Fabrication by Aer-ki Jyr

Author:Aer-ki Jyr [Jyr, Aer-ki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

6

The tunnel was similar to the transit lines that ran throughout Atlantis…dark, cramped, and with nothing to see but running lights. The inside of the car was much larger though, and allowed the men to walk around during the trip as they talked through the setup operations that enabled the first mining site and the construction of Atlantis’s foundations, which were situated in a cradle that sat on top of the bedrock as opposed to drilling footholds to firmly grip the Earth’s crust.

With the city’s design, they were using the sheer weight of the construct to hold it in place, with no detectable slippage occurring in the years since completion. It was a design motif enabling internal structural integrity, for if the ground were to split beneath them the city wouldn’t be sheered in half by its own ‘legs’ when they were pulled apart, not that they were expecting any such fissures to arise within the area, but it also made the city more resistant to earthquakes, which they did experience on occasion.

The rail tunnels themselves were also designed to ‘float’ on the ground rather than be anchored in place, other than by their weight. The entirety of one line was open air, but the side tunnel that they were traveling in was separate, with its own airway and emergency stoppage points along the pair of tracks that ran one on top of the other to allow for transit in opposite directions simultaneously.

The stoppage points were little more than platforms that connected to a pressurized rescue room that also connected into the main tunnel via pod-like airlocks that would allow personnel to transfer through in a small booth that would swivel about and only allow a few bucketfuls of water into the room along with the person, even if the other side was completely flooded. Same went for the access airlocks from the small line’s side.

To date there had never been a line breach, but they’d designed the tunnels with web-like internal structures that would keep a single hole from collapsing a much larger section, meaning that it would take longer for the ocean water to flow in and fill up the miles long tunnel to the top, thus increasing the survival odds of anyone caught inside, though the train engines were fully pressurized ‘ships’ of their own, capable of surviving and even towing their cargo while completely submerged underwater if need be.

Greg appreciated the safety precautions, especially now that they were only meters away from the ocean through the tunnel walls.

When they arrived at their destination the rail car slowed to a stop as it branched off the main line and entered a dedicated alcove inside a much larger train station. For the first time since they left Atlantis they could see the main monorail line, branching off at a 90 degree angle and heading into the outpost dome that was larger than any sports stadium Greg had ever seen.

“There are watertight doors that can seal off the spur

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.