The last swim of summer

They entered into their third hour of flying. They had just crossed Sector 347 due northwest. It was hard to tell from the air. Most of the sectors in the outer plains were data-farms. Endless sprawls of grey concrete and metal, punctuated only by transmission towers. From their elevation, the ground looked like one giant canvass that someone had decided not to paint on.

The on-screen timer turned from green to yellow. Protocol required them to start posture augmentation. The central copilot was already on it.

“Starting pressure assist cycle” the computer announced into their headsets.

He could feel the pressure probes in his seat start pulsing lightly. As his glutes relaxed, he felt glad he was flying a private charter. They always have the best equipment. Perks of flying category A passengers.

“It is to prevent fatigue”. He looked in her direction as he explained. It must have been covered in the pre-flight training. But most tourists don’t bother to read that stuff. And flying long distances can be overwhelming for City residents.

New York was the second Mega CIty to erect a bio-dome. Intra-city travel dropped to almost zero after that. The City provided for everything - housing quarters, nourishment protocols, sensory engagement. Nobody usually ventured out.

“I think we should be there soon, right?” She had been studying the nav-map on her personal display.

“Yes. Where did you learn to read a nav-map?”

“I took a course. I wanted to go last year but wasn’t able to take time off.” He could sense the excitement and anticipation in her voice.

“Are you a corporate?”. He liked chatty passengers. Trips can be so monotonous otherwise.

“Yes, I am with Transcorp”. She said as if the name was enough justification.

“We own most of the farms out west and north. I am part of their design team”. She added to clarify.

“Then, I think we are probably flying over your sectors:”

She looked out the viewport for the first time. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

“Yes, they look like our designs. But it is hard to tell. They are all built to standards so everyone’s farms look kind of identical”.

“But ours has this cooling system that is the most efficient in the industry. We found a way to tap into ground water sources without going through the Sector’s central distribution line.”. She was starting to perk up. He could tell she was excited about her job.

“Destination approaching. Entering approach protocol.” The computer chimed in.

He turned his focus back to the controls. She started poring over the nav-map again.

“I read that you can see the Lakes from a distance.” The excitement in her voice was palpable.

Charters to the Lakes are usual this time of the year. The Conservatory opens to visitors for a period of 15 days only. It is the only time when the anti-evaporation shields are raised. The shoreline had been receding since the Great Decade of Drought. Ever since the Sector was declared a Category 5 Arid zone, the ministry decided to erect the shields.

“I have an aquasafe permit. I am going to get into the Water.”. She was practically bouncing on her seat.

He had seen the Lakes many times. He used to fly commercial over these sectors before they became data-farms. Most of the water was drained during the 3rd industrial boom following the Quantum-Supremacy Act and the ensuing race for data-farms. And then the drought made it worse. They were even able to find the fuselage of the airship that had crashed into the lake during the war.

After they had docked with the extractor tube, he took out the return protocol chart.

“You already know this but I have to inform you that the plane will leave exactly in 120 min from now. You will receive reminders every 15 min in the last hour on your communicator. Do you acknowledge?”

“Yes”.

“Thank you. Your gear will be available at port 32B”. He pressed the button to initiate the door unlocking mechanism. He would have plenty of time to visit the canteen.

—--------------

“We had been running laps over the lake all day. I had a friend from the marina manage to get hold of his boss’ boat for the day”

“Hmm-mm”. He had heard this story many times.

“I was really into acro those days. So he calls me up and says “Bro! You wanna do tows”. I say “Hell Yeah!”

Jim was an acro paragliding pro in his days. He had seen his old films. It was a real thing. People would hook onto these gliders that looked like huge canopies, and then tie themselves to a line attached to a winch on a boat. And then the boat would race into the lake and they would get hoisted into the air. The gliders had an aerofoil design that could be used to maneuver in the air. And about a couple of thousand feet off the water, they would detach from the line. This gave them about 15 minutes before the glider touched down. And they would use this time to do all kinds of acrobatic stunts in the air with the glider.

“You should have seen me. I could do the Helis, SATS, full wingovers, spin-stall-spins, everything. But my favorite was the tumble. That’s when you do a full somersault with your glider.”

He took another bite of his heated nutripack. He could expense it to the trip so had chosen the double flavored combo.

“Just before the glider would go into full loop, I would be in the air facing straight down into the lake’s blue water. I swear I could see my reflection from up there. And late in the afternoon, on the periphery you could see the sun glinting on the horizon. It would cause rainbow reflections in the water. It is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.”

He wondered if Jim ever felt scared while doing that. Probably not, Jim seemed like the kind of guy who loved this kind of stuff.

“And if it was a clear sunny day, I would put on a show. Everyone who had a boat would be on the lake. And I would fly over their heads and do these wingovers real close to the water. People would go crazy. And the lake was so gorgeous. Blue water as far as the eye can see. No one had ever been able to swim across the whole thing.”

The beeper on his communicator buzzed. It was time to head back to the plane.

“I have to go now Jim. It was great talking to you as usual. I will tell dad you said hello”

—---------------

He set the plane on autopilot course to New York.

“How was it?”

“It was unbelievable. I was able to walk all the way to the deepest post. I was nervous when the water was up to my thighs but my aquasafe monitor was green so I felt ok. And walking in the wetsuit was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Also I was able to use the hand rails to prevent myself from slipping. At one spot I stepped on something on the bed. I wanted to pick it up but I couldn’t see what it was so I didn’t ” She spoke rapidly. Her eyes had the spark of someone who has just experienced something profound.

“That sounds great. Did you see any rainbows?”

“What’s that?”.

He wasn’t sure how to explain it.

“In the deep zone, there was this man who had walked in from the other side. And he said it took him twice as long as it took me to get to that spot. Apparently the shields on that side had a malfunction earlier this year and caused a lot of leakage” she continued animated.

—---------------

“Destination approaching. Entering City approach protocol.” She started to gather her things.

“What's next for you? Another trip somewhere?” He quizzed wondering how much longer the tourist season would last.

“No, I have a big project starting at work. We are expanding the farms in the west and northwest zones. I will be busy for a long time.” Her voice started trailing, following her mind. “I am glad I was able to make this trip. Swimming had been on my list for a long time”