Ride Into The Future

Supplement ŠKODA Mobil, June 2018.

• Page 1

  RIDE

  INTO THE FUTURE

  SEVEN STORIES ABOUT

  THE TRANSFORMATION OF PERSONAL MOBILITY

• Page 2

  2

  WHAT LIES IN STORE? LOOK FOR THE FUTURE

  IN OUR STORIES

  We live in a time of turbulent change. What would have seemed like something out

  of the realm of sci-fi just a few years ago is starting to be taken for granted. What we

  now consider impossible will become run-of-the-mill the day after tomorrow. Digiti-

  sation and technological progress are changing our lives at an incredible pace. And

  cars and transport are not immune to the dramatic changes, of course.

  Innovations linked to personal mobility play a key role in the stories we are fea

  -

  turing. We gave their authors a fun brief: their stories had to include technologies

  we are familiar with today and innovations that have yet to materialise. As you will

  see for yourselves, discerning the boundary between fiction and reality is not always

  that simple. Each story references a different literary genre, so there is something for

  everyone, from lovers of adventure and suspense to sports fans, romantics, history

  buffs and fairy tale enthusiasts. We hope the stories will entertain you and, above

  all, help you relax during the summer holidays.

  Your ŠKODA Mobil editorial board

  FOREWORD

  Drive an

  electromobile!

  Are you up to speed with innovations? Do the quiz on the last

  double-page and win the chance to try out an electric car.

• Page 3

  3

  PL AYING

  ALL NIGHT LONG

  I catch the sound of an SUV engine in the forest

  just at the moment when I’ve man-

  aged to clean the last piece of dirt off the stylised face of emperor Sung with a fine

  brush. Taking long, careful steps, I leave the site of the dig, tossing the porcelain

  statue in my hand. Five years! Five years of looking for evidence, digging in the

  earth, endless reading of ancient Chinese documents, travel... and all the time the

  evidence was right here. In west Pennsylvania.

  Jerry and his two gorillas

  jump out of the car. I wave at them. Holding the statue

  between thumb and index finger, I point at it with my other hand. “Sung dynasty!

  An artefact at least eight hundred years old from the Sung dynasty! On the east

  coast! Can you believe it?!” Jerry carefully takes the statue in his hand.

  “That’s... pretty unexpected, huh?” he says, raising his eyes to mine.

  “That’s the best thing about it!” I say as I lead Jerry to the little camp table. His

  gorillas follow us. I put my finger on the map.

  “It was assumed that the Chinese were able to cross the entire Pacific and that

  they probably visited North America several times long before either Columbus or

  the Vikings. This statue proves that the Chinese did not just spend time in the north-

  ern hemisphere, but that they crossed it on foot... This is the find of the century.

  Schoolkids from all over America will be taken to the museum to see this statue.”

  “Not this time, Colorado. This time we’re going to leave the museum and research

  journals out of this,” he says, shaking his head.

  “What do you mean?” I say, frowning.

  “I never had a problem with funding your research,” he says, raising his eyes to

  mine. “While my business was going well, that is. I have a buyer for the statue,” he

  says, feeling its weight.

  “No.” I reach out for the statue.

  “Come on, Colorado, be reasonable,” he says, looking concerned. “I don’t want to

  force you into anything, but I’ll set Tim and Tom on you if you leave me no choice.”

  “No,” I say, reaching behind my back for my hunting knife. “You think you can

  scare me? You’re just a desk rat, but I’ve spent six months in a Thai jail.”

  “And who got you out, Colorado? We’ll work something out...” I’m quick. Quick

  AN ADVENTURE STORY

• Page 4

  4

  enough to catch Jerry by surprise. With one hand I grab his shoulder and pull so

  hard that he spins round, his back to me. With the other hand I hold the knife to

  his throat, using him as a shield before his gorillas have time to draw their pistols.

  I take the emperor Sung from his fingers and put it in my trouser pocket. Still hold-

  ing Jerry, I step back towards the forest. If it was money I wanted I wouldn’t be an

  archaeologist, would I? The gorillas follow us warily to the edge of the thick vege-

  tation. “Empty the chambers of your pistols right now, take out the magazines and

  throw down the guns! Or I’ll cut your boss’s throat,” I shout at them.

  Darkness has fallen.

  Zigzagging fast and some ingenious hiding soon had me out of

  earshot of Jerry and his henchmen. I wasn’t really sure where I was going, but it

  was obvious that if I kept running long enough I’d come across a road that would

  take me to civilisation. Ahead of me the forest ends, and when I come out of the

  line of trees I see a small, quiet village of maybe thirty houses. I run towards it, but

  as I get closer I see there’s something weird about it... it’s quiet, about ten at night

  and no lights are on in any of the windows. And there’s a strange figure standing in

  the middle of the road.

  “Hello?” I say unsurely as I slowly approach someone who has decided to stand

  unmoving in the middle of a pedestrian crossing in a goddamned ghost town at

  night. “Can you hear me?” No reply, no sound, no movement. I take another step

  so I’m just a yard away from him, and I notice he has strangely pale hands and his

  face... “What the hell...”

  At that moment the whole world changes. Floodlights come on all round me and

  a voice like thunder roars, “What are you doing here?”

  I’m standing in a room

  surrounded by monitors. Images from cameras all over the

  little town flicker on the screens. A girl of around twenty sits in front of me with a

  half-eaten baguette, earphones and a microphone on her neck. She’s staring at me

  nonplussed.

  “You’re trying to tell me you don’t know where you are?! I thought you were a

  journalist. Spit it out, before I call the guards.”

  “I’m an archaeologist,” I say, taking the statue out of my pocket. “This is a remark

  -

  ably valuable artefact that my... rivals wanted to steal. And what are you doing here

  in the night?”

  “I’m Meggie, night watch. It’s a summer job. You’re in the Almono zone, where

  self-driving Uber cars are tested,” she explains, pointing to a big logo on the door.

  “You’ve built a whole town, with figures of people, to test cars?” I ask, frowning.

  “We have to know how the vehicles function in the real environment. The cars

  have to be able to react to unpredictable human behaviour as well.”

  “And you don’t have any security guards here right now?”

  “They’re a phone call away. So I’ll call them right now and they’ll be here within

  fifteen minutes.”

