Julie - The Bomb

Cassie settled back in her seat as the pair of helicopters set off from Las Vegas airport.  The engine was deafening and she adjusted her headphones as they crackled into life.

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.  I’m Ryan, your pilot for today, welcoming you to Grand Canyon Tours.  Our flight today will take around two hours…’

Cassie stopped listening and turned her thoughts back to the previous evening.

***

The two Middle-Eastern men at the bar had been vociferous in their condemnation of America – rather a brave stance, Cassie had thought at the time, as they were currently guests of that country.

‘Nine-eleven,’ the tall man said, ‘You deserved that.’

The American bar-tender they were talking to, understandably, looked shocked.

‘How can the deliberate killing of thousands of innocent people ever be justified?’ the bar-tender countered irritably.

‘No American is innocent,’ the smaller man interjected.  ‘You are all to blame.’

***

The helicopter Cassie was in swooped low over the Strip.  She had a grandstand view, sitting in the middle seat at the front, the pilot to her left.  He pointed out several of the notable hotels as they went along.  The Luxor, where Cassie was staying, was not as tall as some of the others, but was unmistakable; a black marble pyramid reflecting the image of the two helicopters as they passed in convoy, Cassie’s bringing up the rear.  The first one, Cassie had noticed as they boarded, contained the two Middle-Eastern men from the bar last night.

‘The International Hotel, now renamed the Hilton, is where Elvis Presley spent his Vegas years,’ the pilot continued.  He swung the plane away from the city and set off towards the Colorado, and the point where the river had been dammed in order, the pilot explained, to control the frequent flooding.  Almost as a by-product, the dam could generate electricity for 8 million people in three states.

The pilot flew the helicopter low over the new bridge which was being built over the river, 1,500 feet south of the dam.  ‘Due to fears of terrorism,’ he explained, ‘coaches and trucks aren’t allowed to use the road along the top of the dam, but instead have to take a fifty mile detour through Laughlin, which is why this new bridge is being constructed.  Once operational, it will also avoid the necessity for the security checks which are currently carried out on private vehicles crossing the dam.’

While the bridge was impressive, Cassie marvelled at the huge concrete dam, which had apparently cost the lives of over 100 people during its construction, and now pressed its 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete against the might of the Colorado.  She was suddenly startled by an orange flash and a loud boom.  A shock wave radiated towards the helicopter she was in, causing it to dive to the left towards the dam.  Her fellow passengers, two Australian men - one of whom was sitting on her right side - and a Belgian couple - who were seated behind her with the other Australian - began talking excitedly to each other.  Cassie gripped the sides of her seat and expelled a small scream.  

The layers of the Canyon flashed past as their helicopter momentarily plummeted, surveying in passing the erosion carved out over thousands of years by the force of the great river.  The pilot righted the plane and uttered a muffled cry which Cassie thought she heard as ‘What the f***?’  He brought their helicopter round in a broad arc, away from the plume of black smoke which occupied the space where the other helicopter had been.  Lumps of debris were falling towards the road, the dam and the river, now only five hundred feet below. 

The pilot shook his head in disbelief as he picked up his radio transmitter.  Cassie could see people on the ground running around and pointing skywards as debris fell amongst them.

‘Delta one, come in, over,’ the pilot began, then swivelled in his seat to observe his five passengers.  ‘Dumb asses, should’ve done their homework.  The dam is bomb proof from the air.’

The radio crackled.  ‘Delta one, here, over.’

The pilot clicked his microphone and uttered the seemingly obvious and unnecessary statement: ‘Hi, Delta one, there’s been a bomb blast.’