Dome Survival

By J Itchen

Global warming has become so intense that people have had to retreat to domes that protect themselves from the ever-worsening environment outside. The biggest domes cover whole cities but the new Gaia Two dome started from scratch with idealism and energy. It is finding that the Scottish government is trying to make them do what they think will make their dome untenable. This is unacceptable.
The future for all the domes is at stake. Will humanity succeed or will we fail due to overcrowding, infighting and the lack of capacity to grown enough food? Will our aggressive nature lead to conflict and our destruction?
Gaia Two may have to fight to survive. They need allies. They need the best technology.
They need a leader with vision and drive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J Itchen
• Release date: Aug 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005022341

J Itchen

J is a graduate from Bristol University, England, who is married with four children. Currently lives in Southampton, England, although when young also lived in other parts of the world (Malaysia, Thailand, Yemen Arab Republic).J has been writing for several years mainly for magazines (more usually science rather than science fiction), for specialist books and recently a web site. Starting with science fiction (not fantasy), genres published have also covered the erotic, plus a combination of the two.

Book preview

Dome Survival

by

J Itchen

ISBN: 9781005022341

Published by J Itchen at Smashwords

Copyright: ©2021, J Itchen, all rights reserved.

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Break In

Executive Councillor Stella watched closely on her multiple monitors from the main Gaia Two Security Room. She felt like she had to prove herself in her new security political supremo role. She was under scrutiny even though the ‘professionals’ around her did not like to show it. She looked a young thirty and she was constantly told that she was pretty. Both of these counted against her in this deadly serious situation surrounded by the uniformed experts.

There was a line of disturbed earth approaching their climate-controlled dome pushing through the sparse grass that hung on in the polluted and wind-swept environment that existed outside the dome. Stella could see the end of the disturbed earth quiver as a mole-like contraption propelled itself just under the surface of the ground and came ever closer to their main defence perimeter.

They have broken through the outer ring and are now digging to avoid our automated fire, reported General Smith. General Smith headed the inside dome security force and gave strong vibes of dislike towards Stella who he no doubt saw as an intruder into his domain.

Prepare for a potential break in. Stella ordered. She was not going to let her authority be by-passed by the General taking over.

General Smith looked at her clearly wondering if she knew what she was doing. Did she know what she was ordering him to do and what it actually meant in reality. Stella could not stand the man. He treated over-formally and treated her orders with hardly hidden disdain.

Should we not use our heavy artillery as the invader seems to have extremely strong defences against our automated perimeter missiles, Councillor? General Smith responded excessively politely.

That risks too much damage to our own defences and could seriously damage our own inner perimeter wall and it may even threaten the integrity of the dome. So no, I will not authorise that, Stella countered. She often did not like the advice General Smith, the supposed professional, gave her. It is better to deal with them if they get inside. Prepare for a break in through the inner ring. The attacker will be at its most vulnerable then.

There could be a battle within the dome, General Smith warned unnecessarily.

I know, Stella responded. But at least my approach minimises the structural damage. The invader will have to open their defensive shield when they disembark from their vessel. That is when we destroy them.

All those who tried to break into the Gaia Two dome were now called ‘invaders’ as this depersonalised the desperate people involved.

Stella had tried to inure herself to the human cost of stopping invaders and this was her first direct exposure to what it meant in practice. When they attacked like this and tried to force their way in then they had to be fought off and that meant killing people. It meant killing everyone who attempted it, ‘to discourage others from trying’ as the logic dictated.

It was a harsh new world. However, if anyone succeeded to force their way inside the dome in this way then literally thousands more would try it and many more people would die in the end. There were just so many desperate people out there willing to risk almost certain death to get inside the dome.

There was a legal route to come and gain residence rights within the dome, but inevitably very few qualified, which meant that some tried to smuggle their way in or used force like this invader. Gaia Two dome did not have room for anywhere near the number of people who desperately wanted and needed sanctuary. Billions of people had already died due to the planet warming up, extreme weather going off the scales, and the consequent inability to grow food in the open air. Now the oxygen levels were dropping. Gaia Two was the best dome around and was determined not to become overcrowded like so many other domes. Overcrowding could not work as they could not grow enough of their own food to last once outside supplies failed completely.

