Parador (Juggernaut #2)

Three

Like most cities, Caldera had grown by sprawling slowly across the landscape, filling the contours of the land and taking paths of least resistance. A city unimpeded by natural barriers could spread for miles, but unlike most cities, Caldera had grown inside the giant crater of a dormant coastal volcano and the mountainous perimeter wall constrained the city into a far smaller place than visitors expected.

Caldera had been founded shortly after contact with earth had been lost, but before the civil war had dragged the star systems to the brink of a new dark age. The Commonwealth had been founded on the premise that this must never happen again.

It was the promise of cheap energy released from the depths of the earth by geothermal extractors which held the key to Caldera's success. In the years after the Fall, something as mundane as reliable energy became the foundation on which the wealth and power of Parador would be built.

So, the city of Caldera remained small, Parador's black pearl nestled safely in the landscape.

When Tila, Ellie and Malachi reached the main road into the north city they were relieved to discover a footpath alongside the highway. After their trek across country a paved surface was a welcome relief and made the rest of their journey so much easier, and so much drier.

'Why was the ground so wet? Was that caused by rain?' said Ellie as they turned onto the path and began leaving wet, grassy footprints behind them.

'I think that was dew, not rain,' said Malachi.

'So where did that come from?'

'Uh... the ground I think. It gets wet in the morning, right Tila?'

Tila thought back to childhood lessons, but the only thing she was sure of was that she hated most of them and rarely listened. Life had provided its own important lessons in the last few years but dew point calculation was not one of them.

'Right,' she said.

Ellie considered this for the next few steps. 'So why does it need to rain?'

'Because of clouds?' said Tila. She looked to Malachi for help but Malachi had no manual for this and was equally clueless.

'Right,' said Ellie slowly, 'Neither of you knows anything about this, do you?'

'No,' said Tila.

'We don't get dew on the Juggernaut, Ellie,' said Malachi.

'Well now you have something to think about when we get back.'

Their path was not the only route into the north of the city. Further east, to their left, green buoys floated two hundred metres above the ground funnelling approaching air traffic into orderly lanes. Beyond them red buoys marked out exit lanes, and to the east of them lay the sparkling sea.

The road was noisier than Malachi had expected, and it surprised him to see so many wheeled vehicles in use alongside the regular anti-gravity transports.

Their path had been rising on a gradual incline for some time now, and the rocky hills that lay before them when they started their journey began to rise steeply on each side of the road. The rocky walls of a natural pass had been blasted or carved clear to widen the road. Their path veered right, away from the road and into a short tunnel cut for pedestrians. When they emerged, they were through the apex of their climb and inside the city of Caldera.

Every space within the dormant volcano had been filled. The buildings and streets of the city ran all the way to the edge of the rock wall through which they had entered. The perimeter curled gently to the right, isolating the city to the north and west, but gradually falling away to the south, there to be replaced by wide open plains.