C James - Dome Six

The enormous concrete door continued down until it was level with the bottom of the channel stub, then stopped with a thunk. Some of Aramor’s Charlies crouched low to get a better look. A narrow street stretched out to infinity, with the towers visible in the far distance through a haze of humidity. Bright yellow chevrons illuminated to indicate the way out.

“Spread out,” Aramor said. “They’re coming.”

The first curious person appeared a few seconds later and paused at the top of the ramp, a young man wearing a loose hemp uniform. He tentatively made his way down, wide-eyed with wonder. Giant signs on the far wall where it branched off directed them to proceed to the end.

The young man looked up at the Charlies, as confused as he was excited.

“Keep moving,” Aramor said. “We’ve got a lot of people to take care of.”

“Where’s the Burn?” he asked.

“Far from here,” Aramor said, then gestured toward the T. “Please.”

The young man turned around to see that hundreds of others were now descending the ramp behind him. He turned left as Aramor’s Charlies waved them along. By and by, the ramp became an uninterrupted stripe of humanity.

“Is this really the best way?” Morgan asked.

Aramor shook his head. “It’s just how they designed it to work.”

People streamed out of the door for the better part of an hour, marching along as the channel gradually filled. Eventually the stream slowed to a trickle and Aramor activated his comm again. The third Scorpion had been circling the area ever since they dusted off from the tunnel side of the Dome and he wanted an update.

“Any sign of them?”

“Nothing yet, sir,” said the pilot.

“Keep on it.”

Eventually, the ramp emptied and Aramor checked the manifest. A few dozen CHIT signals were still making their way toward the exit, but at least they were moving. He didn’t want to go in if he could avoid it. Some time later, the last person exited and joined the noisy throngs in the channel.

Aramor contacted his lieutenant to silence the looping announcement and close the gate. The final echoes of the official voice stopped and echoed across the Dome, and the motor re-engaged to close the heavy gate. While it rose back out of the ground, Aramor nodded to Morgan and the Charlies made their way back to the Scorps. They fired up the engines as the heavy gate eased its way shut.

As Aramor went around to his side of the craft, he studied the faces of the people in the channel. Some looked happy, still marveling at the fact that they were outside at all, while others appeared more suspicious. They knew almost nothing of human history, and little of what they did know was true. Considering what was about to happen, that was probably for the best.

“Okay,” Aramor said. “Take us up.”

Morgan nudged the Scorp off the ground. As they climbed, the expressions began to shift toward concern. Soon they were hovering 200 meters above the channel. Aramor checked his watch. 9 a.m. on the nose.

“Everyone strap in,” Aramor said. “We may need to climb out of here fast if things don’t go as they should.”

Everyone clipped in while Aramor activated his comm for the final time. The tech lieutenant’s face appeared. “How are we looking out there?”

“The manifest is clean and the gate is closed,” Aramor said. “Trigger the sequence.”

“Yes sir,” he said. “Triggering in 3, 2, 1… and, mark.”

The first explosion took out the signal array. The moment it did, every last person in the channel dropped to the ground as their failsafes activated. It was hard to watch, even for Aramor, but he took solace in the fact that it was instantaneous.

Half a second later, the century-old charges in the Dome’s lattice frame went off in a rapid spiral, starting from the bottom and working their way toward the Apex with breathtaking precision. The percussions were distant and benign, like the snapping of fingers. For a moment it seemed like nothing was happening, but then All at once Dome Six collapsed in on itself, the vibrations from its violent end shaking the Scorpions. Secondary charges from somewhere underneath the hydroponic towers detonated and they toppled inward. Dust bloomed up from the wreckage like a mushroom cloud.

The solemn expressions of his men suggested they took no pleasure in this either. They understood it was just business.

Soon, the dozers would be hauled in from Pacifica and push the excavated mounds of dirt back into the channel. Once that was done, the salvage operation could begin in earnest, but that wouldn’t involve him. Aramor had spent the first half of his career in the Reclamation and he didn’t need to see anymore. With luck, he’d be an Executive by the time they ramped things up here. Eliason sent him to oversee Egress and now it was done.

One down, seven to go.

He patted Morgan’s shoulder and said, “Well done, everybody. Let’s find the stragglers and go home.”

They ran as fast as they could, which wasn’t fast at all considering the steep slope and the fact that Byron still had Tosh slung over his shoulder. He almost fell at least three times but always righted himself at the last moment.

Hideki was on his own. He would could only follow Downing so far without losing the signal, so he’d have to stay close to the Dome or close to them. He was pretty much trapped.

They crouched behind a pile of dark gray boulders at the bottom of a gulch, from which they could just see between the trees to the top of the hill where Dek stood. It was hard to make anything out at a distance, even in the building light. A conversation ensued between whoever came out of the strange aircraft and Hideki. They could just see the outlines of two men go past where Hideki was and drag back someone’s body. That was almost certainly Downing.

Owen’s mind had just calmed down enough to think logically about their situation when a shot rang out and Hideki crumpled to the ground.

Dee squelched a scream and clapped her hands over her mouth. Vi hugged her tightly and they shrank down together against the rocks. All eyes turned sympathetically to Tosh. Owen crawled over to her to explain what happened, but she already seemed to know because she was already crying.

“I know. We need to keep moving,” Tosh managed.

Owen pulled back and noted that one of the three aircraft had taken back off. He turned to Aaron and said, “They know we’re not in the Dome. They’re coming after us.”

“What should we do?” Aaron asked.

“You heard the woman,” Byron said, picking Tosh back up. “Let’s go.”

Owen chewed his lip for a moment and said, “Our blankets. Maybe they’ll shield us a bit from scans while we move.”

“Can’t hurt,” Aaron agreed.

“Everyone cover up with your UV blankets, especially your head,” Owen said.

He helped Byron fish out his blanket and draped it over him and his mom while the others covered up with theirs. Tears poured down her cheeks and collected on her chin. Hideki chased after Downing in order to get the antidote for her but now they were both dead and she probably wished she was. Others would die, too, unless they got out of there.

Owen took the lead with Elle at the rear. Down and down they went through a mud-filled gulley that widened into a small creek. They’d never seen water just running like that.

They followed it for at least a kilometer. No one pursued them on foot and, though the aircraft’s circle around the Dome had widened, they were soon well away from it. They paused to rest beside a short ridge that rose up to the left, blocking their view of the Dome entirely. On the other side of it, the engines of the remaining two aircraft roared back to life.