Make sure that no-one gets past you, Stella ordered and half looked at the General to see if she would catch sight of his silent sneer.

Will do, Councillor, General Smith confirmed very formally and frostily.

Stella watched on her monitors as General Smith positioned his forces to cover every angle at the point where the invaders were likely to break through the inner ring. They just had to wait a minute or two and the invader would be there. This was the big test for Stella in her new role. Unfortunately, there was no room for compassion or mercy. That had been tried and just led to expulsion from the dome and those involved trying again with more determination and knowledge. Mercy also encouraged others to try as they felt that they might get away with it, even if caught.

Why are they doing this? Stella mused to Colonel James who stood on her left in the Security Room. They must know that it is suicidal.

They have never broken through into our inner ring before, Colonel James said and shrugged. Maybe they hope that they can get away before our forces can deploy to stop them. The invaders need to know that it is futile. This was his reminder to Stella to stay strong and face up to what needed to be done.

Even if any did get past us then we would catch them later. Everyone in the dome has an electronic ID and they would not be able to do anything without one.

They are desperate. They will risk everything to get in, including their lives Colonel James said simply, repeating the obvious. They just hope that we will not immediately expel them if by some remote chance they survive the invasion attempt. People are tremendously desperate. They have probably been told lies by the organisers of this on the outside. If this were to succeed then we would see multiple simultaneous attacks by these new invader machines within weeks.

Poor souls, Stella said sadly. Someone has lied to them about their chances of survival and what will happen if they were to succeed, which they won’t.

Stella would not and could not call the Gaia Two troops back now. No invader must ever be allowed to successfully get in to the inner dome. That was a sacrosanct policy. It had been agreed by the Dome Council, something she herself had voted for before she had been appointed the political Head of Security for Gaia Two. She was in charge even over crusty General Smith. She had no direct experience of this but she had to give the political OK to any major decision and especially when deadly force was to be used, like now.

The invaders digger had disappeared from the monitors, but movement of soil in between the inner and outer rings identified where it was. That along with the continuous bang as mine after mine went off with no apparent effect on the invader.

I am surprised that they have developed something so strong that it can resist all our defences and just keep coming, Stella said.

We will have to review and increase the firepower when this is over, General Smith said with over hasty judgement. They have reached the inner ring and have started to drill into the concrete. We must assume that they have diamond percussion drills, with mini explosives and they will break through quickly.

Someone has invested serious money into this vehicle to enable it to do all this! Stella sighed. Make sure that when they break through into the corridor by the ring there are no casualties on our side from the cross fire. Also make sure that they do not try to break through across the corridor through the next wall.

A thick metal barrier has been installed in their way to stop further ingress to the Dome. It is all covered, Councillor, General Smith reported.

I very much hope so, Stella countered.

They could only wait now. Did the invaders have any unexpected tricks up their sleeve? They had been very resourceful to get this far. Surely, they must realise that they would all be eliminated once inside the dome? Maybe they falsely hoped that they could get away in the confusion.

This was not what Gaia Two’s dome had been built for. It had been built as a refuge. It was called Gaia Two as it aimed to be self-sufficient as much as possible with a climate that was benign and encouraged crop growth. Inside it looked idyllic with rolling fields of crops and small hamlets. They had begun to dig down to house more people better and to expand the dome in sections to take in more land.

Gaia One, the planet’s living environment was more and more rapidly became inhospitable to living in the open. Everyone, of course, wanted to get into refuges like Gaia Two and despite there being several other domes around the world, there was way too little space for everyone. So the people left on the outside were increasingly desperate to get in to any dome, especially Gaia Two. However, Gaia Two would not and could not take in more people than it could cope with in the longer term.

Do you think that the invaders will end up attacking Gaia Two itself in full force when they realise that they are never going to be allowed in? Stella mused.

