Tunnel in the Sky: Difference between revisions

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A Malthusian catastrophe on Earth has been averted by the invention of [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleportation]], called the "[[Cool Gate|Ramsbotham jump]]", which is used to send Earth's excess population to colonize other planets. However, the costs of operating the device mean that the colonies are isolated from Earth until they can produce something to justify two-way trade. Because modern technology requires a supporting infrastructure, more primitive methods are employed — for example, horses instead of tractors.

 

On the second day, Rod is ambushed and knocked unconscious by a thief. When he wakes up, all he has left is a spare knife hidden under a bandage. In his desperate concentration on survival, he loses track of time. Eventually he teams up with Jacqueline "Jack" Daudet, a student from another class [[Samus Is a Girl|whom he initially mistakes for a male]]. When she tells him that more than ten days have elapsed without contact, he realizes that they are stranded...

 

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* [[China Takes Over the World]]: Militarily, and they only take over Australia. In the early chapters of the book, it is disclosed that at some time prior to the invention of teleportation, China conquered and colonized Australia, survivors of the original population (evidently here referring to both White Australians and Aborigines) being relocated to New Zealand.

* [[Cool Gate]]: The Ramsbotham gates, as mentioned above.

* [[Technology Marches On]]: Contemplating the flow of people through Ramsbotham gates, Rod decides to calculate how long it would take the current population of the Earth to go through, accounting for deaths and births along the way. He uses a slide rule.

* [[Teenage Wasteland]]: Much like ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'', the story is about a group of teenagers who are lost, stranded, or otherwise isolated from society. It works out because they were being taught survival techniques.

 

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