• Page 5

  5

• Page 6

  6

  “That’ll be too late,” I growl, pointing to one of the monitors.

  An SUV stops in front of the rigid figure on the pedestrian crossing and Jerry and

  his henchmen get out.

  “What is this place?” asks Jerry, casting his eye over the spookily silent town. “Tim,

  take a look around. Tom, keep a lookout.” Jerry turns on his smartphone and opens

  a tracking app. When you’re paying someone you might want to control one day, it’s

  a good idea to install invisible tracking software on his phone. In the blink of an eye

  he is bathed in white light, and he covers his eyes in panic. Tom reaches him a few

  moments later and bundles him onto the ground, trying to get his bearings in the

  blinding light. And then a voice like thunder says, “Go home, Jerry! Go home and

  forget about it. Before I hurt you.”

  “Stop acting the tough guy, Colorado! Give me the statue and we’ll work some-

  thing out!” Jerry shouts.

  The voice like thunder speaks a little softer. “Set a car on him, Meggie!”

  “You must be out of your mind!” barks a girl’s voice from the loudspeakers. “I’m

  not setting a car on anyone.”

  “This is a matter of life and death, Meggie!”

  “That’s what you say!”

  “You heard him: he wants the statue, just like I said!”

  “I’m not. Setting. A car. On anyone!”

  “I don’t have time for this,” Jerry growls. Despite Tom’s protests he stands up,

  pulls out his own pistol and shoots into the centre of the glare. The floodlight goes

  out with a crack. “I’m coming to get you Colorado! You’re going to be sorry!”

  “You see?!”

  “Okay, okay!”

  An engine starts up nearby. Jerry turns his head in Tim’s direction. At that mo-

  ment there is a scream and a moment later a driverless car speeds past them, with

  Tim hanging onto the bonnet and yelling. Suddenly, a figure runs out of the darkness

  towards Jerry. Tom curses and shoots at the figure, his eyes going wide when he

  sees the hole he’s made in it. Then they only just manage to jump out of the way of

  another car that races past them.

  “Wow! Cool, you’re really good at this!” comes out of the loudspeaker.

  “Thank you. Sometimes I play with the cars like this all night.”

  “Do you want to go for a coffee maybe?”

  “Maybe, but could you turn the microphone off first?”

  “In a sec... Um... You see, Jerry? There are lots more of these self-driving toys and

  you have no idea which building I’m in! Run away while there’s still time. Believe

  me.”

  But Jerry looks up from his smartphone. The tracking device has finally found

  the exact location, plus or minus twenty yards. “I know exactly where you are, you

  scumbag. Let’s go, Tom.”

• Page 7

  7

  I try to jam the wheeled oce chair under the door handle, but Jerry kicks the door

  wide open at his first attempt. I am looking down the barrel of a gun, feeling rather

  uneasy.

  “You’ve found a girlfriend?” he asks, looking at Meggie, who is trying to squeeze

  between the monitors and make herself invisible.

  “The statue, Colorado,” he says, flicking off the safety catch on the pistol.

  “He doesn’t have it,” Meggie squeaks.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “What is about it driverless cars you don’t understand?” I ask, the barrel of the

  pistol still resting on my forehead. “The car that scooped up Tim has the statue in

  its boot, and by now it’s parking itself in front of a police station. You’ve lost.” The

  orange light from the security service vehicles starts to flash on the monitors.

  Jerry curses. “You’ve made an enemy today, Colorado, and you’re going to be

  sorry,” he says before dashing out of the room.

  I sink heavily into the office chair. Meggie takes a few uncertain steps towards

  me and puts a consoling hand on my shoulder. “He fell for it.”

  “Yeah,” I nod. I take the statue of emperor Sung out of my pocket. “Good thing

  he’s no car buff and doesn’t know that a self-driving car wouldn’t make it into town

  by itself.”

  “Oh, it would get there,” says Meggie, smiling unsurely. “It’s just I wasn’t sure

  you’re not crazy.” I slowly raise my face towards him and look her in the eye.

  “Coffee?” she trills apologetically.

  Correct answer: b

  What can’t self-driving

  cars being tested by

  Uber do yet?

  aStop at a trac light

  b Protect pedestrians with an

  airbag

  c Travel long distances in normal

  trac

  Can the car really do that by itself?

• Page 8

  8

• Page 9

  9

  LOVE DRIVES

  IN RED

  Viktor was woken up by his mobile phone beeping. He squinted drowsily at the

  display.

  “Want to go swimming? Saturday is still young,” Karel wrote via Messenger.

  “Why not. It’s supposed to be a scorcher,” Viktor replied.

  “Okay, get hold of some wheels. I’ll choose a place to swim...”

  Being told what his task was made Viktor wide awake. He had always loved

  cars, but he had sold his first and last one shortly before he moved from Olomouc

  to Prague for work. We’ll see what car is best for the big city, he said to himself. So

  he started testing cars and soon became so absorbed in the search for his dream car

  that he hadn’t been able to choose one yet.

  He tapped on the HoppyGo app and started to look for cars that were available

  near Letná, where he had recently started renting a studio apartment. It was perfect

  for him. He liked to be at the centre of things, he wasn’t thinking about getting into

  a serious relationship yet and he usually only came home to sleep. He scrolled down

  the offer of cars, and then he saw it: a brand new red OCTAVIA RS 245, pick-up in

  Holešovice. Two-litre turbo engine generating 180 kW and 245 horsepower, and for

  just six hundred a day. He checked out its features and was surprised to see it was con-

  figured just as he’d have chosen. This’ll be a ride to remember! He sent off a request

  and waited impatiently to see if the owner would confirm it. She responded imme-

  diately. Viktor leapt out of bed. He had barely an hour to shower and have breakfast.

  He was dazzled by her as soon as he got out of his Uber in Dělnická street. No, it

  wasn’t the highly polished OCTAVIA he was looking at, but the slim, raven-haired

  woman leaning against the car and swinging the keys in her slender fingers. Her

  voice had sounded nice on the phone, but in real life she took his breath away. The

  warm breeze was ruffling her wavy hair that cascaded onto her bare shoulders. I

  guess she likes red, occurred to Viktor as he cast his eyes over the summer dress

  that suited her so well. “I’m Viktor Motl, hello,” he blurted out when he reached her.

