Oasis
Part
One
“Wake up, sleepy
face” the blond girl said getting too close to Jake's face while he
was still mostly asleep. He fell right off his cot because of his
little sister and onto the wooden floor. If the breeze hadn't picked
up just as he was standing he might have chased her through the
gondola. Instead he turned and beheld the site of Oasis on a nice
morning.
The only city on the
planet grown up around the only surface water and surrounded by
mountains which helped keep it together. Otherwise humans wouldn't be
living here, except maybe a few scientists. He reached out and
grabbed a shirt from the line and threw it on, he had to get down
there and enjoy the city!
He threw on his
sandals and ran through the gondola into the kitchen where he nabbed
a small stack of cracker-toast and berries and headed for the anchor
rope.
“Take the vator
this time, sliding down the anchor is dangerous!” his father yelled
as he ran by. Jake hardly heard anything as he grabbed his hook and
caught the anchor rope and slid around and around toward the ground.
It was almost like flying as he held out his other arm and enjoyed
the feeling of the rushing air and watched the ground rush up to meet
him.
“Don't you ever
listen?” Jake thought he heard his father yelling from somewhere,
but that was a small matter. He hit the ground, he was in Oasis! It
felt like his element, everything about this town and this planet
felt like part of him. Oasis was made up of thirteen distinct groups
of people, factions some called them, but most called them tribes.
Thirteen tribes of Oasis.
Nobody remembers
why.
The most noticeable
of the tribes was Jake's own Airship Vagabonds who lived in
the sky on large dirigibles. There were usually dozens anchored
around Oasis, the city, at any given time while others wandered the
skies of the desert world. Then there was the Merchants of
Oasis City who pretty much
controlled local politics. They were pretty okay, but boring.
Jake went from table
to table and booth to booth seeing what was for sale. Sometimes you
might find a real gem among the trash. Sometimes you might be able to
buy a piece of high-technology from off-world, but that was getting
more and more rare. Jake eyed the weapons on sale at one of the
fancier booths, the charge pistols were far too expensive but there
was something...
“Is that a
boomerazor?” Jake asked, surprised. The short, fat balding man
smiled and nodded. Where had he come across this? It was just barely
affordable and Jake was eager to buy it. It looked a bit worn and
might be dull with age but it was the real deal. He dropped his bag
of coin on the counter and held it up.
He folded and
unfolded it. A real sharpened boomerang used by the Aerial Knights
and he had one to call his own. The Aerial Knights lived up on a high
plateau, they considered it a kingdom of their own and they kept to
themselves mostly. You could see them flying their power-gliders like
they owned the sky, because they did own the skies. Jake had always
been in awe of them.
The Aerial Knights
weren't the only tribe to be mostly known for using motors, the
Riders rode their cycles all over the desert, they own the
ground in their mind. Nobody would want to cross them out in the
empty wastes alone. They would rob you blind and make you thank them
for it.
The Riders never
tried to attack Oasis City of course. They were only a bother to any
crazies who decided to run off into the desert on their own. The
Agrarians who farmed the outskirts of Oasis, near where the
water was, were raided once in a while but it's been many years. The
Riders had mellowed.
Jake went to his
very favorite noodle shop, flopped onto a bench and waved at Lily.
Lily was the blonde girl who worked the place, sometimes her sister
Tulip helped out but that was usually more of an annoyance than a
help. Lily smiled and waved back and quickly had a bowl of regular
noodles in front of him.
“So what are you
up to, Mr Jake Wagoner?” she asked, sitting on the table near the
bowl he was trying to eat from. He was looking elsewhere and the
noodles slipped right off his fork without him knowing, she laughed.
His family had once been part of the Caravan tribe, riding
their wagons in long lines all over the place before his grandfather
got the chance to buy his own blimp.
“I was just
thinking about the pretty girl who works here, Ms. Lily” he said.
She looked around and said “You want me to go fetch Tulip?”
Jake put out and
waved both hands “No, please don't!”
She laughed and
leaned up close to Jake. “So... you mean that I am the pretty
girl?” she asked in an imitation of a sultry voice. They both
laughed, how many times had they done this?
Just then they heard
some shouting around the corner and they both went to look. It seems
that someone was angry with one of the peddler-merchants.
“What do you mean
you can't sell me ammo for this gun?” a customer was asking loudly
“That sounds like a real shady business operation to me!”