God help us all if they do, Colonel James said. We have sectioned off different parts of the dome as a precaution so if we were to lose part of it the other sections would survive OK. The outsiders are poorly resourced and any strong centres of military power already reside in domes. If they attack us en masse then it will be a rabble attack.

A big enough attack could damage every section, Stella countered. We must not underestimate the invaders desperation and willingness to do anything to get in.

If they damaged our dome then they would be destroying any hope they have of ever being in a refuge dome, so it would be nonsensical, Colonel James said sanguinely.

They may have lost any hope anyway and think that if they cannot have refuge than no-one should. Stella pointed out. That may be human nature.

That is illogical, General Smith said, barely concealing that he thought Stella was being illogical.

Who said people are totally logical? People have proved time after time that ...

The inner ring is cracking, General Smith broke in brusquely. Penetration of invaders into the dome is imminent!

Prepare to destroy them, Stella ordered, resignation in her voice. This was not why she had taken the Head of Security role. She wanted to improve security so no-one ever tried to invade and so no-one got hurt, but nothing seemed to deter those desperate people. Gaia Two had made it crystal clear time and again that anyone trying to force their way in would be shot. The time for mercy was long gone.

Suddenly there was a bang, heard clearly on their monitors, as the invader’s machine burst through the inner ring and crashed its pointed nozzle into the wall on the other side of the corridor, stopped by the thick metal sheet placed there. For a moment Stella thought that they would try to drill through the metal and into then through the wall into the next room as the nose drill kept turning. However instead suddenly the sides of the invader’s vehicle flopped down and out spilled people in varying levels of bullet proof clothing. Stella knew that this was never going to be enough.

Stella did not have to give the order. Even before the sides of the vehicle hit the floor General Smith’s troops opened a murderous fire with armour piercing rounds, mini rockets and self-propelled large grenades. Mercifully the whole area filled with smoke immediately so Stella could not see but she knew that the invaders could not survive this. The firing continued for well over a minute. So much fire power poured into the invaders and their vehicle that nothing could be seen except smoke and flying bits of metal. Stella hoped that they were flying bits of metal anyway.

None of the invaders stood a chance whether they wanted to fight their way out or try to run or simply try to surrender. There was no time allowed even to say ‘I surrender’. No invader must be allowed to get in alive. This was the way that the Council had decreed it must be, the ultimate deterrent to anyone trying forced entry. This is what that policy meant on the ground.

Soon the invaders would not be able to survive on the outside without serious shelter anyway so this problem of forced entry should stop. Either those left outside would find their way into a dome or they would die slowly and painfully outside, it was as simple as that. They could put off the time by making little islands of houses hermetically sealed houses with greenhouses strong enough to survive the storms. But food and oxygen supplies were going to be too much of a problem. Everyone knew that. These small refuges that would mean that people could survive a bit longer, but they would not be mobile so could not be used to try a break in like this. Any sizeable movement of people or attack equipment towards the dome would be spotted and stopped.

Stella sympathised with those left outside to die, but harsh reality dictated this approach and the Council had ordered it. Billions had died already. This was just a few more.

Cease fire, let the smoke clear, Stella ordered. Be ready in case any invaders have survived. She would have to steel herself to whatever she was about to see.

I very much doubt that any will have, Colonel James muttered darkly.

Stella was surprised that General Smith had been organised enough to bring a large fan along which was turned on so the smoke suddenly was whisked away.

Stella forced herself to look. There were bodies everywhere, but none had got more than five paces from their invasion vehicle. The vehicle itself was pock marked from the explosions, but remained remarkably intact. Something moved inside the vehicle. A burst of heavy machine gun and a heavy grenade from her own troops and the movement stopped. No survivors were allowed. Stella could not and would not countermand this Council order. Invaders automatically signed their own death warrant by breaking in.

There must be twenty dead on both sides of their vehicle, Stella said in a hushed tone. She had not seen so many dead bodies before, let alone dead bodies that she had a major responsibility for killing. She felt sick. She had done the only thing that she could do if Gaia Two was to survive with the limited number of people who could live there sustainably.

