Dawn of Poseidon

Alan Freer Roger

Description

Far in the distant future, Planet Earth is dying. Ravaged by war and pollution, the only choice for the tiny surviving population is to leave this planet and search for sanctuary in the depth of space, or is there another option?

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 30 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781528965101
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Dawn of Poseidon
Roger Alan Freer
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-09-30
The Dawn of Poseidon About the Author About the Book Dedication Copyright Information© Prologue Chapter 1 Devastation Chapter 2 Preparation Chapter 3 Arrival and Wait 1834 Chapter 4 Nemesis Chapter 5 Alarm Stations Chapter 6 Awakening Chapter 7 Rising Chapter 8 The New “Ranklin” Corporation Chapter 9 Declaration Chapter 10 Attack Chapter 11 Consideration Chapter 12 Repatriation Chapter 13 Return to the Deep Chapter 14 Interrogation Chapter 15 Your Property Chapter 16 World Summit Chapter 17 Meltdown Chapter 18 Departure Chapter 19 Beacons Chapter 20 Settlement Chapter 21 The Final Voyage
About the Author
A man who left school at 15 years spent his tormented life as a successful engineer. Now nearing his seventies, he writes short stories and this is the first of a trilogy.
About the Book
Far in the distant future, Planet Earth is dying. Ravaged by war and pollution, the only choice for the tiny surviving population is to leave this planet and search for sanctuary in the depth of space, or is there another option?
Dedication
To the peace-loving people of this world.
Copyright Information©
Roger Alan Freer (2019)
The right of Roger Alan Freer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528965101 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Prologue
The year 2349.
Three great ships entered orbit, gently settling into formation, their view screens focused on a dying world far below. Three ships crewed by artificial beings whose only command was to preserve the occupants of the last surviving remnants of a dying species.
Throughout the giant ships, great video screens displayed a world far below that was once green, blue, and fruitful; a Garden of Eden to a plethora of life forms. Now it had become a desolate world of dereliction, its great oceans now slowly becoming lifeless, acid seas, its landmasses scorched and scarred by ancient war.
Now, only one choice was left; leave this dead world and search endlessly through the galaxies for, maybe, thousands of decades, to find a new world that may give refuge to a dying race.
The dying planet was, once known as, EARTH
The refugees… MANKIND
Chapter 1

Devastation
For countless centuries, one of Earth’s species had slain its own kind. Mankind had made war, killed and murdered his own simply for riches, land and the power to rule. Little did he know that his own greed would be the cause of his ultimate downfall. Wars had been fought between small states and huge nations, until, in the terrible twentieth century, two great world wars claimed the lives of millions of innocent civilians, along with countless soldiers who were forced into battles, with no top commanders daring to set a single foot anywhere near a death zone. Those who did merely followed their troops when all was made safe enough.
Peace might have followed, but still, nations fought over the right to take control over the planet’s natural riches and lands that were not the property of aggressors.
For countless centuries, Man lived his existence in agony, watching even his own populations subjected to war, famine and almost endless torment. Then there came the ultimate conflict.
The resources of the planet began to dwindle; food supplies could no longer sustain a growing population. This time, war would not be fought with ground troops or navies but with machines.
Robotic battle bots and drone-flying death machines would attack their pre-determined targets with precision, without compassion and without any feeling of any kind.
Controllers had long since been taking refuge and operation centres were hidden in underground bunkers, ensuring the survival of an elite few. How naive they were!
Thousands of robotic machines scoured enemy strongholds, destroying everything in their path. Factories, homes, schools, hospitals, people, nothing would withstand the relentless onslaught of unfeeling and merciless machines. As one target was annihilated, the next target automatically locked into the systems. Entire cities, towns, farms, any possible escape route was destroyed and occupants were considered nothing more than collateral damage.
After the land machines, came the flying drone aircraft, each carrying the lethal loads of atomic weapons, which once were outlawed by peace-loving nations.
The deadly cargoes were released from their holding bays, rocketing through night skies, turning night into day with brilliant flashes of blinding light, quickly followed by blast waves that destroyed even the smallest fragment of what still remained.
On the western side of the Atlantic, New York, Washington D.C, the Pentagon, all disappeared in superheated vapour clouds. To the east, London, Paris, Rome and Moscow no longer existed. All that remained was utter devastation and death. The machines continued their onslaught, this time seeking out secondary targets, the people in control, politicians and world leaders who had taken refuge in their underground bunkers, closely guarded by elite troops. Little did they realise that their own acts had already sealed their fate.
A pilotless aircraft cruised towards the United States at an altitude nearing the edge of space. A single, massive device fell towards the northern USA, its target…
Yellowstone Park…
A bomb with the power to fracture the giant magma chamber far beneath the surface, triggered the first super eruption known to modern Mankind. The northern half of America was doomed to be buried beneath tons of volcanic ash.
Within mere weeks of the gigantic eruption, skies had turned to deep black clouds of volcanic ash and dust, contaminated with radioactive debris from a hundred atomic blasts. The sun blocked out, temperatures across the globe plummeted to winter conditions, crops died, water supplies were poisoned, while those still in deep bunkers slowly froze to death as power supplies failed. Even the demon war machines fell, unable to recharge their solar power systems. For Man, nowhere was left, no sanctuary, life doomed to a cold, starving end.
Small settlements still survived for a few icy years, but even for these, the end would come. One settlement, untouched by the awful carnage that had befallen the planet, not only survived, but began to thrive. Antarctica was Man’s final refuge. Teams of scientists and engineers, along with support staff, had lived on this frozen continent for up to fifteen years, searching for the cause of magnetic anomalies, living off the bounty of the southern ocean, but could they survive longer, when almost all others had perished?
Chapter 2

Preparation
Three hundred years had passed since the awful apocalypse that had befallen a once bountiful planet. For the past seventy years, scout vessels from Antaria (the new name for Antarctica) had scoured the remaining land masses and oceans, searching in vain for any form of life that might still exist. At last, the time had come, when all hope was lost. The Great Council was called to decide what would become of the people of Antaria, where they might survive and where they could go.
The meeting began with “Master Jonas” making the announcement that this last settlement of humankind would soon become poisoned with the polluted atmosphere of a dead world.
“People of Antaria, we have reached the end of our very existence, so I put to you, the free people, the fact that we now have been left with no option but to prepare to leave this once green world and begin our voyage to the stars beyond. I propose that we command our robotic workforce to begin the planning and the construction of three great ships that can transport our entire community to seek out a new world, somewhere in the depths of space, to be capable of sustaining both us and our future generations, for however long such a voyage may take.”
The people retired to their lounges to discuss and place their votes on the proposition of leaving their once-loved home. The vote took less than one day, and the result was unanimous. Work must commence with all possible haste.
Machines and artificial intelligence laboured for over forty years, designing and modifying plans before submitting to the great council the final drawings and specifications for the constructions to begin.
Three giant ships would be assembled, each measuring almost one and a half miles in diameter, with up to twenty decks, each ship equipped with the best medical facilities: schools libraries, leisure facilities, and power systems that would last for many centuries. Each protected from the ravages of space with sphero-magnetic defence shields. The vessels will be constructed from new metals and alloys capable of withstanding the pressures of, both, absolute vacuum and the massive outside pressures encountered in the deepest of the planet’s oceans.
Robotic builders toiled relentlessly, working continuously without pause, for what seemed to be an eternity, until, at last, nearly seventy years later, three giant vessels stood outside the protected settlement. In a great ceremony, the three ships were named,
Neptune, Atlanta and Poseidon .
Preparations began as quickly as possible to stock the ships with everything which could be salvaged from this dying world, everything that could preser