  “Tereza Tomanová, nice to meet you. Where are you heading?”

  “Swimming with a friend. Your car’s beautiful! What do you call her?” asked

  Viktor, handing her his ID card.

  A LOVE STORY

• Page 10

  10

  “Carmen. Right, take a photo for the insurance company and the keys are yours.

  You don’t want to keep your friend waiting,” she smiled and started to write down

  his ID card number. Viktor took a picture of the brand new RS on his phone.

  “Wow, these Recaro seats are the business,” he blurted out as he opened the door

  and his eyes fell on the seats. “Did your husband choose these?”

  “No,” Tereza replied brusquely and handed back his ID card. “See you at six,

  then, and treat Carmen as though she were yours.”

  “What do you keep looking at your phone for?” asked Karel, who had just got out

  of the water and dropped down onto the blanket beside Viktor. They had reached

  Mácha Lake quickly, as Viktor had not gone easy on Carmen. Now, on the beach he

  looked for about the fiftieth time at the photo he’d taken before taking the car. He

  couldn’t stop looking at Tereza. He’d made sure she would be in the photo as well,

  of course. If she really chose the car herself, that’s something we have in common,

  he kept thinking. Black 19-inch alloy hubcaps, black grille, hi-fi with eight speakers.

  Just what I’d have chosen. There’s no way she has a husband – she couldn’t marry

  a man who didn’t care about cars.

  “Are you listening to me? Look, there are two pretty decent pieces of meat sun-

  bathing over there. Shall we go and turn them over?”

  “Not today,” Viktor stopped him. “Let’s go, I want to drive some more.”

  In the evening, when he was returning Carmen to Tereza, he gave her a punnet

  of cherries as well as the keys.

  “A find from my travels,” he said, shrugging bashfully.

  “Wow, I love cherries. So what was it like driving my girl?” she asked, looking

  delighted.

  “I had a great time, thanks! And I’d like to pay you back somehow. Why don’t we

  go off somewhere together next time?”

  She looked serious for a while, before smiling again.

  “Okay, during the week I’ll think of something and then I’ll call you!” said Viktor,

  tingling with joy.

  He thought of something and called her. But this time they left Carmen at home. The

  very next Sunday morning Viktor and Tereza were sitting in a train and heading to

  Olomouc. It was a lovely day, the journey was fun and Viktor was in seventh heav

  -

  en. They didn’t try to force anything; they simply chatted, and when one of them

  was speaking the other had eyes for nobody else. They soon realised that they had

  more than just cars in common.

  “Have you really never been to Olomouc? You’ll like it, I’ll show you everything

  worth seeing.”

  “How will we manage? We only have a couple of hours,” Tereza said doubtfully.

  “Don’t worry, we have this, don’t we?” he said, picking up his mobile phone and

  opening his favourite app. “What car shall we choose?”

• Page 11

  11

  Viktor was a great guide and Tereza an even better driver, so they did indeed man-

  age to see all the sights of Olomouc. What’s more, they tried out a new car model

  and really enjoyed the trip. On the train journey back to Prague Viktor cautiously

  broached the subject where they could go next time. And Tereza, to his delight, did

  not make it clear there would be no next time. Their train unexpectedly stopped

  near Pardubice, however.

  “Track fault near Kolín. We’ll be moving again in a moment,” the conductor re-

  mained optimistic. But they weren’t, and the delay started to grow. Tereza kept

  looking at her watch.

  “Sorry, I’ve got to make a call,” she said, going out into the corridor after they’d

  been waiting an hour. When she came back she was on edge. She gave absent-mind-

  ed answers to Viktor’s questions and reacted to his jokes with a pained smile. They

  arrived at Prague Central Station over three hours late. In the concourse Tereza

  asked Viktor to wait for her a minute and she set off towards a man standing a short

  way off and holding the hand of a small boy of around three with a red and black

  backpack. She exchanged a few words with the unknown man, shook his hand and

  the guy walked away. Then she came back with the boy to Viktor, who had been

  watching in surprise.

  “Viktor, this is Adam, my son. He spent the weekend at my ex-husband’s and he

  had to go off on some business trip, so a CareDriver brought Adam here. You know,

  the new transport and care service,” Tereza explained when she saw the question-

  ing look in Viktor’s eyes. “Sorry, I should have told you. And I’ll understand if we

  never see each other again.”

  The working week passed and no word from Viktor. Another guy who’s courage

  failed him, Tereza thought while she read Adam a bedtime story. When the boy

  fell asleep, she shut the book, turned the light out and felt sad. A short while later

  her mobile phone beeped a notification. Someone wanted to borrow Carmen the

  next day. Without thinking, she opened the app. What? It was Viktor! Soon after a

  message from him arrived: “I invite you and Adam on a trip tomorrow. And it’s the

  last time I’ll pay to drive Carmen.”

  Correct answers: a, c –CareDriver is currently only available in Munich

  Which of the ŠKODA

  AUTO DigiLab services

  is not yet available

  to the heroes of our

  story?

  a The SmileCar car-sharing

  platform

  b The HoppyGo car-sharing service

  cThe CareDriver assistance service

  Something’s not right here!

• Page 12

  12

• Page 13

  13

  JOURNEY

  INTO DRACULA’S REALM

  At first there’s nothing. Then a white line emerges out of the emptiness. It shines

  bright, almost painfully bright. Everything that ever existed, exists or will exist falls

  into it. It contains the whole world. And if I ever want to wake up in that world

  again, I have to set off down that line. It is a crack leading into reality, out of this

  blackness. But it is a fissure full of pain and suffering. I concentrate on it and slowly

  walk through it...

  I’m conscious. And immediately I regret it. The sharp pain in my head is almost

  unbearable, my eyes are screwed shut and I’m trying to deal with this first of all.

  A pungent smell pierces the darkness. The kind of stench that slowly and slimily

  crawls into your nose and hooks in its claws so it stays there a while to suffocate you.

  The air is heavy and sticky, so that when I breathe in through my mouth I can taste

  clumps of dust that clog up my lungs.

  But there is also cold and more pain. The concrete floor is cold beneath my

  scratched legs, and I suddenly realise that I’m lying on the floor. I slowly open my

  eyes. It’s hard, my eyelids are like lead and are stuck together. I wonder why for a

  while in confusion...