Clear it all up, General, Stella ordered. Watch them for a few minutes first to be careful that there are no surprises. We will want to offer the families the bodies of their loved ones, even if some of them are in bits.

Some of them seem to have their families with them, General Smith observed.

Stella looked at the surveillance camera pictures again. There were some very small bodies and definitely several women. Oh shit.

We will need to report this to the Scottish Government, General Smith said. All lethal force events have to be reported to the government.

It was clearly self-defence, Stella said. The government agreed that we must use deadly force against invaders. It is their policy too.

Most people in Gaia Two blamed the Scottish government based in Edinburgh for not stopping the invaders before they came anywhere near Gaia Two. Gaia Two was located further north in what used to be called the Highlands, north west of the dome they called Inverness because it covered part of the old city.

They were not armed, General Smith pointed out.

Oh shit, Stella felt sick again. Then she felt angry that anyone should send innocent children to almost certain death. Sending children was done for political reasons to try to shame us! They had penetrated our inner ring and we had to destroy them, as everyone knew that we would, to maintain the dome’s integrity. That has been our clearly stated position for ages. Which sick people would send women and children on a suicide mission?

Someone who wants to make a political point would definitely send them. There could be hell to pay for this as everyone’s sympathies will be with the invaders, Colonel James remarked. The Scottish Government may use it to put more pressure on us to take more people.

That would be unsustainable. Ever since Scottish Independence the country has split further and further into fiefdoms, like ours, and some with only very small domes. Stella said. We can ignore the Scottish government which is increasingly irrelevant, although we do not want to goad them into doing anything silly. This was Stella’s standard speech and she spouted it a bit like wrapping herself in a comfort blanket at this moment.

The government still have strong military forces and a nuclear capability, General Smith pointed out.

Are not our forces just as strong, maybe not in numbers but with our high technology defences? Stella asked. They would not use the nuclear capability on their own countrymen.

Their forces are mainly tied up with defending the major city domes from invaders and domestic unrest, General Smith said.

Stella butted in. Their city domes are not sustainable when everything outside them is falling apart, particularly food production. So they could focus their forces against us to take our domes if they wanted to. It might be logical to them because they see us as being less crowded than their domes.

They would have a massive fight on their hands, General Smith pointed out. We are effectively independent from the government in most things. We need to strengthen our own forces to be able to face that sort of thing.

I think that you can go in and clear up the invaders mess now, Stella sighed. This distracting talk had been comforting, but she had to face the reality of the situation now.

Should we plant some weapons on them for the sake of the report to the Scottish Government? Colonel James asked quietly.

No, Stella said. I have no doubt that they made it clear to those outside before they came in that they had no weapons. If we planted weapons we would be lying and everyone would immediately distrust us. We have to speak the truth. It was one of the founding principles of Gaia Two. We also want the support of the Scottish Government to get hold of the materials we need for our expansion programme of more dome covered land. We cannot afford to be found guilty of lying. We must seek the moral high ground.

Our expansion is one reason why so many people want to get in to Gaia Two, Colonel James commented. They see that we are expanding and so think that we may be able to take more people.

We are already over full on the numbers in the current Gaia Two domes for full sustainability, Stella said. We have to expand just to create crop growing space for people already in Gaia Two. We also have a long list of prioritised names waiting to more than fill our expansion domes.

I can understand that if I was on outside and not on that list then I would also become desperate to break in, Colonel James pointed out. A quick death may be preferable to a slow one.

Well, we just have to stop them, Stella said simply and looked again at the dead bodies which her troops had started to collect and put into body bags. At least she did not have to go and look at them in the flesh, or clear up the body parts. It was quite enough to witness it all on the large screens. It almost made it illusory, like a computer game, although they all knew it was completely deadly real. If anyone ever succeeds in forcing their way in then even more people will try and even more will die. We have a zero tolerance to invaders who try to force their way in, armed or not. That is the policy. That is what we must enforce.

Good luck with your report to the Scottish Government, General Smith observed to Stella.

