[center][color=steelblue][h2]The State of Israel[/h2][/color][/center] March, 2040 [hr] The little air taxi banked, hovered for a brief moment, and then darted in to claim a small yellow circle marked out in the taxi landing zone. The little tires squeaked as they landed, the loudest part of this all electric flight, and the doors opened without prompting. Lucy Aharish thanked the pilot, tapped her phone on the payment machine, and stepped out into the harsh sunlight that beat down on the Eilat Ramon Airport. Four passenger hurried past her from the que and climbed in. The taxi was airborne and rising away before she had even reached the sidewalk. She paused, pulled out her camera, and quickly snapped some photos of the furious activity around her. An air-taxi arrived or departed every thirty seconds here, making it the busiest airport in Israel outside of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A large Solar-Glider passed overhead and she felt a strange pang of longing at seeing something so familiar, and yet so modern. The advent of the climate change crisis had brought an end to the development and use of massive commercial airliners. The new reality was smaller aircraft, no more than fifty passengers, that could manage 500 miles, hoping their way across the world. The use of Solar-Riders was limited in Israel; you could move a lot more people just as quickly by train now. The new four rail express train that ran north out of Eilat was proof of this. Lucy tucked the camera away again and stepped into the airport terminal. It had been built to handle two million passengers a year and that number had certainly been reached. After the government essentially banned all personal vehicles, everyone turned to trains and the increasing number of electric air-taxis and air-buses that replaced their former carbon fuel compatriots. Banks of solar panels, fed by Israels nearly endless sunshine, was a testament to how successful it had been. Trains departed from a terminal beneath the airport now. Express trains went north, and smaller commuter trains went south into the city proper, linking up with the port and city centre. It was here she headed next, riding the escalator down into a terminal that bustled with folks coming and going. She stepped up to one of the ticket terminals and the camera at the top took a photo of her, paused for a few moments, and then her image appeared in front of her, along with a welcome message providing her name. She clicked the button confirming the ticket was for her, then selected her destination as Jerusalem. [center][color=red]WARNING: WEATHER EVENT Dust storm at your destination. Expect delays. Thank you for your patience[/color][/center] She sighed and tapped "accept". Jerusalem was suffering an excessive number of storms as spring approached. The absolute rule of the desert beyond the Border Wall was causing problems across many fronts and she only hoped that the rains did not begin at the same time. Mud storms, a new term for when rain and sand storms collided, were the worst. Her timing was perfect as the express train for Jerusalem slid into the station a few minutes later. The hiss of the magnetic propulsion shutting down was matched by the soft "clank" as the train settled onto the tracks. The doors opened people swarmed out onto the platform. Above them, ever watching, were dozens of security cameras that scanned the crowd; AI looking for anyone wanted by the authorities. Security seemed light in this new age of technology but she knew that that armed security staff were never far away. The crowd thinned and she stepped onto the train, glancing around for her seat. These new trains, installed in the last five years, were comfortable - windows stretching from floor to ceiling - allowed an unobstructed view of the surrounding terrain which, at this moment, was nothing but concrete. She took her seat and was relieved when no one sat next to her. The seats in front of her were occupied by a young couple with a sleeping baby, those behind her by a pair of giggling university students. "Next stop, Mizpe Ramon. Please remain seated when the train is in motion." A pleasant male voice came over the intercom and the doors closed nearby. She felt the train vibrate as the magnetic system turned on and the train rose slightly off the ground. "Please ensure you are seated. This train departs in thirty seconds." Digital screens in the back of every headrest began to count down from thirty and she watched several folks scrambling to get seated. "Ten seconds." The voice continued politely. The numbers ticked down in front of her face and then, after a soft "Bing" sound, she could feel the train begin to accelerate; she could feel the force pushing her back in the seat as it did and the wall beside her turned into a blur. The track rose, climbing out from under the airport terminal, and then they burst into the sunshine. It was always a surreal experience at first, the huge glass windows giving you a real scope on the speed you were going. Sand whipped by in a golden blur, anything close to you was nearly impossible to focus on. In the distance however, rising black against the sand, was the Border Wall, stretching away to the North without an end. Beyond that, bathed in golden sunlight, was a never ending, and growing mass of sun dunes. The Jordanian City of Aquba had once been over there, but after the war the Israelis had occupied the city and then walled themselves off from the rest of the Middle East. Now it was nothing but ever shifting sands with many of the local populations reverting to nomadic camel herding, more climate refugees in a world gone to hell.