  It dawns on me that the wound on my head must have bled so much that I have

  dried blood in my eyes. And at last I know where all the pain is coming from. The

  head wound. The white line.

  I manage to separate my eyelids and I look around a small, dimly lit room. Two

  metres by two metres, dirty concrete and a lonely light bulb hanging from the ceil-

  ing by a cable, with a halo of little flies around it. And a door. I try to get on all fours,

  and for the first time I realise I’m naked. Shaking with cold and exhaustion, I reach

  out to the door and feel a painful tug on my right wrist. One hand is handcuffed to

  a water pipe. I stare stupidly at my dirty hand, and at that moment a woman’s cry

  cuts through the silence.

  Anna!

  “You know where you should go? Romania! Nice people, beautiful countryside,

  cheap. Go to Romania, I seriously recommend it!” Do you remember how every-

  one went mad about Thailand a few years ago? And then Sri Lanka a few years

  A THRILLER

• Page 14

  14

  later? And Iceland two years ago? This year it was Romania. There was someone

  talking about Romania at every party Anna and I went to. Instagram accounts

  filled up with photos of Transylvanian peaks. And when even celebrities were

  taking selfies by Dracula’s castle, I decided we had to go, otherwise we’d lose all

  our social credit.

  We changed our Czech crowns for Romanian lei, packed the bare necessities,

  charged up my electromobile and set off for Vampireland. The journey was pleasant,

  we didn’t get stressed out in the frequent traffic jams, we let the car do the driving

  and watched some great movies on Netflix. We were treated like ordinary tourists in

  Austria and honoured guests in Hungary, and when our car stuck its futuristic nose

  into the first Romanian village we became visitors from the future.

  Everything went fine. Romania was just as it looked in the filtered Instagram

  photos and on TV travel shows. So we said we’d go off the beaten track. Because

  that’s always a good idea.

  At first the cries came sporadically, but then they were more and more frequent

  and desperate, accompanied by muffled laughter and a crackly sound from some

  transistor.

  OK, if you had to dislocate your thumb... would you do it as quickly as possible?

  Crunch, crunch, that hurts, am I blacking out? Or would you draw it out, taking it

  millimetre by millimetre to minimise the pain? No, this isn’t a rhetorical question,

  I’m seriously asking you. Because I have to do it now and I seriously don’t know.

  I cravenly try out the latter option until I hear another cry. Not so loud this time.

  Anna’s losing her voice from screaming... I don’t know what’s going on there, but I

  have to get moving.

  Breathing in fits and starts, I place my thumb at an unnatural angle on the cold

  concrete. Hyperventilating now, I drop my full weight onto my hand. I feel a mighty

  crack, and in a fraction of a second I see my thumb at an even more unnatural angle.

  Stomach juices rise up into my mouth and for a while I fall back into the white line.

  You might think that dislocating your thumb would be a superhuman feat for you.

  But you’d be wrong. The superhuman feat is dislocating your thumb quietly.

  My scream was probably the one thing keeping me conscious, even though entire

  galaxies of stars were dancing frenziedly in front of my eyes... And it also became

  the reason for the laughter and radio falling silent.

  Harghita is situated

  in eastern Transylvania. A couple of historic towns, lots of dense

  forests and, above all, lots of places where B-list celebrities haven’t posed for selfies,

  so we liked it there. Except that there were fewer and fewer charging stations on the

  map I called up on the dashboard display from time to time. It’s true the car can go

  up to five hundred kilometres on one charge, but we didn’t want to risk it, especially

  when the internet signal often dropped out in the mountains. Hard to believe we’re

  in Europe and it’s 2022.

• Page 15

  15

  “Which way should we go if we want to see as much as possible and also find

  another charging station?” I asked an old petrol pump attendant in slow and simple

  English as we stood over an unfolded map.

  He poked a dirty finger at the map, gave an odd smile and said, “Here. There’s a

  motel there and they have the best pateuri in the forest region.”

  “Pateuri is a local kind of savoury pastry made with mincemeat,” Anna later read

  out from Google in the car. “The best meat pies in an abandoned motel in eastern

  Romania. That doesn’t sound like a 1980s horror B-movie at all.”

  “Don’t worry, the eighties won’t arrive here till next year,” I said to her. And I was

  only a year out, in fact.

  Keys rattle in the lock and the door to my provisional cell creaks open. In the light

  coming in from outside I can see that my gaoler is confused that it’s dark inside, and

  his eyes can’t adjust fast.

  I have the advantage. I unscrewed the light bulb right after I pulled my twisted

  fingers through the handcuffs. I wanted the element of surprise... and also a weapon.

  I thrust the broken light bulb into the bearded man’s sweaty face. He screams

  and I push harder. While he is paralysed with pain and surprise, I throw my whole

  weight against him and knock him to the ground. I manage to get out of the room

  fast enough to slam and lock the door before he can get up from the floor.

  There were two of them.

  The motel owner, a hirsute, squat man, and a man-moun-

  tain – the cook. They acted nice, carried our cases to the room and then simply

  drugged us, tied us up and beat us. The message was clear. You’re not escaping from

  here.

  They ripped my shirt off and mumbled something in Romanian. They roughly

  grabbed my belly flab a couple of times and shook their heads in disappointment.

  “You’re too fat... not good for pateuri,” the cook said in broken English. “She goes

  first.” Then he swung a meat cleaver and its blunt edge opened up a white, dazzling,

  painful line on my forehead.

  I stumble along the narrow corridors

  of a building with darkened windows while the

  furious Romanian tries to break down the door from inside. He is bellowing, and no

  doubt cursing, and I try to get as far away from him as possible. The huge cook will

  no doubt come and see what’s going on, and if he does, I can get to Anna unobserved

  and we can escape together without having to wrestle with a giant butcher. I pass

  several doors; a terrible stench comes from behind them and clouds of flies appear.

  I hear a woman’s cries. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but at least it gives me

  a direction to follow. Another massive, silencing blow and then some barking in

  Romanian. I’m going in the right direction. Flies land on my body, I try to ward them

  off my face and private parts at least, but it doesn’t do much good. Suddenly I hear

  something. Only just audible footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Getting louder and louder.