Outer Security

Stella looked across the conference table at Brigadier Mark Short. He was one person in the military side of things that she had a great deal of respect for. He was not ‘short’ at all but was tall, dark haired, and distractingly handsome. Even though he was still officially an ‘outsider’ without access to Gaia Two, he would be in once the newest expansion domes were built, so he had a strong incentive to get things done. As Brig was still officially an ‘outsider’ the meeting with him and General Smith was held in the ‘outer’ Gaia Two intervening space between Gaia Two proper and the outside world.

Brigadier Short, or ‘Brig’ as friends and senior colleagues called him, was Head of Gaia Two External Security and their military. He ran the smallish force that defended the outside of Gaia Two. The force was necessarily small as they all had to have skin in the game so they were all on the list for residency in the new expanded Gaia Two. They could not afford the space for more, so much of the defences were very high technology and automated, requiring few soldiers. The automated sentinels that surrounded Gaia Two fired at anything that moved. Wildlife stood no chance, although there was very little of that left due to the terrible environmental conditions on the outside.

Why did the external defences not stop the invader’s mole before it attacked our perimeter? General Smith demanded of Brig.

Brig looked calm. Our external sentinels were neutralised and the invaders mole was brought in very fast from a hidden cave they secretly expanded and used as a bunker. As you know we have automated heavy fire when any invader approaches within fifty metres of the outer ring which engaged as designed. Then the outer ring is reinforced concrete and if anything breaches that there is a heavily mined area and even heavier fire from the inner ring to the outer ring, Brig stated calmly. This vehicle was heavily protected and once it breached the outer ring it dug down underground very quickly, which gave it extra protection. However, as it was so heavy it was not quick enough to reach the inner ring and so we had plenty of time to meet the threat. Putting our external human forces into that automated fire was not practical and would not have made any significant difference. The right approach is what actually happened.

How do we stop vehicles like this that go under the earth and so protect themselves from our external defensive fire? Stella asked. We have had attempts to dig tunnels before but we have always spotted them in plenty of time. This was different as it was a very high technology extremely strongly armoured digger that could even get through reinforced concrete.

If we dig down to extend our defences underground all around the outer perimeter it will be very expensive and we currently do not have the materials. We cannot get the materials at the moment because of the current blockade of our entry ports by invader ships, Brig explained. It may not even have been effective against an armoured digging machine like the one we saw anyway. So I have already instructed our automated fleet of drones to expand the area we survey to spot the arrival of anything suspicious well outside our current surveillance. We have built more drones recently and we have the capability to do this whilst maintaining our already formidable drone fleet protecting the airspace for one hundred miles around Gaia Two. The drones can engage enemy infiltration, if necessary, using their onboard missiles and piloted remotely by people in Gaia Two.

Thank you, Brig, you sound like you have reacted fast to expand our defensive surveillance and our ability to strike invaders before they reach the dome, Stella said. General Smith, can I instruct you to review our inner ring security and see if we can give any future attempt like this a nasty surprise that will stop them breaching the inner ring? Maybe we need a strengthened inner perimeter. I was impressed that the thick metal stopped the invader mole, but I appreciate that we do not have the resources to install this around the whole inner perimeter.

Of course, Councillor, I will see that we come up with options within a month, General Smith concurred. The General was the senior commander to whom Brig reported so the General was the right person to organise this security review, despite Stella’s reservations.

OK, moving on to the next item on the agenda, Stella said as she was the Chairman of the meeting. This is probably more important than anything else, even the last item. Currently we have materials that we need to expand Gaia Two stuck on ships and in the ports will not allow them to land unless we offer their people some places in the expanded Gaia Two. Gaia Two Council have determined not to be blackmailed into letting in people who do not qualify for the domes. As you know people who come in must have the skills and intelligence to be essential productive workers in Gaia Two, or at the very least have the wealth to fund the building of the domes. We cannot take in people who have no specific benefit to offer for the future of Gaia Two. The Eastern Ports do not have any sizeable domes so a lot of them are seeking to find safety in a dome, with Gaia Two seen as being a dome where they can force us to take their people.

