Oasis

Xander

"He touched me! He touched me! Somebody, please that guy is touching me!" Nova screamed.

Everyone was flustered and scrambled around in the dark.

"Who touched you?"

"Are you alright?"

People were rushing over to Nova"s screaming. I slowly felt around for open purses and jacket pockets as they passed me by in the dark.

"I-it was...that old man!" She wailed.

A little bit over dramatic, but she was able to keep them busy as I pick pocketed from some people from the tram. It"s my least favorite job to do, but it pays much better than the other ones. And just like Robin Hood, I steal from the tourists and split the winnings with Nova. Or something like that.

The tunnel was almost coming to an end and I had already got enough trinkets and things to sell for money. Once the tram was brought back into the light, I signaled Nova that I was finished.

"I"m fine, I"m fine. I think the man is gone now. I"m sorry everyone!" Nova"s voice was shaky as she smiled weakly, then fainted. What a drama queen.

A few people helped her up and gathered her things. She smoothed her plaid skirt and fixed her afro just as the tram stopped moving. She apologized some more and finally got up, stumbling a bit. Overplaying the damsel in distress act.

"Neptune District, Sector 5D...Neptune District, Sector 5D," the robotic voice said signaling our stop.

Nova and I got off and we both started walking down the street between the skyscrapers and businesses. We made sure to keep a some distance between us before we met in an alley behind some dumpster.

"You overdid it again Nova," I criticized.

"Yeah, whatever. But you have to admit it was better than last time. I mean, I gathered so many people you had to have taken a whole s**t ton of stuff right? The fainting was a personal touch I thought would get a lot of attention." She bragged. Her smile was bright and smug.

Nova and I always did this after I was finished with my mechanic job on the tram to different districts in Neptune. She would cause a distraction, and I"d take whatever my hands could get on. Then we"d sell what we could and take the money home and did whatever we wanted with it. It was how we became friends after all.

I held out my bag and shook it. There wasn"t a lot but it was always enough for Nova. She was practically jumping for joy, so I rested my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Look, Nova, I might lose my job at Miguel"s. So, I don"t know if we should stop pick pocketing for awhile and make fast money some other way."

Nova nodded. "Well that"s a bummer, I kinda liked Miguel, that old fart."

I playfully shoved her. "You mean you like loitering around while I worked. Why can"t you get a job?"

"On Poseidon, you must be joking! Who would hire a foul mouthed, hot head like me?" She laughed.

"Like I said, maybe it is for the best if we stop this. I mean we could try street performing again." I picked up the bag and dumped out the contents from my bag.

I was able to take a good amount of jewelry, passports, printed IDs, some comm bracelets, and other small trinkets from earth and beyond.

"Oh look at this gem, it"s like it has a fire inside of it." Nova held the gem up for me to see.

It was really gorgeous. It looked like a fire was encased inside and around it was blue. Against the dying sunlight it looked like it could catch fire at any moment; it was so radiant.

"It reminds me of dragons," she whispered.

Her eyes were gleaming as she studied the small gem. She may be 16, but at that moment she reminded me of a child, so fascinated in the smallest thing.

"You know you can keep it. We can just sell the rest." I got up and gathered everything.

Nova looked up with bewilderment. "Really? Awesome! I was gonna keep it to myself anyway." She got up and hugged me tightly.

As we walked the clean streets of Neptune the heavy flow of people and tourists were dwindling. It got dark and the streetlights were turning on one by one.

"Gattica better not pull another bullshit stunt to try and swindle us."

"Why do you have such a vendetta against, the guy?"

"Oh, no, if anything, he has something against me. I mean he swindles everyone! Someone has to tell him off. Not like I care about the devastating consequences or nothin"."

"Keep doing that and you"ll be banned from all pawnshops."

"Just another place I can"t go; like that"ll make a difference."

We finally made it to Gattica"s pawn shop and sold all of the items except for a platinum bracelet and the fire gem. It all came to a whopping 678 univs. We held our wrists to deposit the money and left.

"That wasn"t so bad, this is enough to get you and Pallas a few more days of food, right?"

"I guess. He"s gonna be pissed I didn"t get him anything again. But I bet your mom is gonna love that bracelet. How are you gonna tell her about your job?"

"It"s not really set in stone, but I"ll let her know once it"s official that I don"t have that job anymore."

The rest of the walk to the tram station was silent. The sprawling metropolis was now even more busier because at night the best attractions come out to play. Nova and I passed the Red Light District with its brothels, special entertainment venues, strip clubs and such. The same billboard that would welcome you had a picture of the notorious drag queen, Lady Gemini.

"I wanna go see one of her shows someday," said Nova dreamily.

"Isn"t the Red Light District mainly for men?"

"Not anymore! They just opened up a male version of those escort or host places called Pandora"s Box. Also a drag show is for anyone. It"s just that..." Nova stared longingly at the poster of the made up drag queen.

Her makeup was over her eyes and lips were exaggerated to be much larger, like a doll. She gracefully held a microphone and there was a speech bubble next to her that said "Once a week sensation! A go see for all!"

"You"d think they"d be able to make enough money to make that sign go digital like the rest of the signs around Neptune and Triton." I clucked my tongue and kept walking.

I looked back at Nova. She was still staring at the poster and twisting the gem between her fingers.

"It concerns me that you know so much about stuff like that." I teased.

"Yeah, I guess." Her voice was quiet and filled with grief.

The tram was almost void of people. Nova and I were sitting; watching the city of Neptune flash by as we made our way home. The digital signs flashed advertisements of hover boards, hover cars, special drinks that make you change the color of your hair depending on your mood, a rare vitamin that"ll change your skin to another race, and finally, my favorite, the portrait of Chief Commander Emperor Zedekiah Donegal and his daughter, crown princess Cordelia Donegal. The royal ass hats.

Well, not all of them. Crown Princess Cordelia Luna Donegal. The future leader of all of Atlantis and the unexplored region of M-25. Pale skin, lily pad green eyes, and a small smile that could always make you feel warmth. Like I"d be into that. But you can"t deny her beauty, and the rumors of her intelligence and rebellious spirit. Kids used to joke and say that she"d come and help the orphans in the District, but they"re all lies.

They had to be.

"Hello! M-25 to Xander? You listening?" Nova waved her hand in front of my face.

"Huh?"

She crossed her arms and stared back at me. Her amber eyes looked towards the Portrait of Emperor Zedekiah and Cordelia.

I looked back too. I faintly heard Nova say something under her breath. It was probably nothing.