km radius imploding as well.  There was little to no life in the surrounding region that would be immediately affected, but the radioactive fallout from the bomb would make the underground metals in that radius unusable for centuries.  Estimated cost of detonation would be $2,133,997,012 in destruction of land, lost investments in mining infrastructure, and environmental rehabilitation projects.  The time until this event was 31:01... 31:00... 30:59.

Nic grabbed at the screen with his fingertips, moving images and notes around to reorganize his thoughts.  He drilled down into sub notes, by double tapping the margin.  Trying to gain further information; trying to evaluate the situation.  He brought up a schematic of the device.  Topics scrolled past.  Assembly instructions… Maintenance… Timer versus remote detonation settings… Activating the timer… Instructions about deactivation.  Stop.

 

Deactivation of Nuclear Bomb Model XC-218 with custom modifications.

 

Note: The following steps are estimated to take 24 minutes and should only be attempted if you have certification for Level 10 Electrical Engineering.

 

Required tools: pliers, flathead screwdriver.

 

Step 1: Use the flathead screw driver to loosen the screws holding the electronic control panel to the bomb chassis.  Click here for a diagram.

 

Step 2: Lift panel and use pliers to sever connection of underlying red wire.  Click here for diagram.

 

Step 3: …

 

Nic swiped his finger vertically across the screen to scroll through the instructions, his eyes browsing unfocused over the mass of text.  Level 10 was the highest rank one could obtain in any professional field; he was only certified to Level 6 and had none of the necessary tools.  That would likely add another few minutes to the deactivation, which brought the total to about 27 minutes.  Another topic on the PED screen caught the young man’s eye: “Accidental Detonation”.  Tapping on the word showed statistics.  A level 10 engineer would have a 3% chance of accidental detonation during deactivation, level 9 increased to an 8% chance.  Nic scrolled down until he found level 6, which showed a probability of failure at 29%.  The clock ticked below 30 minutes for the first time, 29:59... 29:58... 29:57.

With a tap in the upper right corner, Nic cleared the screen and cycled through the alternative data section: an escape plan.  The screen showed that Nic was located about 3,000 meters below ground level.  A picture appeared of the mining complex, which looked like a large hollowed out cylinder, cutting deep into the Earth.  This cylinder spanned 1 km in diameter, and the walls were lined with mine entrances approximately 15 meters apart from the top all the way to the bottom.  Each mine entrance was a circular hole that bore into the walls of the vertical cylinder.  From the inside of the mine, the walls looked like a rocky honeycomb.   The PED had successfully charted a possible escape route which appeared on the screen in step by step directions along with an instructional simulation.  The freight elevator to the surface was only a few dozen meters away from the current location, less than 30 seconds at jogging speed.  Travel time to the surface would be about 7 minutes, plus or minus 30 seconds.  From there, a safe distance from the blast was about 2 km but Nic overrode the suggestion to make it 3 km in case the array of mines collapsed further than expected.  There were more honeycomb shaped hole cylinders carved into the ground surrounding this location, and each hollow hole was spaced with about 500 meters of land between them.  There was no direct path for 2 to 3 km, so Nic would need to weave between the large mine shafts.  Average running speed would allow him to get safely out of range in 18 minutes from arrival at ground level.  Total escape time came in at 25 minutes.  The countdown until explosion marched on 29:10... 29:09... 29:08.

Nic switched the screen back to the deactivation instructions and slid the PED back into the inside pocket of his navy blue suit jacket.  He had all the information he needed.  No computer could help him decide his next move.  Nic ran his fingers through his jet black hair, and straightened his red tie as he thought to himself.  On the one hand, the likelihood of successfully deactivating the bomb was slim to begin with, and was only getting worse with time.  On the other hand, he was sent here to do a job, one that couldn't be completed if he left and let the bomb detonate.  Nic inhaled the chalky air and held his breath, looking up to the edge of the cliff far above.  He didn't come here to die, he thought.  Nic pulled the PED out of his pocket for one more look, 28:21... 28:20... 28:19.

Nic started into a jog once again.  The light extinguished around him as he descended one final time into the cavern in front of him.  The green light approached.  The cave wall flickered with every passing second, but there was no time for distraction.  He stopped in front of the metal tube and laid a hand to rest along the chassis.  Maybe it was ego, but Nic preferred to call it confidence.  This was hardly his first brush with death, and the odds said that it likely would not be his last.