So how do we get the materials through the ports if we are not willing to offer them what they demand? General Smith asked. Do you want me to use force? That could be seen as not about self-defence, as agreed with the Scottish Government, but a very aggressive military attack outside the domes, especially when people get killed.

I have asked Brig to come up with options, Stella said, aware that the General may see this as a snub to him. Brig commands our external forces. What ideas do you have?

Thank you, Councillor Stella, Brig said and stood up to talk to some slides that he had prepared.

I think that there are three options. One, continue to negotiate and see if any of the ports will let our ships in. I do not think that this will work as they are adamant about requiring us to give them Gaia Two residences which we cannot spare. Even so, I think that we should keep negotiating without expecting any positive outcome. If we continue to negotiate it acts as a smoke screen for whatever else we may do.

The second option is force, whereby we occupy one of the ports for long enough to land our materials and transport them to Gaia Two. There are several ports on the East Coast that we could target, but as General Smith said this could lead to an all-out battle with a very uncertain outcome. It would also probably alienate the Scottish Government which could close the ports to us for ever. It could even precipitate conflict between our forces and Scottish government forces.

The third option, whilst not easy, is I think the most promising. Currently we have been developing a port on the west coast of Scotland near Unapool which, following the rise in sea levels is one of the few places, we could land materials from ships on the West Coast. The people from the Eastern ports know this and have occupied Unapool, with the threat to send armed reinforcements if we try to land ships there. However, I think that there is also a possible location a bit further north near Scourie where we can take some special equipment to extend the jetty there to unload our ships. However as soon as we try to use this we can expect the Eastern ports’ flying militants to come to Scourie as well.

Brig paused as he pointed on the map to where he was talking about. So I suggest a series of diversions to hide what we are doing whilst we achieve our objectives. Firstly, we approach an East Coast port in force, looking like we are trying to take it over. Indeed, we should try without fighting breaking out, but not expect to succeed. We will retreat from this to avoid any conflict or loss of life. We will then block the roads into Unapool and move there as if we are to attempt to take that port. Again, we will try and we may succeed for a while, but I expect the Eastern ports will send boats up to try to stop us. Our real objective will to be to build a rapid floating port and land as much as we can at Scourie before they realise what we are doing. It will take some time as we have a lot of material and ships to unload at a port so this is far from ideal. However, if we can distract the opposition in different ports then we can do it. We will use our drones to warn us of any approach of the opposition and to enforce a no-fly zone. We must make it clear that our routes by sea and by land have to be kept open by whatever means. We hope that this will not result in force, but it could do and we need to be ready for that. The big question is how the Scottish Government will react.

Stella was impressed. There was silence in the room.

Does anyone have any questions or any more comments? Stella asked.

Is not Scourie almost as close to the north-west edge of our Gaia Two expansion plan as Unapool? General Smith asked. Could we get the material across the bit of land between the Gaia Two expansion and Scourie? Otherwise, there is only one route by road, which will be open to ambush by bandits.

Yes, I have thought of that, Brig said with a slight smile. It is the wet season so a lot of the land will be very boggy. However, most of the vegetation is long dead from being scorched in the dry hot summers, from the acid rain in the wet season and from the persistent pollution in the atmosphere. So I have worked out a route for the lighter material across the land using old tracks that are still there. It is quite hilly and rocky but there is a way through. However, the heavier stuff will need to go by the existing road. I will keep a good look out for ambushes as we drive using our drone fleet. However, I hope and expect that most of the opposition people will either be at the East Coast port or trying to stop us at Unapool and do not realise what we are doing at Scourie. The whole idea is to create a new port to supply our needs and to keep that open and controlled by us. Any attempted ship blockade of Scourie will be treated as an attack on Gaia Two and dealt with accordingly, with force if necessary. Our drones can sink ships with ease if it comes to that.

There was some discussion but there seemed to be a consensus to go ahead with the plan put forward by Brig.