• Page 16

  16

  The cook is coming my way, and he’s sure to be armed. If I go back the way I

  came I’ll be back at the cell and further away from Anna.

  I take a few quick steps backwards and try the first door. Locked. I curse quietly

  and set off through the gloom and clouds of flies to another door. The footsteps are

  getting louder and louder. In a moment the butcher will come into the corridor and

  I’ll have nowhere to run...

  The handle turns, the door gives and I burst inside. I find myself in a dirty work

  -

  shop full of tools and pieces of sheet metal. I silently close the door behind me, press

  my ear to it and listen.

  The heavy footsteps slowly pass... and I breathe out. I take a few steps back and

  make to lean on the workbench, but it’s covered in blood so my hand slips and I

  knock some heavy pliers onto a heap of tools.

  It seems like the loudest noise I’ve ever heard, and as it dies down I hear the

  footsteps coming back. My heart is jumping and beating at the speed of death-metal

  drums. I can’t think straight, I try to dispel the clouds of flies, and then... I see a tub

  and slowly immerse myself in the liquid. I hold my breath. When I feel my lungs are

  about to burst I slowly re-emerge. I’m in luck. I hear the footsteps disappear in the

  distance. The coast is clear.

  Anna looks

  like she’s going to cry tears of joy when she sees me. But she’s all cried

  out. I find her tied up in a huge room. I take a massive meat cleaver and chop

  through the ropes tying her to a dirty wooden structure. She collapses onto the floor.

  I help her get up, and the two of us, like wide-eyed apparitions, dash out.

  We find a way out nearby. I kick open a metal gate and we find ourselves in a

  concrete yard. The motel is in front of us, but our car’s nowhere to be seen.

  “Over there,” Anna says, pointing with her cracked fingernails. The roof of a

  big industrial shed can be seen through the treetops of the nearby forest. Without

  saying a word I set off, supporting Anna who is holding up bravely despite the oc-

  casional stumble.

  We enter the forest and for a moment I have the absurd worry that there’s no

  chance of getting out of this forest without picking up a tick on our naked bodies.

  I try to speed up, because it won’t take long for the cook to free his buddy from the

  cell. I threw away the keys, but it won’t be hard for them to force the door.

  The rusty door of a seemingly abandoned shed in the forest with a sandy access

  road is stiff, but it opens when I shove it with my shoulder. The moonlight streaming

  in through the holes in the roof reveals endless rows of cars with number plates

  from all over Europe. Jesus Christ... How many people met their end here?

  Anna yelps and points to one side. I turn my head. There it is. Like a spaceship

  among steam engines, my electromobile. We are hobbling over to it when we hear

  the shed door creak. Anna hides between the rusting cars. I open the door of my car

  and silently slip inside. The motel owner, carrying a sledgehammer, knows where

  he’s going. He leaps over to the side of the car and raises the sledgehammer. But he

• Page 17

  17

  doesn’t expect the door to open the other way, so I knock down in the dust. Before

  he can get up, the seat motor turns me to face outwards and I kick him in the chest

  with both feet as hard as I can. He collapses back down on the ground. Anna and

  I lean over him: he seems to have had enough. But the cook has his dander up and

  is at full strength.

  I don’t know where the scumbag suddenly appeared from, but he broke a two-me-

  tre plank of wood over me like a matchstick. When I come to, I’m lying next to the

  motel owner. Looking past the cook’s broad back, I see Anna curled up by the wall.

  The cook is ambling towards her. The time has come to play my last ace hidden up

  my sleeve.

  “Start up,” I say. The electric motor fires up barely audibly, the door closes. For-

  wards, 30° right, 12 metres, full throttle...” I say, becoming a navigator. The car sets

  off, drives between the cook and Anna, catching him with the right mudguard and

  throwing him onto the nearest wreck. The car stops, opens the door and my love

  leaps him with the last of her strength. It reaches me and I get in and take hold of

  the wheel. The road out of hell is free. 30 kilometres later my strength fails me, I

  must be bleeding from fifty different places. Anna is asleep. I’m woken by an alarm.

  My hands are gripping the wheel, and then nothing...

  We wake up in an ambulance.

  A doctor is replacing the drips we’re hooked up to.

  “That’s a great car you have,” he says. “When you fainted, it braked and called us.

  I’m going to get one as well and save money on doctors,” he says, grinning from ear

  to ear.

  Correct answer: a

  Which of the following

  functions is not yet

  available in VISIONE,

  the first ŠKODA

  electromobile concept

  car?

  aVoice-controlled driving

  b Monitoring the driver’s vigilance

  and health condition

  c Calling medical assistance

  d Screening online films

  A matter of life and death

• Page 18

  18

• Page 19

  19

  HOW LIEUTENANT

  VÁŇA WAS WRONG

  On that Sunday evening,

  17 December 1905, snowflakes were covering the Mladá

  Boleslav suburb called Na Hejtmánce. And, as was commonplace then, it was ex

  -

  tremely cold – the thermometer showed 14 below. It was nice and warm in the U

  Kanónu pub, though. The room rang to the sound of men’s laughter and conversa-

  tion, which often switched into loud argument. And no wonder: most of the guests

  were soldiers and junior officers from the nearby barracks. Mazavka, the publican,

  knew most of his guests – they’d been sitting here all week. There were only two

  men he didn’t know, sitting at a small table at the back. They were well dressed by

  local standards and another thing that distinguished them from the others was that

  they were not just drinking beer and ordinary liquor. The publican was now bring-

  ing them a third bottle of good wine and another plate of the best smoked meats he

  could offer.

  “You see, Václav, even here we can feast like kings,” said the younger but taller,

  more bearded and more talkative of the two men, savouring his Virginia cigar.

  “All right, Venoušek, all right. I just thought we could have treated ourselves to

  a better establishment somewhere in the marketplace. We’re doing pretty well for

  ourselves now, after all,” his companion retorted.

  “We could have. But this is where it all started, remember? We rented our first

  workshop just three blocks away!”

  Václav Klement and Václav Laurin had cause for celebration. Exactly ten years ago

  to the day they had started a business together repairing and manufacturing bicycles,

  to which they later added motorcycles. And they had another cause for joy: they had

  just launched the first Czech automobile, the Laurin & Klement Voiturette A. And

  thanks to its good price they already had their first orders.

