Page 125 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Airtight

particularly obnoxious television reporter. “How many? Well, all the
people who were inside the dome, of course, plus Ben and me and a
few other employees of Cyborganics.” She jotted it down. I hadn’t
been inside for a year, of course, so I wasn’t the best guide
available—but better me than expose any of our crew to the harsh
glare of publicity.
We exited the airlock after an automatic pump had exchanged the
outer for inner atmosphere. When the team had rushed out with
Laurel’s body, they had overridden the time delay, causing the slight
pressure differential to make a lot of noise when the external door
opened—attracting all those reporters at just the wrong moment. Of
course, they couldn’t see anything inside, because the dome is opaque
in order to eliminate the sun’s rays entirely. Everything inside is
supposed to be recycled or created within, mimicking the conditions
of a sealed space station. The gravity, of course, wasn’t artificial, but
Waldo had told me the centrifugal force created on the inside of a
spinning cylinder suspended in space would be close enough to make
the experiment valid. I had learned a lot from Waldo, at least well
enough to parrot it back in press releases and interviews.
“Lt. Gramercy—may I call you Labelle?” She nodded. “I can give
you a few brief facts about this environment. The dome skeleton
consists of aluminum alloy struts; the skin is a proprietary material we
are using under a limited license, so I can’t reveal its trade name. It
does have a high refractive index and contains an efficient insulated
core. The temperature is further controlled by the equipment in that
large shed. The artificial lighting and atmosphere are also managed in
there, mainly by computer. Subterranean cables provide electrical
power to everything in here; they are sealed, as well. The dome is
about two hundred feet in diameter, enclosing a bit more than half an
acre. Most of that is dedicated to the planting trials, as you can see.”
Labelle scanned Toro’s neat rows of Cyborganic corn and beans.
She sniffed the ozonized air. “I suppose you can get used to this, but
it’s definitely not for everyone.”
“Right. We had to screen all the candidates for psychological
factors as well as medical problems. It can be claustrophobic, on the
one hand, and leave you feeling totally exposed, on the other. Ray
told me after a few days they just tuned out the dome, stopped
looking up or out to where the sky or horizon should have been.

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