He’d always liked science, especially chemistry.
He had been working on a particular formula for some time and felt he was getting close. The recipe was good, he even had the timing to bring the compound up to critical mass nailed down to the very second. Now, it all came down to balance. Recently, he had spent a lot of time getting the ratio of ingredients right. His teenage brother, younger by a year, seemed to have inroads into the local underworld. Negotiations with one of the top criminal organisations had got to the stage where it was obvious that if he could get it right, there would be a lot of money in it. His parents being away on holiday gave him the perfect opportunity to refine his product. He had told his brother, “If I get this right, what we have here is a compound that is around three hundred and fifty percent more powerful than nitro-glycerine.”
This new explosive would be a great asset to the criminal fraternity, for blowing safes and opening vaults, at the very least. The last crime boss his brother spoke to said if it’s successful, the various gangs under his control would pay big time for a steady supply of the stuff. His brother said he found it difficult to get a price for nitro, even using the internet, but he said patients in doctor’s surgeries where paying heaps for intravenous solutions of the stuff. No need to fix a price, once the compound was tried and tested, its value would sky rocket. It was only a matter of getting the formula stable for producing greater quantities. He knew there was a fortune to be made if he could only find the right balance. His brother would be home soon, but this was not the time to rush it. This would be the final test. Precision was everything!
He was measuring the last of the ingredients out when his brother arrived. When the sample was ready, the compound was tipped into the microwave safe eggcup, found to be ideal for the job, and after a gentle stir, placed in the centre of the microwave oven. He set the timer for four minutes and seventeen seconds.
As a safety precaution he decided that they should leave the kitchen. They went through to the lounge room and ducked behind the settee. The brilliant young chemistry student had always wanted to go to Cyprus for a holiday; his uncle went there and he just wouldn’t stop talking about it. That was his thought on the subject. He wasn’t about to have another.
The explosion occurred at the precise moment the microwave timer hit four minutes and seventeen seconds. At least he had that part right.
It left a crater almost ten metres deep and took out four blocks.
There was a hell of a stink!
The authorities saw it as an act of terrorism and upped the National Terrorism Threat Level.