  “So we’ll drink a toast to that, what do you say, Mr Industrialist?” Laurin called

  out cheerfully.

  “Don’t you doubt it, Mr Industrialist!” whooped Klement just as cheerfully and

  both men drank from their glasses. Time passed quickly and the alcohol level in the

  two successful entrepreneurs’ bloodstreams rose just as fast. At around half past ten

  they were both in a fine mood and their happy conversation turned to the future of

  automobile technology.

  HISTORICAL FICTION

• Page 20

  20

  “What do you think cars will look like a hundred years from now? They’re

  bound to have more powerful engines than our wretched seven horsepower. May-

  be ten times as much!” said Laurin, spearing a piece of bloody meatloaf on his

  fork.

  “Don’t be silly. They’d go too fast! Just think, our model A can do forty with those

  five kilowatts. You think cars would do three hundred? How many people would

  die?!” Klement cautioned.

  “So we’ll make them more robust! We’ll fit some kind of upholstered iron bar on

  the front. A fender. And inside something like... a kind of protective cushion in front

  of the steering wheel.”

  “That would get in the way. But if the car itself could recognise that it was going

  to hit something, the cushions could inflate themselves quickly beforehand. But that

  means they’d have to be shot out from the steering wheel or exploded.”

  “What great ideas we have, Václav! We should write this down. But where?” Lau-

  rin looked around and reached for the paper napkin the publican had brought the

  cutlery in. He took a steel fountain pen out of his breast pocket and scribbled some-

  thing on the napkin.

  A shadow suddenly fell across their table. A tall man in military uniform was

  leaning on it. “What’s all this nonsense about automobiles, lads? They’ll be forgotten

  soon enough! I can just see them driving on the battlefield! Nothing will replace

  horses!” cavalry lieutenant Váňa said combatively. But when he discovered that

  Klement and Laurin had no intention of arguing with him, he waved his hand and

  tottered off towards the group of men he was originally going to join.

  “What I’d like to know is whether they’ll run on petrol. It’s expensive, it stinks

  and catches fire easily. Something else would be better, but what?” Klement resumed

  his speculation. “Electricity maybe. If Křížík can get his tram running on electricity

  in Prague, why not cars?”

  “Venoušek, no offence, but you’re still a bookseller at heart. You reckon there’d be

  wires running above the roads, yeah? Do you know how much that’d cost and how

  much electricity it would use?” Laurin said, shaking his heading and then finishing

  his glass of wine.

  “That could be worked out. And the cars will know which way they’re meant to

  go. They’ll have a kind of wireless telegraph installed, like they’re testing in America

  now. The driver will tap in his destination to the switchboard and they will send

  him back the best route. The steering wheel will turn according to the instructions,”

  Klement laughed, knocking back another glass of wine.

  “And instead of a driver there’ll be a telephone, radio and cinema, right? Kle-

  ment, Klement, Klement, my dear, I think you’ve had quite enough wine today,”

  Laurin sighed.

  “You’re right. We’re talking nonsense. Or maybe not, who knows?! Maybe one

  day you won’t have to put your foot on the accelerator pedal. You’ll turn a button to

  a certain speed position and then you don’t have to think about it. And it will park

• Page 21

  21

  itself, so you don’t have to twist your arms into a knot on the steering wheel. What

  would you like to see?” Klement asked, blowing out smoke.

  “I don’t know, but all my wife would want is a wicker basket, so we could drive

  the car to market. Mrs Laurinová is remarkably fond of shopping,” his partner said,

  becoming serious.

  “What rot. We might as well put a waste bin and coat-hangers in the car. But listen

  to this! What if you got into the car and each time it took a tiny little drop of blood

  from your leg or arm and told you if there was something wrong with you?! Now

  that would be useful!” Klement said, pleased with himself.

  The next morning

  Václav Laurin woke up on the sofa in his villa’s sitting room. He

  stood up and shook Klement, who was curled up in a comfortable armchair, snor-

  ing and also still dressed. “Get up, Václav, it’s Monday, we have to go to work,” said

  Laurin, stretching. “Do you have an appalling headache as well? I think we overdid

  it a bit last night...”

  “You’re right. But it was fun, you can’t deny that,” Klement retorted. “What were

  we... We were imagining what cars would be like in the future! And you wrote it

  down somewhere!”

  When Laurin took the crumpled, soggy napkin from the back pocket of his trou-

  sers a moment later, all that was left on it was a few splodges of ink. But that – and

  the hangover – wasn’t the only thing that spoilt the morning for Klement and Lau-

  rin. When they went out into the street and blissfully breathed in the fresh air, sev-

  eral soldiers went by on horses. And at the front – naturally – was Lieutenant Váňa.

  “Well, well, well, our wise-guy automobile men from the pub! You were in a right

  state! And you had no objection to horses when they pulled you home in a carriage,

  did you? Well? Where was that famous motor vehicle of yours?!”

  Klement breathed in, about to launch a hotly worded reply, but Laurin touched

  his hand gently to stop him. Without saying a word, the two men set out down the

  snow-covered street towards their factory.

  Correct answers: a, b

  Which of the founding

  fathers’ Simply

  Clever pub-inspired

  inventions can you not

  find in mass-produced

  ŠKODA models yet?

  aDriver’s blood sampling system

  b Driverless steering

  c Waste bin installed

  What lies in store?

• Page 22

  22

• Page 23

  23

  FROM ISRAEL

  WITH LOVE

  As soon as the door opened,

  it felt like a wet rag hit me in my face and I couldn’t

  take a breath. The door belonged to a British Airways airplane and the sauna was

  the scorching concrete surface of Tel Aviv airport in Israel. We’d just landed after a

  five-hour flight from London, where it had been been raining all week and the tem

  -

  perature hadn’t risen above ten degrees. I tried to dispel the shock from the different

  climate and the back pain from the Economy class seats in the very first bar in the

  airport terminal: “Scotch on the rocks, please. Shaken, not slurred!” I lit a cigarette,

  reached for the tablet lying on the bar and took a look at the news in the local press.

