The rim of the sun was showing above a low range of wooded hills. The town of Clear Springs was bathed in limpid morning light. With a catch in his throat he caught sight of the sun deck of his own home. They would still be abed there—his mother and father and his ex-wife.
It was strange to think that he'd never see them again. It made him realize the finality of this journey.
A human guinea-pig!
They had been traveling for several hours when his eyes were attracted by the sparkle of sunlight dead ahead. Then he made out a huge plastic dome cupping hundreds of acres.
The Experimental Station!
The police 'copter lit with a slight jar on the thick green sward of the landing field. Joel climbed down stiffly.
Seen from the ground, the structure took his breath away. It was a tremendous dome of clear plastic like a glass beehive. Thousands of tiny figures could be seen moving about its many levels.
No tree grew around the hive. On all sides gently rolling meadows studded with grazing sheep, goats and cattle fell away, for miles.
He began to appreciate why no prisoner had escaped from the station in over a hundred years!
A guard challenged them at the entrance.