Free Catalyst by Ross Richdale

watch.
    A gentle slope of mountainside just beyond the small
base camp vented smoke before the earth moved again. Thousands of
cubic feet of the surface quivered and imploded. Trees, rocks and
soil sunk for hundreds of feet into a moonlike crater of debris,
smoke and dust. The mountainside trembled and a second landslide
tumbled into the subsequent gap, until the gentle forested slope
was no more.
    In its place was an inverted cone of sheer cliffs
that disappeared into the bowels of the earth. Hissing, groaning
rocks replaced the thunder, the quivering soil slowed and stopped
as the caverns filled and held. Incoming soil backed up, slid down
ravines or other slopes, until gravity stopped the momentum and
dust flew into the air to join the smoke and ash.
    Dave, Kelly and the others discovered later that the
landslide did something humans with all their resources would have
had difficulty achieving. A million tons of limestone, rock and
soil contained and smothered the explosion, so it never reached the
surface. Only a cloud of fine brown dust blew into the air and
dropped over the mountain.
    Kelly and Dave were lucky to escape death that
morning. Fifteen rescue workers were trapped in higher tunnels but
radio contact was maintained. Everyone survived the explosion and
the subsequent collapse of the caves with little more than ringing
ears and thumping hearts as adrenaline worked overtime to supply
terrified minds. Confusion reined and rescue crews waited for
aftershocks.
    ****
    "What was it, Jack?" An ashen-faced Amy asked when
she staggered to her feet beside the collapsed tent that served as
rescue headquarters.
    "Something went terribly wrong," he replied in a
hoarse whisper choked with emotion. "There was an explosion." His
one good arm encircled the woman beside him. "I don't think it came
from below but around the mountain. Look."
    The pair gazed up at a cloud of brown dust bellowing
into the sky beyond the firs.
    "My Courtney," Amy whispered. "Could they have
survived?"
    "I don't know," Jack replied, his own face like
chalk, "but pray to God, they did."
    He held the weeping woman while his haunted eyes
stared at the dust. His gaze shifted and saw others rising to their
feet. Stephanie stood dazed with blood streaming down her face.
Another man staggered, groaning and disoriented, while a third
crawled from beneath the tent canvas. Orders filled the air but it
was not over yet, for the earth had begun to shake again.
    ****
    "We've got the electricity going," Gary McKnight told
Jack and Amy. He pointed to a gauge needle that had swung to a
yellow curve. "So the cavern must still be there."
    It was over an hour since the explosion and the
father and grandmother were standing beside the mobile generator.
Most of McKnight's team had gone to help in rescue efforts but the
sergeant had decided it was important to make contact with Renee,
Lem and Courtney, so had kept a skeleton crew at the drill
site.
    "But the phone and speakers are dead," Jack
grumbled.
    "Equipment failure," Gary explained. "A crew is
feeding a new line in now. If they're conscious we'll find out
within a few moments. Excuse me." He glanced up as a man wearing a
hard hat walked in. "Any luck, Nathan?"
    "As you can see, we got the power on," Nathan
replied. "The main pipe has been squashed and nothing will get
through. I'm hesitant about trying to clear it with the drill. We
could sever the power line."
    "So what do you suggest?"
    "We need to move the rig a few feet and drill a new
hole."
    "But how do we find out if they're alive?" Amy said.
"They could be lying there injured, suffocating...anything."
    "They have light," Jack replied. "So at least they'll
know we're okay. I'm sure this gentleman will get through as soon
as it's possible."
    Gary nodded. "If that's the best way, then do it.
You're the engineer, Nathan."
    "Right," the man replied. He glanced at Amy and
raised his helmet a fraction. "Sorry, Ma'am. As soon as we have
news, we'll tell you."
    "Thank