  “Promising engineer kidnapped in Tel Aviv!” screamed the bold headline. The ar-

  ticle said that the engineer in question was Aaron Silberstein, the brains behind the

  local start-up RobBee, which was developing a unique technology for helicopter pro-

  pulsion inspired by the membrane wings of insects. The inventor was nowhere to

  be found and the laboratory was a mess, with a couple of corpses and one drugged

  and bound female colleague of his. I put down the tablet and went via the hotel to

  the scene of the crime.

  The RobBee laboratory was witness to routine investigative work, with lots of tech-

  nicians from the Tel Aviv criminal police wandering about. “I’m Cold. Jess Cold. Or

  agent 0.07, if you like. Can I take a look around?” I asked the police commissioner

  who was clearly in charge.

  “Oh, so that’s you. I already got a call from the British embassy,” he said, eyeing

  me up and down haughtily. “But you won’t find anything here, we’ve gone over it

  with a fine-tooth comb,” he growled, before filling me in. The kidnapping had oc-

  curred late at night; they shot a guard and an employee of the start-up; and a woman

  Silberstein worked with was unconscious in hospital. The brainbox was gone and

  the thick commissioner is not sure if it’s a robbery gone wrong or all about a woman.

  He was wrong on both counts, of course.

  There were only a few people in the world who knew that the kidnapped sci-

  entist was working on the development of little flying robots that would be able

  to pollinate plants and produce honey, to replace the bees that were dying out en

  masse. The project was co-funded by the British government, so one member of the

  A SPY STORY

• Page 24

  24

  research team was an agent of Her Majesty with the code name 0.08. My colleague

  was meant to take care of the project’s security, but he hadn’t even taken care of

  himself. And that’s why N, head of MI6, the British secret service, had sent me here.

  My job was to find Silberstein, ideally alive, and above all stop the research results

  to date from falling into unauthorised hands. I asked which desk Eight worked at.

  I went through his computer and examined the microscope. Nothing. There were

  also lots of papers on his desk, along with dirty coffee mugs and CDs... Who the hell

  uses CDs these days? I picked them up... Bryan Adams, Katy Perry, Elton John. I

  dropped them back on the desk in disgust. Eight really was an idiot, and there’s no

  way I’m going to his funeral. No-one noticed that a Justin Bieber album ended up in

  my pocket. I said goodbye to Israel’s answer to Colombo and set off for the hospital.

  In the busy street

  I tried to find a taxi. I soon noticed two guys following me. They

  stuck to me like ticks. I didn’t fancy running in that heat, so I was glad when I came

  across a yellow bicycle chained to a railing. I took out my mobile phone, found the

  bike in the app and tapped on it. The code arrived and I quickly unlocked the bike.

  I put my feet on the pedals and the two thugs gave up. In the hospital room they had

  just resuscitated Silberstein’s half-dead business partner. Rachel was a bit of a looker

  and gave me a cute smile. While she fervently told me what a genius Silberstein was

  and how his helicopters would change the world of urban transport, I checked her

  out on social networks. What? Single? I don’t get involved with broads like that on

  principle. I said goodbye.

  The two leeches were waiting for me in the street outside the hospital. Fine,

  let’s take a walk. We went round half the block, but then I got bored so I went into

  the nearest bistro and had a shot of something strong. The liquor was all sad in my

  stomach, so I sent a friend to join it. My phone rang in my pocket. I paid, went out

  into the street and quickly jumped into an electric minibus parked by the pavement.

  The door closed behind me, I poked my tongue out at my two pursuers and made

  myself comfortable on the last free seat. The journey to the hotel in the shared bus

  was a bit longer and less direct than a taxi would have been, but on the other hand I

  had a nice chat with the locals and picked up a couple of very nice contacts.

  In my room, I put the Bieber CD into an ancient laptop with a disk mechanism

  and sent Silberstein’s code to the MI6 server. A message from N flashed up on the

  screen: “Hello, Mr Cold, our boys have so far ascertained that no intelligence servic-

  es or professional terrorists are involved in the kidnapping. Silberstein has a micro-

  chip in an earring and we have finally picked up his signal. It’s not far from you, in

  Amman, Jordan. iQ will be waiting for you at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the hotel garage.

  He’ll have a car for you and instructions. Your laptop will self-destruct in five, four...”

  The next morning, MI6’s head of R&D was leaning on a small, garish-green SUV

  I’d never seen before.

  “This colour is hardly ideal for agents, my dear iQ!”

• Page 25

  25

  “Calm down, Cold. I will explain everything. And above all, don’t smash it to

  smithereens like you always do.”

  It really was an incredible car. It was powerful but quiet, with a combined natural

  gas, hydrogen and electricity powered engine. It was unlocked with an eye scanner,

  and you could change the number plate and a range of colours by pressing one

  finger. It had a satellite link and internet connection via a built-in SIM card. And

  suitable armaments...

  I set o,

  and logged into my TwoGo app to see if anyone wanted a lift to Amman.

  Surprisingly, one fairly acceptable thirty-year-old woman was interested. The jour-

  ney passed enjoyably, and the closer I got the stronger the blinking pulse on the

  car’s display was from the signal from Silberstein’s earring. The car threaded its

  way silently through the centre of Amman to a house with a high wall. I parked and

  activated the drone. It flew out of the boot of the car and flew over the wall. On the

  display I saw a heart-breaking scene.

  The two leeches were sunning themselves by the pool. Inside, Silberstein was

  tied up and arguing with an unknown man. I had the entire gang identified via sat-

  ellite. The two tough guys were run-of-the-mill hired killers from Palermo. The third

  guy was a damn sight more interesting. Alan Harder had studied with Silberstein

  at MIT. Two pals who kept founding one start-up after another. Silberstein was the

  more capable of the two. Alan was jealous of him, so their paths split after a while.

  He got married five years ago, and divorced two years ago. Astonished, I gaped at

  the photo of his ex-wife. It was Rachel. Tel Aviv’s answer to Colombo hadn’t been far

  from the truth. That floosy had outstanding social camouflage! I cursed and angrily

  started to tap out commands on the screen.

  The car’s headlamps tilted down and three miniature guided missiles flew out of

  them. Thanks to the drone they found their targets easily enough and put the bad

  guys to sleep. I winked to open the car door and went to free the tied-up scientist. I

  reckon I’ll take a holiday next week.