The peddler was
upset too. “I can't find any ammunition for that particular type
gun. It just isn't available. We don't manufacture them on Oasis,
obviously. I will buy the gun back from you, I guess.”
The man threw the
gun at the peddler and then kicked over the table. “You're nothing
but trash!” he yelled “I want my money back.”
The man stomped off
after getting his money. Jake and Lily went back around the corner.
“What was that all about? That guy was really high-strung!” Jake
said.
“Yeah. It's
happening more and more these days.” Lily told him “It's almost
as if someone powerful is intentionally messing with the markets.”
“What do you
mean?”
“That was a common
caliber of weapon, Jake. There should be warehouses of that
ammunition, there were actually, but recently someone has been taking
it all... off-line.” she answered “I hear a lot of people talking
about this. I think something is up, but I don't know what and I have
no proof. It's just a theory right now.”
The Governing
Council of Oasis is made up of one member of each of the thirteen
tribes, this helps keep the balance and the peace in our society.
Being a desert planet, the population is not very big and one small
group can make a big disruption if they wanted to. That used to be
the Riders but they mostly stuck to their own thing these days.
Jake decided to pay
a visit to his friend, Bolt. Bolt was the son of Mr. Tinker, one of
the best Makers in Oasis. He could design and produce just about
anything on his hand-built X-Y-Z mini-factories and that should
include ammunition, if the gunpowder was available.
“Bolt, anyone
here?” Jake asked, pushing open the front door. Bolt was there in
the middle of the floor with their maid Leeta. She seemed to be
comforting him.
“What happened?”
Jake asked
“Some men, a gang,
they came and busted up the factory. They busted up Mr. Tinker too”
Leeta answered as Bolt sobbed. She rubbed his shoulders and then said
“He's not doing too well, but he will pull through I think.”
“Who would do
this?” Jake asked “Mr. Tinker doesn't have any enemies, does he?”
No, but he had
competitors. That was the first thing Jake thought of, but it didn't
make sense. For thirty years Mr. Tinker has been just fine and why
would the others manufacturers send goons now? Two and two did not
add up to competitors.
It was getting late.
Jake would be able to investigate this a little more tomorrow.
Walking back toward the family dirigible his thoughts were in
turmoil. He had wanted to spend his time flirting with Lily but
something weird was happening and it was not going to be good.
The vator was
already lowered and waiting for him. He walked onto the platform and
pulled the cord and then he was slowly winched up to the gondola.
Once he arrived his father said “Dinner is served, Jake. Where have
you been anyway?”
It was a
never-ending joke since Oasis wasn't that big and Jake was old enough
to go pretty much anywhere he wanted. He entered the dining room to
find the benches holding his annoying little sister, her friend
Kelsa, and their little brother, Jato.
“Steamed tato's”
Jato called out as he entered “Reary good!” shoving spoonfuls
into his mouth. Jake took his bowl and took a few small, quick bites
before setting it down.
“Dad. Have you
heard anything weird happening lately?” Jake asked.
“Not really. Why?
Anything specific?” he asked, adjusting one of his suspenders.
“What about the
council, has something happened on the council?” Jake asked, it was
a fishing expedition but it was something his dad might know about.
His dead took a
drink of his water. “Now that you ask, kind of.”
Jake hadn't expected
anything, he was surprised. “What? You mean something is happening
on the council?”
His dad reached
down and pulled out the palm-size flimsy he was always reading. “It's
been in the news for days, Jake. You should try reading the news once
in a while.”
He took the flimsy
from his father and scrolled the headlines.
His dad said “A
new member of the council. Supposedly representing the merchants but
it seems he strong-armed his way onto the council. Now he is trying
to cajole the council into passing all kinds of new laws and
programs, he says he has a grand vision for Oasis.”
Jake didn't know if
this had anything to do with the attack on Mr. Tinker or the lack of
available ammunition for the public but it could. This Mr. Campo
wanted to heavily restrict firearms on Oasis and he wanted to more
regulate the manufacturing of goods. His ideas might have made sense
on a densely populated world but it was kind of dumb on Oasis.
“This Mr. Campo.
Does he seem like someone who might hire goons?” Jake asked handing
the flimsy back to his father.
“I don't know. He
seems like a big dreamer and ideologue to me, plus he is just one
member of the council. I don't think we have to worry about Mr. Campo
actually getting of the more weird things passed.” his dad said.
