I started to roll over. But then I caught a glimpse of the Bell’s underside. A long stationary shaft ran from the top of the device to the bottom. Two drums, one on top of the other, were positioned at the top half of the shaft. Dripping with condensation, they counter-rotated slowly, emitting a soft-pitched buzzing noise in the process.
Toward the bottom half of the shaft, I saw a partially cracked door with a big thermos inside of it. Something crystallized inside my head. I still didn’t understand how the Bell worked. However, I knew that it produced a continuous supply of Red Mercury, which acted as a superconductor. And as I stared at the cracked door, I realized that, more likely than not, I was staring directly at the stuff.
Rictor removed some of the Red Mercury to give to Chase and that didn’t blow up the Bell. What if I do the same? Will the device explode?
Only one way to find out.
Sticking my machete under the Bell, I jabbed it at the thermos. My blade bounced off harmlessly. Clenching my fist, I jabbed it again and again. Eventually, I poked a few holes in it and a razor-thin line of powder began to seep out.
Grabbing some of the powder, I palmed it. Then, I rolled onto my stomach and lifted myself to my knees.
Chase strode right up to me and stopped. Just beyond him, I saw the giant alligator lumbering toward us. A plan formed in my brain and I readied the powder. If I threw it in his face at the exact moment the gator arrived, Chase wouldn’t have a chance.
“See you in the next life, Cyclone.”
As the gun leveled at my face, I realized my plan wouldn’t work. The gator was still a few yards away. The powder was at my side, clutched in my fingers.
Jumping up, I knocked his gun hand into the air. As I did so, I released the powder and it flew toward the river.
Chase and I struggled over the gun. I knocked it from his grasp. It fell to the ground and he shoved me toward the river.
As he stooped for his gun, I saw my pistol. My fingers closed around it. There was no time to think, only time to react. Raising the gun, I pointed it into the air. But before I could fire, the drifting cloud of Red Mercury sparked.
And then, the whole damn place went up in flames.
Chapter 64
A fireball formed over the river, sucking oxygen out of my lungs. The ground rumbled. The bedrock walls imploded.
Small slabs of rock hurtled in all directions, some smashing harmlessly into the walls. Others crashed into the gators. Still others knocked people down like bowling pins.
I focused my attention on the river. It seemed almost alive, shuddering and frothing angrily. I edged away, unsure of what to expect.
A jet of water exploded through the western wall. It slammed into the waterway, turning the seething river into white water rapids.
A loud bursting noise filled the air. The water level started to sink. Leaning closer, I saw a long, deep crack forming at the bottom of the rapids. It sucked the river into it, like bathwater running down a drain.
The gator paused in mid-step. Chase stood rooted to the spot. Both seemed to recognize that something bad was about to happen.
Something really bad.
I looked past Chase and saw Diane and Beverly ten yards away. They were staring at me and pointing. They appeared to be yelling, but I couldn’t make out the words.
My eyes shifted and I saw others looking at me. I swung around. Abruptly, the bottom of the riverbed crumbled away. My eyes widened as the river vanished. Next thing I knew I was standing next to a gigantic natural chasm.
Water gushed from the west, cascading into the hole. The torrent crashed thunderously against an invisible bottom, somewhere far beneath me. It was like the underground version of Niagara Falls.
And I was standing right next to it.
The Bell was still my primary concern. At any moment, it could explode, turning the current destruction into a citywide nightmare.
Remove the rest of the Red Mercury? Or shove it into the chasm?
As I stared at the Bell, which still floated several inches above the bedrock, I weighed my options. Somehow, the exposed Red Mercury had self-detonated, albeit at a relatively small level. Removing the rest of it all at once could cause a catastrophic explosion.
On the other hand, if I shoved the Bell over the chasm, it would eventually fall to the bottom. It would explode, that much seemed certain. But the reduced amount of Red Mercury along with the extra distance from the surface could limit its reach. Even better, it would be difficult, if not impossible to recover the Bell from the bottom of the hole.
I made up my mind. Turning away from the chasm, I took up position behind the Bell. I leaned my shoulder against it, feeling its lukewarm, wet surface against my skin. I pushed it with all my might.
“Cyclone.”
I ducked just as Chase’s fist sailed through the air. His hand slammed into the side of the Bell. Despite the mayhem that surrounded me, I heard a light ping emanate from the object.
He howled and shook his hand vigorously.
“It’s over,” I said. “You lost. Now help me get this thing over the chasm before it kills us all.”
“This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”
He tackled me to the bedrock. The ceiling above my head began to tremble. A collapse seemed imminent.
My eyes locked on his and I saw the insanity that plagued his soul. He was beyond reason, beyond help.
I elbowed him in the side and rolled back to the Bell. And that was when I got my second look at its interior. The drums vibrated but barely turned. The thermos of Red Mercury, now punctured, emitted a strange smoke.
I turned it over in my mind, quickly comparing my observations to everything I’d read in the journal. But I kept getting distracted by a single question.
Why does it need a constant source of electricity?
Ever since I’d unplugged it, the Bell had changed. It gained weight. It started to emit strange condensation. It no longer felt cold to the touch.
I remembered something from the journal. It talked about the process of creating a superconductor. One of the steps involved temperature. Words flashed before my eyes.
Liquid nitrogen.
Torsion.
My brain lit up like a Christmas tree. It was so obvious that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out already.
Red Mercury was a superconductor and thus, required supercooling. That was the purpose of the liquid nitrogen. Most likely, it was stored in the central shaft.
Chase jumped on top of me and rained blows down on my face. As I covered up, protecting myself, I pictured the Bell in my head. Fuel poured into the counter-rotating drums. They spun at top-speed, causing the molecules to undergo torsion. The resulting substance, Red Mercury, was collected in the thermos.
By removing the electricity, the liquid nitrogen apparatus had stopped working. As a result, the Red Mercury gradually lost its superconductivity. And that, I was willing to bet, was what caused it to become explosive.
I lifted my knees, throwing Chase off-balance and snapped an elbow at his jaw. It smashed against his face and I heard a tiny pop.
As he slipped to the side, I reached a hand underneath the Bell. I wasn’t one hundred certain that I was doing the right thing, maybe not even fifty percent. But I was out of options. Chase wasn’t going to allow me time to push it into the chasm. That left me with just one move.
I grabbed hold of the thermos. Doubts appeared in my mind, but I brushed them away. Everything I saw in Hartek’s journal indicated that Red Mercury became a dangerous substance upon reaching a superconductive state. However, it only became volatile when it lost superconductivity. And based on the relatively minor detonation I’d observed, I was willing to bet that one other factor played a role in the substance’s explosive power.