Endless War (Complete)

Chapter 21 "Code"

Sharon agrees with me making the plans with Grim then bringing them before her and the rest of the elders of the group. I have Grim bring me to the space where the Ham radio is being used. I didn't realize there were stairs in this cavern system, it looks as if they used to run tours through here because several signs are strewn about. There is light trickling into the dark and I assume we are getting close to where we are going because for some reason my guide has extinguished his torch.

"Sorry, there is no open flame allowed in the Radio room, we can't risk burning any documents in there." He explains as he takes my hand leading me the rest of the way into the room.

I suppose radios are hard to come by. As we walk into the cavern I see where daylight is streaming into the room from a hole in the side of the cavern wall. It is like they just drilled a three foot hole as a window into the cave. There is a single desk in the center of the room and a man is sitting hunched over with a pencil and pad. Bookshelves line the walls filled to the brim with millions of books. "So, no open flame is because of all of the paper?"

"Exactly, we have some of the last written works available in this room. There seemed to be no reason to publish books on paper when the world went digital. We have collected every book we have come across, just hate that they are exposed to so much moisture in this cavern. We also have maps, lots of maps. The one you want to see is laid out there on the table." He points to an old table and starts walking toward it.

I follow his lead and look at the world map on the table. There are locations marked with tacks, all of them are different colors and there is no key so I calculate what all of the locations are in my head. "Ah, that makes since, you have some of the older soldier camps located but many of them have moved, they constantly are moving them." I quickly move all of the red tacks into the actual locations of the encampments. Green is their allies, brown would be the nomads, gold are the soldier domes and the black are the Tutelary and civilian domes. I add tacks to all of the domes that they have not discovered yet.

"So, what are you thinking?" Grim looks at all of the changes I made to the map.

"Well I had an idea about everything and now that I know that you are capable of getting in touch with other locations world wide, I think it is possible to achieve. I have committed all of the locations of your allies and nomadic groups to memory so we can go down to chat in private." I don't know the man at the radio and would prefer for him not to interfere so I lead Grim out of the cavern. "So, does that guy just sit at the radio all day?"

"No, he and three others know Morse Code so they take turns at the radio. They also teach others. We can go back out to the pool to talk if you like." He smiles at me in the dim light.

"Lead the way." I insist, even though at this point I could traverse the cavern alone. He takes my hand leading me through the dark passageways of the cavern until we reach the pool and swim out. We walk further from the water up a trail onto the mountain.

After about a mile of walking he points out from the tree canopy. The view is beautiful. I see how the sun has scorched the land over the past thousand years. Many of the mountains are only rock and no longer support vegetation the only reason this one does is because of the river that wells within it. I see now that the domes are not only to protect the rich and powerful from attack but it also keeps them protected from the sun. That changes up my plan, as I had hoped to storm the gates, drop the domes and prevent them from raising back up. I sigh.

"What is wrong?" Grim turns back to look at me.

I point out over the land, "This, this is what is wrong. My initial idea has changed, I didn't realize that the domes were necessary for life, I thought they were just for protection against attack." I collapse down to the dirt at my feet. "How much of this world is uninhabitable?"

"Ah, yeah the sun. Yeah she burns hotter here but there is more vegetation in other areas of the world. It has been a complete climate change. It makes since that weather news doesn't make it into the domes. They create their own weather. They are able to make it rain whenever they want, making it possible to grow gardens and eat a balanced diet. Regrettably they kept that technology to themselves, because they want all of us to die. The thing is life always finds a way. Between living sub-terrainian and eating what ever vegetation we can grow here or living on the surface as nomads." He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.