Tales of PulchraGea, Vol. 1

4: Oasis (Final/2162)

The sun hadn't even peeked over the barricades when Robin came knocking the next day. It was chilly, as evidenced by the long sleeved thermal shirt she'd chosen to pair with her ubiquitous tennis skirt.
"What?" she said. "My arms are cold."
We trekked down the main street of Argentum to the town Launch, a place where the local population park their aircraft. I was just this side of awake enough to register all the sleek aircraft only slightly larger than a larger car, or the ones that looked like storage containers with rockets strapped onto the sides.
Robin picked the newest looking one and, with some button taps and swipes on the surface of her holographic display, opened the mandible-style loading doors up front. Inside was clearly the crew entrance, because it was the size of a walk in closet. At the back was a circular plate, slightly raised above the rest of the floor and glowing like a blacklight. Stepping on this plate greatly reduced gravity, allowing one to either moon-jump to the cockpit on the top platform or fall from there back down with impunity.

The cockpit held two seats in front of a blank dash panel. Only a single blinking light sat in midair, right in the middle. Robin sat heavily, practically jumping bodily, into the seat and touched the light. The dash exploded into lights and colors, panels, readouts, and a control yoke. Above the control panel, a blank wall burst into real life, the dawning sky swirled into existence. A metal panel, suddenly a windshield, replete with altitude and attitude overlays. I sat in the other chair and Robin pressed a holographic button; the control yoke slid from her side to mine.

"I'm going to teach you how to fly," she said. "You'll be the first king to learn how!"

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said nervously.

"You'll do fine," Robin assured me. "The newest technology. You literally couldn't crash it if you tried."

"How do I..." I looked at the light show tentatively. "It's a hologram."

"A solid hologram," she emphasized. "You can touch them. Just don't grab them too hard and it'll be okay."

I reached out and grabbed hold. It felt like silicon gel in my grip.

"What do I do?" I asked.

Robin pressed some buttons, labelled in that not-quite-English script that was almost but not quite legible. The airship jumped sharply and I almost panicked.

"Relax," Robin scolded. "We're just lifting off."

The giant rocket-brick settled gently on the wind as she quickly and efficiently touched a few buttons and slid a holographic lever forward.

"Throttle is on the right, steering on the the left," Robin said. "Just follow the green shape to our destination."

I eased the throttle forward and we shot off toward the sunrise.

***

To pass the time, Robin taught me a little about our destination, Oasis, the hub of culture and knowledge in PulchraGea. It sat deep in the desert. Millennia ago, it had been some sort of natural nuclear reactor beneath the ground. Once it had burned out, all that was left was a thick glassy dome that created a sort of greenhouse atmosphere that allowed life beneath the dome to flourish, as well as protecting from the vicious sandstorms that the desert was infamous for. Settlers had brought various plants with them to cultivate. Food was so plentiful that the people could focus on art and learning the mysteries of the universe. Robin told me about the Great Library, where any citizen could come to attend classes, workshops, or lectures on nearly any subject imaginable. She also taught me about the Library's famous Thousand Steps, a symbol of the difficult climb out of ignorance and into knowledge, and that with enough effort enlightenment could be attained by anyone.