happen, will it?”
“That is
correct,” said Hopkins.
“But… why
would they want all those cities destroyed?” asked Tim.
“I’ll explain
that in a moment. First, let me tell you a little bit more about
Jefferson Delta. It is 300 stories high, with 100 residential
floors. Those are not our biggest floors, but, obviously, it’s where we
keep our population. Each of the residential floors is about three
quarters of a mile in diameter and holds, on average, 30,000 people. Of
course, more live on the lower floors, where the less well-off live, less on
the top floors, where they get larger living quarters. Only a few of the
apartments have any kind of view of the outside world, but with huge
flat-screen tvs in nearly every room, most people are content. At any
rate, there are about three million people living in Jefferson Delta, and
eighteen million in all of Jefferson. Of course, there’s a couple million
extra people in Jefferson, since it’s the world capital.”
“But…
Figure an average of fifteen million people, multiplied by fifty metropoles,
right? That’s only 750 million people,” said Julie. Not for the
first time ever, Tim was impressed by Julie’s mental math skills, but he was
bothered by something, too.
“But you said
this was a world empire, right? How can the world population be less than
750 million? There’s almost seven billion people on the planet in our
time,” said Tim.
“That is
correct.” said Hopkins. “Let me explain. Not everyone who lives in
the world today lives in the world empire, although it is the single recognized
government in the world and controls what happens on every continent but
Antarctica. You remember I told you that I am supposed to be in prison?”
The four teens
nodded.
“Well, I am
about to show you the present time’s version of a prison. Of course,
there’s more that I could show you here. Lavish shopping malls,
in-building amusement parks, casinos, indoor beaches, stadiums. And
that’s just within Jefferson Delta, which isn’t even a tourist
attraction. The Wilson metropolis is quite spectacular. It has
miles of indoor beaches, a hundred thousand poker tables, and a million slot
machines, among other attractions. All this does not even begin to cover
the floors of factories within each building, manufacturing for world
distribution. And the transportation system is rather exciting as
well. You have seen one of the elevators, but there are also several
trams cutting across the diameter and tracing concentric circumferences on each
floor, so you can get anywhere you need to go within a floor within several
minutes. But you will not find a single prison. The undesirable
population, which includes anyone who is unemployable, the severely mentally
ill, and anybody who thinks a little too freely, in addition to anyone who has
actually committed a crime, are sent away. Let’s get back to the
elevator.”
When they caught
the elevator again, this time going down, there were three other people on
it. Hopkins requested the fifty-fifth floor. The four teens resumed
their uncomfortable silence in the corner, and this time Hopkins did nothing to
break the tension, so the five of them were quiet until the last of the other
passengers got off.
Then, Hopkins
said, “Link hands.” He produced his Dominus Temporis and a small
stone. Then, he took Tim’s hand, and after the others linked hands,
before the door even opened at floor fifty-five, the elevator was gone and they
were standing on a patch of stony rubble in a field of overgrown grass and
wildflowers.
Chapter 9
The Wilderness
“That’s still amazingly
disconcerting,” said Billy, shaking his head and closing his eyes for a
moment.
“It truly is,”
agreed Rose.
Tim took a
moment to look around. A few hundred yards in front of them there was a
metallic wall marked “electric.” The wall was maybe two stories high
“That is
correct,” said Hopkins.
“But… why
would they want all those cities destroyed?” asked Tim.
“I’ll explain
that in a moment. First, let me tell you a little bit more about
Jefferson Delta. It is 300 stories high, with 100 residential
floors. Those are not our biggest floors, but, obviously, it’s where we
keep our population. Each of the residential floors is about three
quarters of a mile in diameter and holds, on average, 30,000 people. Of
course, more live on the lower floors, where the less well-off live, less on
the top floors, where they get larger living quarters. Only a few of the
apartments have any kind of view of the outside world, but with huge
flat-screen tvs in nearly every room, most people are content. At any
rate, there are about three million people living in Jefferson Delta, and
eighteen million in all of Jefferson. Of course, there’s a couple million
extra people in Jefferson, since it’s the world capital.”
“But…
Figure an average of fifteen million people, multiplied by fifty metropoles,
right? That’s only 750 million people,” said Julie. Not for the
first time ever, Tim was impressed by Julie’s mental math skills, but he was
bothered by something, too.
“But you said
this was a world empire, right? How can the world population be less than
750 million? There’s almost seven billion people on the planet in our
time,” said Tim.
“That is
correct.” said Hopkins. “Let me explain. Not everyone who lives in
the world today lives in the world empire, although it is the single recognized
government in the world and controls what happens on every continent but
Antarctica. You remember I told you that I am supposed to be in prison?”
The four teens
nodded.
“Well, I am
about to show you the present time’s version of a prison. Of course,
there’s more that I could show you here. Lavish shopping malls,
in-building amusement parks, casinos, indoor beaches, stadiums. And
that’s just within Jefferson Delta, which isn’t even a tourist
attraction. The Wilson metropolis is quite spectacular. It has
miles of indoor beaches, a hundred thousand poker tables, and a million slot
machines, among other attractions. All this does not even begin to cover
the floors of factories within each building, manufacturing for world
distribution. And the transportation system is rather exciting as
well. You have seen one of the elevators, but there are also several
trams cutting across the diameter and tracing concentric circumferences on each
floor, so you can get anywhere you need to go within a floor within several
minutes. But you will not find a single prison. The undesirable
population, which includes anyone who is unemployable, the severely mentally
ill, and anybody who thinks a little too freely, in addition to anyone who has
actually committed a crime, are sent away. Let’s get back to the
elevator.”
When they caught
the elevator again, this time going down, there were three other people on
it. Hopkins requested the fifty-fifth floor. The four teens resumed
their uncomfortable silence in the corner, and this time Hopkins did nothing to
break the tension, so the five of them were quiet until the last of the other
passengers got off.
Then, Hopkins
said, “Link hands.” He produced his Dominus Temporis and a small
stone. Then, he took Tim’s hand, and after the others linked hands,
before the door even opened at floor fifty-five, the elevator was gone and they
were standing on a patch of stony rubble in a field of overgrown grass and
wildflowers.
Chapter 9
The Wilderness
“That’s still amazingly
disconcerting,” said Billy, shaking his head and closing his eyes for a
moment.
“It truly is,”
agreed Rose.
Tim took a
moment to look around. A few hundred yards in front of them there was a
metallic wall marked “electric.” The wall was maybe two stories high
Similar Books
