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    Beacon, Escape from the Dome
    Beacon, Escape from the Dome
    Beacon, Escape from the Dome
    Ebook123 pages2 hours

    Beacon, Escape from the Dome

    By John Arthur Betts

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    About this ebook

    BEACON, Escape from the Dome.
    With the Sun entering a cooling phase it signaled the coming of the next Ice Age, then came the Dome cities, as the Ice Age nears its end we follow Jake on his journey to escape the Dome.
    But can he survive the harsh climate on the outside, can the ghosts of his ancestors protect and guide him.
    Only time will tell.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Arthur Betts
    Release dateDec 14, 2018
    ISBN9780463617434
    Beacon, Escape from the Dome
    Author

    John Arthur Betts

    Enjoyment is writing fantasy fiction,Pleasure is spending time with my long suffering and wonderful wife

    Read more from John Arthur Betts

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      Book preview

      Beacon, Escape from the Dome - John Arthur Betts

      BEACON

      Escape from the Dome

      John Arthur Betts

      Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

      Copyright 2018 John Arthur Betts

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Acknowledgments

      Line drawings and cover picture are copyright 2018

      K. J. Lambert and used with his written consent,

      Many thanks.

      Table of Content

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      About the Author

      Books by John Arthur Betts (eBooks)

      Books in Print

      Beacon

      Escape from the Dome

      Chapter 1

      Global warming is a problem they said! Those that predict Global cooling are mad they said.

      This was in the year 2015 when scientists predicted that the sun would soon enter a cooling phase that could last fifty to one hundred years, the governments of the world ignored them.

      But by the year 2020 average global temperatures had dropped by ten degrees, now the governments started to listen.

      The first giant city domes started construction in 2023, twenty miles in diameter and almost one mile high, below ground, were the massive biodigesters that provided fuel and electricity, each dome was self-sufficient and run by the military and civil police.

      The ground floor of each dome was the factory level, any smoke steam or fumes were recycled by the cleaning plant below, the next three levels were farming levels, the next was filled with processing plants.

      The military occupied five floors halfway up the dome with an airstrip running through the center, the hospital and care facilities were on the next floor with the scientists occupying the top three floors of the dome, all the rest was accommodation.

      These consisted of four rooms and a chemical shower, money was now a thing of the past as cash was turned to credits, people had to work to receive credits but each level had a canteen to reduce cooking in the living units.

      In 2030 people were moved from the surrounding towns, villages and cities into the domes, the average temperature was now zero Celsius in summer and minus twenty mid-winter, for the few that refused to go into the domes it was a hard existence and all are believed to have perished within a short time.

      Military scavenging parties were sent out when the weather permitted to collect any foodstuff or goods that could be used, these stopped in 2035 when the outside temperatures dropped to minus thirty in the summer and minus seventy mid-winter.

      Icefields and glaciers now covered the southern and northern hemispheres, the equator fared better with average temperatures hovering around minus five degrees all year.

      Temperatures started to rise slowly in 2067, several domes collapsed due to the moving glaciers, few were saved, conditions were still bleak.

      It was another ten years before summer temperatures again reached zero degrees and scavenging patrols were sent out, nothing of much use was found, most of the buildings outside had collapsed, those that still stood were too dangerous to enter.

      The following year summer temperatures rose to plus five degrees during July and August, patrols became more frequent looking for clear ground that would support farming.

      Three years later maize seeds were cast in several areas around the domes where the bare ground was found between the thick forests.

      Nature had taken over, where there were once roads now were trees and bushes, they must have thrived in the bad weather, sunshine was now visible at times but did not have much heat although it was getting brighter each year.

      Inside the domes life was hard, the Military now ran everything, CCTV covered every walkway and moving staircase and every citizen had a tracking chip injected under the skin of the wrist.

      This made it easier to do everything from opening doors to checking the credits in your account, that is the excuse the military used but it was to track where people were at any given time.

      Crime no longer existed and now they issued the one couple one child policy but the couples were carefully selected to fit the breeding requirements, this, in turn, led to new working conditions, a pregnant woman was allowed one month off work before the birth and twelve months after the birth.

      After the twelve months, the child was placed in the Orphanage at the domes mid-level, this is where I found myself at the age of one year.

      Chapter 2

      My name is Jake, I was born on the Twelfth of November 2069, I don’t remember much of my first year at home with my parents, that is apart from my mother playing the piano, Fur’ Elise is a tune I will always remember.

      I do remember the day they came, a woman in a white uniform and two policemen, I was taken from my home and placed in the Orphanage, this was not a nice place, several others arrived at the same time.

      By the time I was two years old we had been taught discipline, cry you get something to cry about, do something wrong you get something to cry about, I usually sat in a corner watching as the beatings were administered but I learned fast, it was at one of these times that I first saw the two misty shapes and heard a woman’s voice say you will be alright Jake, your time will come.

      At the age of three we were strapped in seats for four hours a day loading the dishwashers, when our shift was finished we were given four hours of schooling, we were taught to read, write and do basic calculations as well as history, even at this young age I recognised the comparison between Dome life and slavery.

      Our birthdays always meant a move to another job, one we were not paid credits for but we were given clothes, food and a bed, at four years old I was moved to the main kitchen to peel root vegetables, this meant being woken up at six in the morning, four hours schooling then eight hours peeling vegetables.

      It was a busy kitchen supplying the hospital and the military canteens, the chefs worked twelve-hour shifts and always seemed to be shouting, we had three basic meals a day then slept after work until we were woken the next day.

      When I was five life started to get interesting, I was transferred to the bakery where I was taught to make all types of bread, I was to stay in the bakery for five years before moving back to the main kitchen.

      At ten years old I was now working twelve-hour shifts then two hours schooling, I had studied hard, there was no freedom in the dome just work and sleep, I vowed then that I would find a way to escape, the two misty shapes were now frequent visitors, they always brought with them a feeling of calm and peace.

      Several others in the dormitory discussed finding a way out of the dome but none of us could work out how it could be done and survive, one seventeen year old managed to get out of the dome but his frozen body was returned a week later.

      I was moved to the farming levels at twelve years old where I was taught how to grow crops and handle all manner of livestock, I was now working sixteen hour days, there were four of us Orphans working the day shift and six working the night shift.

      I enjoyed working with the horses ploughing, drilling seeds and harvesting, I even enjoyed working with the sheep, cows and chickens but I was not too keen on the goats or pigs.

      At least on the farming levels I could run, climb trees and be alone if I wanted to, these levels were climate controlled for optimum production, it even rained from the sprinkler systems at the correct amount for each crop.

      I found it very refreshing running in the rain, my thoughts always with an escape plan but however long I considered each one, none led to freedom, I was very good at my work and after two years I was put in charge of a new team of Orphans.

      I taught them the skills I had been taught, once they had learned them I taught them the correct way that I had found out in practice, during rest breaks we would talk and discuss our lives and how we could improve them, although escape was never mentioned I got the impression that they all thought of it but dare not discuss it with a supervisor like me.

      Then things happened that stirred my thoughts of escape, we had been ploughing all day and I was leading one of the horses back to the stables when it pulled away from me and the lead rein tightened around my wrist.

      It didn’t break the skin but left a thick red wheal around my wrist that took nearly two weeks to almost vanish, I had taken to rubbing my wrist to ease the ache when I found that I could actually move the tracking chip.

      I managed to move it to just below the skin, I thought it would be easy to remove from there and it was hidden by the dark line that I now had all around my wrist, I must have been rubbing it during a break one day because one of my team asked what the lump was and if it hurt.

      I told them it was the tracking chip,

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