Weird ideas. Like
the bridge to the plateau, the idea that the Air Knights and other
tribes should not have their own defacto territories. All that's
going to do is cause conflict where none need exist. Jake wondered if
Campo was trying to cause conflict?
Then his dad spoke
up. “I sort of volunteered you for helping with the harvest at
Evander's orchard tomorrow, so show up bright and early.”
“You what?” Jake
asked. Why was his father always doing things like that? Evander's
orchard was to the south of Oasis City farther than the lakes. Close
to the edge of the plateau. Maybe he would get a glimpse of the
power-gliders flying through the sky. That would make it worth the
trip.
The next morning
Jake was out of the gondola and down the anchor rope using his hook,
using the brake just before hitting the ground. Then he took the
turn-off south and walked the rocky path toward the orchards.
The path was also
the only thin piece of land dividing two of the lakes that made up
Oasis, the one on the left was used as a city water source, the one
on the right was for agriculture. He could see some people working on
the fish farm in the distance. After he crossed the path it wasn't
too much farther before he reached Evander's orchards.
The orchards were a
sight, a lot of green on such a dry world. But the plateau in the
distance kept getting his attention. Something about it has always
drawn him. Someday he wanted to visit the plateau and learn all about
the Air Knights. Even though this never happened, they were very
closed off, he wanted to go.
After picking
oranges and other fruit until past noon, Jake's fingers were hurting.
Finally Mr. Evander himself brought him some cold juice and told him
he could go now. Before Jake could take off, the man dropped some
coins into his hand. A little money never hurt.
“Thanks! I didn't
expect that.” Jake said
“You were working
harder than most of my paid help. I almost had to stop them from
ganging up on you for making them look bad, but they were too lazy to
carry through with their plans.” Evander joked with him.
“Thanks again. If
you need help again, you know where to find me.” Jake told him
before leaving. Instead of heading back toward Oasis City he went
south to the big empty desert between the farms and plateau. He
wanted to see some aerial shows but nothing was flying at that
moment.
Just before he gave
up he finally glimpsed one of the power-gliders fly from the plateau
and make some sharp turns in the air. Someone was doing a good job of
controlling their aircraft, Jake thought as he watched the aircraft
maneuver.
Boom! Jake nearly
fell over from the sound. Where had that come from? He saw a man in
the desert area with a big gun on his shoulder. Boom! He was shooting
at the Air Knight. Jake was shocked, this was attempted murder (crime
is rare on Oasis!) and in broad daylight. Jake wanted to find someone
and tell them to call the authorities but... boom!
Smoke poured from
the power-glider it could no longer fly high enough to land on the
plateau. Jake watched the smoke trail turn and head towards the man
on the ground with the gun. Jake wanted to scream a warning to the
Air Knight but just then the man on the ground dropped the gun and
grabbed his throat, and fell.
Jake ran towards
where all of this was happening.
The power glider had
crashed landed, smoke was still coming from the engine. The Air
Knight was standing with hands on hips staring on their vehicle. Not
far away was the body of a gruff-looking man, a large gun next to him
and a boomerazor lodged into his throat.
“Are you okay?”
Jake asked “I saw the whole thing!”
The Air Knight
turned around and took off their helmet. Hair just past the shoulders
and the prettiest face Jake remembered seeing on a girl. She was
around his own age too. “Who are you?” she asked.
“My name is Jake.
I saw it all. What's your name?”
“Ria” she told
him and walked to the body and pulled the weapon from the corpse. “Do
you have any idea who he is? Or why he attacked me?”
Jake shook his head.
“Some weird things have been happening lately, but nothing like
this. Are you okay though?”
“He punctured my
glider!” Ria told him “That is definitely not being okay!”
Then she pulled
something from the helmet and spoke into it “Hando! I had an
emergency, call the others and come and get me!”
Jake could barely
hear a garbled response.
She looked around
and back to Jake, as if just remembering he was there. “You can go
now, my wing will come and fetch me. I'm not injured.”
Jake looked at the
body and back to her. “You just killed a man in self-defense, the
authorities need to be notified. People can't just go around and use
you guys for target practice!”
“I'm not notifying
anyone” she said “I'm just going to get back up there where I
belong. I have my own authorities to warn about people shooting at
us.”
Jake nodded. The Air
Knights liked to think of themselves as their own little country,
independent from the others. That was something Mr. Campo was trying
to start an argument over in the council. Jake glanced at the corpse
again, could that guy have been working for Campo? Could this
incident now be used by him for political purposes?
------ Go To Part Two
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