Fantastic, Stella said. It is absolutely imperative that we get this material through as it is essential to our expansion and for bringing in more people into our refuge. We have to get supplies through and I need you all to do whatever is necessary to achieve that. Even if the Eastern Ports people get wind of what we are doing we must get the materials through. We also need to have the way open to send out our exports. The drones we build are in high demand and are the best in the world. These are what pays for the dome expansion. All this is so important to us that we will use force to keep our supply lines open if necessary.

Will you explain all this to the Scottish Government, Councillor? General Smith asked Stella.

I have already warmed them up that we have to get the material through and that it is essential to the future of Gaia Two. Therefore, it comes under the provision of the self-defence clauses in our agreement with them, the Highlands Agreement. We have the right to land this material and we have the right to use force if it is being blocked.

So will the Government be happy for us to use deadly force? General Marsh said. I cannot see that they will be. Maybe we should take an East Coast port as the simplest and most surgical approach.

We would still need to get the material out from that port to Gaia Two and by land across the north of Scotland, and that would probably be a battle with bandits the whole way, Brig pointed out.

I did not say that the Scottish Government is happy with us using force, Stella clarified. I simply said that I have warmed them up to our position. They still have to give their verdict on the invaders that we had to fight off the other day. We are walking a political tightrope with them, but we must do what we must do. We have to do what is necessary for the future of Gaia Two, especially as we are the only dome in Scotland that is truly self-sufficient, or at least very nearly so.

In which case I say ‘go’ to Brig’s recommendation, General Smith said firmly.

Then you have the green light from both of us, Stella smiled sweetly at Brig. Please make room for me in your expeditionary force to Scourie.

Are you sure? Brig asked with surprise. It could be dangerous and it will definitely be uncomfortable. We will all need to wear oxygen masks and protective clothing against the outside environment.

I want to understand what it is like for those living outside the domes, Stella said. The last time I went out a year or two ago we did not even need to use gas masks, although the air was getting pretty low in oxygen even then.

It is significantly lower now. General Marsh said ominously.

The Docks Blockade

It was early evening when Stella hopped in to the armoured car that Brig was driving. She found this adventure more exciting than frightening and she had even looked forward to it. This would be an expedition to the real world rather than the cocoon of calm and peace in Gaia two.

Do you not have a driver? Stella asked Brig.

No, I prefer to drive myself.

Why?

If we hit an emergency, I trust my own rapid reactions more than I would trust anyone else’s.

Are we going to hit an emergency today?

Very possibly, but I did warn you that this is dangerous. Brig said as he looked across at Stella.

Stella noted a slight look of concern. There was a caring person here, unlike General Smith. He looked in her eyes, open and as an equal.

Let’s get going, Stella said. I see that the lorries are all ready and waiting for us outside in the torrential rain.

You will need to have your personal oxygen supply ready to put on at a moment’s notice, Brig advised. As long as we remain in the car we have the oxygen fed into our air, but if we have to evacuate quickly you must have your personal oxygen on you and ready to put it on immediately. I have given you the simple one which pipes oxygen into your nose, a bit like the old folks with lung problems used to use. This is the norm for us now. There is a full-face mask if you prefer which will also give extra protection from the pollutants.

No, I will go with what you have, the nose oxygen. Stella said. How do you manage as you live outside the dome? Stella pulled out the oxygen equipment from the special side pocket and examined it to make sure that she knew how to put it on.

Well, our house is sealed and we have oxygen added to every room from an outside tank which extracts oxygen from water. We also have strong air conditioning plus we have a large greenhouse where we grow much of our fresh food. But we do have to spend a lot just keeping the greenhouse at the right temperature. So I go from sealed house to sealed car to the sealed environment of the outer dome where my operations centre is located. I am not truly outside very often. When I am, I always use oxygen now.

It must be difficult running everything in individual sealed environments, Stella said.

Not so much difficult as very expensive, Brig shrugged. "We have to do it. I expected many more people to move north as the seas rose and the heat increased. However as much of the existing housing was flooded and new houses had to have all these extras it became too expensive to move. My family has always lived around here, so we just gradually improved our protection. Most people trying to move here cannot afford