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Thunder in the Mountains

Written by Richard Evans

Bern , Swiss Confederacy, Midwinter, 1634
The Inn of the Sleeping Mule

"Thomas, are you sure this'll work? Those illustrated magazines of yours may have been explicit enough for you, but I've never seen a cannon with two open ends before. How does it fire and what are we going to do with it?" Giuseppe Benito-Fransoni asked.

"I checked them myself, against the magazines." Thomas "Boom-Boom" Cahil chuckled. "I'll show the Americans that firing me for experimenting was a bad move. That I will."

Giuseppe knew that "I" meant "we" again. Sometimes the half-Irishman irritated him immensely, but other times Thomas amazed him with his wealth of knowledge from the future.

Thomas had the magazines and formulas to support his claims, but he didn't look like the type one would want assisting in an alchemist's lab or even blowing things up. Thomas' build was that of a born laborer, one only fit for grunt work, something Giuseppe was definitely allergic to, unless it involved cannons.

The two of them seemed to have a mutual fascination with the idea of blowing things up, and in the comics Thomas had lots of things got blown up. Including a pass filled with an attacking company of infantry covering a line of twelve tanks. Giuseppe had wanted a tank for himself, but he knew that was well beyond anyone's means.

But this "bazooka" in the comics—yes, that they could get built. The other, darker, comics about the vigilante with a skull on his body armor even had pages with detailed explanations about a similar weapon and a cutout drawing of the device. Those were Giuseppe's favorites, when he could pry them away from his partner.

Thomas had made the decision to simplify the design until they had something that could be built and that they could afford. The rocket parts hadn't been as easy. No cut outs, no formulas, just what Thomas said he knew and learned before he was invited to leave Grantville.

Thomas winked at Giuseppe. "Everything I learned in Grantville is still up here." He tapped his battle-scarred forehead.

Giuseppe mentally counted the months since Thomas had said he'd been discharged from the USE Army. It didn't leave him much time at the explosives factory that he went on and on about. Or with their dynamite and the magical RDX they had just started producing either, but apparently he'd been there long enough to copy the formulas and take note of the methods used to produce the explosives.

With the right alchemist, maybe we can do this, Giuseppe thought.

"What about the tasks I set you, Giuseppe?"

"That Austrian smith you had me find can build the 'zooka-tube.' It's not much more than a long pipe with a smaller tube for a sighting mechanism, and the other side has a latch and catch in the rear for this 'rocket-round' you've mentioned. And a lever-trigger for activating the battery."

"I've heard of batteries being made in Lucerne from passing merchants. Can we build one of those here?" Thomas asked, as if this were just another minor detail. Details that usually cost them money or another midnight shopping expedition.

Giuseppe calculated his own wealth. He had exactly twelve Italian copper pesetas and two silver crowns. It wouldn't last long, not the way his partner was spending money. At least Thomas was an adequate thief when he needed to be.

"If we can make one, it will be larger than what they are selling in Lucerne and it will have to be connected by copper wires to the launcher. That means it will take two of us to operate the 'zooka.' If we can't get one of those, maybe one of the smaller Elektrische Generators that are popping up in every store here in town might work."

"One of those Elektrische Generators will have sufficient power for our needs. We just need enough power for a spark to the launching charge." His partner once again had the answers before Giuseppe could ask the question himself.

"You've only shown me parts of the final rocket designs, Thomas. I . . . we . . . need to be sure that all the parts we get made fit together properly so that when I load them with . . . you know what . . . we're sure they'll work."

Thomas nodded and passed him a sheaf of drawings and contracts. Giuseppe eyed the plans for the bazooka and the bits and pieces of the rocket they were supposed to be firing from this weapon.

If it worked there was no doubt everyone would want to build their own bazookas. That was why they'd had the parts built by different men, with strict tolerance requirements written into the contracts.

What that meant to them was that the contractors would never know what the parts they were making would end up looking like once assembled or what they'd be used for. Much safer for the two of them that way. Much safer. Giuseppe was sure he could put the various parts together easily enough.

He remembered the fateful words that night two months ago when word had come that the passes were closed for the winter. "I wish there was a way we could bring down all that snow hanging over the passes, let the mountains settle and the roads could be cleared." Then Thomas had smiled and pulled out the several comic books and two worn magazines he'd brought with him to Bern. Several buckets of cheap beer later, a plan was hatched. One that Thomas said he had the necessary knowledge for. Giuseppe would get his wish, and they'd be able to make money doing it too.

This bazooka wasn't going to be a weapon of war, but one to start controlled avalanches. From a safe distance. Giuseppe hoped it was a very safe distance. He was no math genius, but he did know how to load cannons. Loading and firing the "bazooka" should be child's play for him, but still . . .

"I used the last of our project money to buy enough of the explosives." Thomas grinned. "I think I got the mix right this time."

Giuseppe snorted. He hoped Thomas was right about the blend. Their first attempt had blown up their shack just outside of town, where all the new labs were being built.

Using a fulminated mercury impact fuse to set off the warhead was just a bad idea. They were down one partner from that mistake and the city watch never did find all of him either.

They'd finally decided to use a standard skyrocket time fuse ignited by the last gasp of the propellant as the rocket motor burned out to set off an explosive detonator inside the ...