Dean McLaughlin's "The Man On the Bottom" (novelette, war, free): Surviving a sure death...

I'm surprised it hasn't seen much reprinting. Good stuff.

Story summary.

A future where many dome cities exist under the oceans. Mostly mining towns - mining the ocean bottoms. Now there is a deadly dispute brewing between America & South Africa - a rich mineral source lies in the territory common to domes of both, & both want the other party out.

When war breaks out, there is no hope for inhabitants of the domes. These are very vulnerable places; they might inflict some damage to an attacker, but they themselves will anyway be destroyed.

One determined supervisor of a dome has a survival plan...

Fact sheet.

First published: Astounding, March 1958.
Download full text as part of the scans of Astounding (British Edition), June 1958 where it was reprinted.
Rating: A.
Among the stories from Astounding/Analog issues edited by John Campbell.