Free 2040 Revelations by Robert Storey Page A

excavation techniques enabled enormous chambers to be cut out of the Earth’s crust. The principal and unusual process behind this success was called Thermal Density Reduction (T.D.R.), pioneered by renowned British scientists William and Thomas Wedgwood.
    It was evening, so the chamber they were currently in – Alpha Chamber One, or AC1 for short – was under street lighting, much like any surface town or city. U.S.S.B. Steadfast was classified as a subterranean base, but since it housed five hundred thousand people it was really an underground city and as such would have qualified, if it wasn’t clandestine, as the forty-fifth largest city out of two hundred and eighty-five in the United States.
    A central road ran through the chamber and from the Command Centre, in which they were located, it could be seen disappearing off into the distance. Many roads branched out from this thoroughfare in a familiar grid system configuration, while emission-free cars, bikes and trucks criss-crossed smoothly throughout the transport network’s intersections like data packets moving between computers. Of course the advantage of electric vehicles underground was obvious; a lack of pollutants prevented chambers from filling up with noxious gases. Induction track lines integrated on the main roads charged and powered vehicles while also preventing high speed crashes, which would likely have dire consequences in such an underground facility. Safety was paramount for all Steadfastians, as they liked to call themselves.
    Once the two men had made their way outside, Goodwin hailed a cab and climbed inside after Steiner had boarded.
    ‘Where to, Mr. Goodwin, sir?’ the cabby said.
    A certain loss of anonymity came with heading a project like Steadfast, and he was known throughout the base. He’d even appeared on the various media platforms run by the civilian sector, much to his dismay; he enjoyed his privacy and didn’t like to be the centre of attention.
    ‘Can you take us to the Bio Chamber System, please, BC5 would be good.’
    ‘Will do, sir, should take about thirty-five minutes.’
    Goodwin thanked him as the car effortlessly gained speed and linked onto the main trunk road. A loud clunk reverberated through the sub frame as the taxi locked onto one of the central track ways.
    ‘How is Cathy?’ the professor asked him as the scenery flashed by.
    ‘We went our separate ways,’ Goodwin said.
    ‘I’m sorry to hear that, she was …’
    ‘Manic, is the word you’re looking for.’
    ‘I was going to say energetic,’ Steiner said, with a small smile.
    ‘That would be one way of putting it.’
    ‘You’ve found no one else?’
    ‘No, it’s been a while now and I’ve gotten used to being on my own.’
    ‘Richard, don’t end up like me, wealthy, driven and successful and yet I am alone. It’s not the sort of life you should be getting used to.’
    ‘Did you never want to remarry?’ Goodwin said, steering the conversation away from a topic he’d rather not discuss.
    ‘Not for a long time.’ Steiner sighed. ‘I replaced companionship with my studies and work and when I did eventually consider it, I felt it too late in my life, I was stuck in my ways. Sad but true.’
    Goodwin didn’t reply. The professor was right, he didn’t want to get used to being alone and yet he’d tired of the merry-go-round of the dating scene a while back. No, he was happy enough; he had good friends, excellent friends, and many interests. Besides, his work took up most of his time so he wouldn’t be able to give a woman the attention she deserved anyway.
    As they neared the bio chamber a while later, travelling along a seemingly endless low-lit tunnel, they passed a large digital road sign indicating entry into section BC5. The taxi swept around a tight bend and up a steep incline before bright, simulated natural light engulfed them as they exited into a truly cavernous area of the base.Trees pressed in all around the car and flocks of