  Correct answers: a, b, c

  Agent Cold’s car

  could do lots of

  things. Which of the

  technologies can we

  also find in the ŠKODA

  VISION X concept?

  aIntegrated TwoGo ride-sharing service

  b Functions control via touch screen

  c Drone as an included feature

  d Combined natural gas, hydrogen and

  electricity powered engine

  e Eye detector to open the vehicle

  Decode it!

• Page 26

  26

• Page 27

  27

  SPRINT THROUGH

  A GRIDLOCKED CITY

  “Good morning,

  listeners, today is Monday 20 September 2020 and it has just struck

  seven. The weathermen are forecasting a glorious day and we hope you spend it in

  the company of Radio Dream,” the presenter at one of the most popular commercial

  radio stations announced like a funfair ride attendant. Standa Větrovec was always

  in ebullient, his fake smile no doubt stretching from ear to ear.

  “Today’s date is magical – have you noticed that it contains three twenties, or

  three zeroes and three twos?” Standa went on jovially. “But this day is important

  for another reason as well. In Old Town Square in Prague, the first Urban Motion

  Challenge contest in Czechia has reached the final. And as we’re the race’s media

  partner, we’ll be keeping a close eye on it for you. We will be with the racers at the

  start, we will follow their progress around Prague and we’ll be with them as they

  approach the finish. And you’ll be right there with us!”

  Větrovec went on to explain the race rules to his listeners: at exactly 7:30, the

  four finalists who won their qualifiers in Brno, Ostrava, České Budějovice and Pilsen

  will set off from the four points on the compass towards the centre of Prague. They

  all have exactly 50 kilometres to cover, they have to use a standard automobile and

  they have to abide by the rules of the road. The route they take and the additional

  mode of transport they can take with them in their vehicle are up to them. The race

  organisers will be kept informed of each participant’s movements via GPS bracelets.

  The first contestant to touch the statue of Jan Hus in the middle of Old Town Square

  wins and takes home the prize of 220,000 Czech crowns.

  “And now I’ll hand over to my colleague Jitka Černá, who is in Řevnicov, Rak-

  ovník district, watching the last-minute preparations of the first of the race contest-

  ants.”

  “Yes, Standa, thank you. I have with me Patrik Míkovec, a thirty-year-old profes

  -

  sional fireman. Patrik, why did you enter the competition, how do you intend to get

  to the finish as fast as possible and what do you think of your chances of winning?”

  “Good morning. I love a challenge, I’m a keen sportsman and I’m in pretty good

  shape. I rate my chances as pretty good, because I’ve got a fast car and I’ve done

  parkour since I was fifteen, and that could come in pretty useful. The centre will be

  gridlocked like it always is, so I’ll take a short-cut over the wall.”

  A SPORTING TALE

• Page 28

  28

  Patrik said goodbye to the reporter, got into his red ŠKODA FABIA MONTE

  CARLO and sped off with a squeal of rubber. At Nové Strašecí he joined the D6

  motorway and raced along it to the capital.

  Meanwhile,

  the programme producer had switched to other Radio Dream reporters.

  “Richard Štulc has just set off from the other side, from the little village of Dlouhá

  Lhota near Příbram, in his SUPERB. He’s 43 years old, a programmer in an IT firm

  and a keen surfer. He’s relying on water, he told us before the start. We’ll see what

  he meant by that. And now over to Katka in the east.”

  “Thank you, Sabina. I’m speaking to you from Český Brod, from where Martin

  Kolman just set off in a green OCTAVIA. Martin celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday

  a month ago. He’s a journalist for the local press and he’s a keen cyclist. And listen

  up, ladies – he’s single! Petr, over to you.”

  “While my female colleagues are watching the male finalists, I’ve been with

  the only woman in the race. Her name is Lenka Pikotová, she’s an architecture

  student at the Prague Institute of Technology and she is also single, because she’s

  just twenty-one years old,” the late middle-aged presenter called Petr Loudil said

  tenderly. “She has just left Roudnice nad Labem, where she lives with her parents,

  in a new yellow hybrid. Lenka is evidently one of the biggest outsiders in today’s

  race. Her car isn’t the fastest and she has little interest in sport. Her rivals in the

  Pilsen qualifier called her victory scandalously lucky. Apparently her adolescent

  brother Tomáš encouraged her to take part in the race,” Loudil said, writing off

  her chances.

  Radio Dream had a playlist combining evergreen hits of Czech and international

  pop music, interrupted by brief reports on the current positions and actions of the

  four contestants. Until it was time for the listeners to hear firsthand how the dra-

  matic finale was playing out in the streets of Prague...

  “Jitka here, and I’m following Patrik’s progress. Or rather, I was following him, be-

  cause he’s just disappeared. Thanks to his fast car, Patrik was the race leader for a

  long time, reaching the edge of Prague before the others, but a catastrophic traffic

  jam forced him to park his car before he’d even made it past Patočkova street in

  Břevnov. He sprinted down Bělohorská street. We followed him for a while, but he

  lost us when he took a route across the courtyards and walls down in Malá Strana.

  My guess is that it won’t be enough to win.”

  “There’s a lot going on here as well!” Sabina said when she came on air. “Rich-

  ard cleverly wanted to avoid the traffic jams in the city, so he left his car back at

  Lahovičky. He took an electric wakeboard out of the car boot, changed into a wet-

  suit and set off for the centre on an almost empty river Vltava. But that’s not all! By

  Mánes Bridge he switched on air cushion mode on his wakeboard and got back up

  to street level. He’s now driving down Kaprova street twenty centimetres above

  ground. He’s avoiding the tourists like a pro... but wait! It looks like his batteries

• Page 29

  29

  have run down. He’s leaving the wakeboard behind and running into Old Town

  Square. It looks like he’s going to win! Or maybe Martin, Katka?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. As the car park on Vinohradská street was full he had to

  leave his OCTAVA in the underground garages at Flóra, where he took a folding

  kick-scooter out of his car. It’s made of aluminium alloy, so it weighs just five kilos,

  but it can carry a hundred. And ladies and gentlemen, get this – Martin was racing

  down the hill so fast that the traffic police stopped him and he had to pay a thou-

  sand-crown fine for speeding! That held him up quite a bit, and he’s currently at

  Můstek. And what can Petr tell us about Lenka?”

  “You won’t believe it!

  It looks like Lenka is going to win! She’s already in Old Town

  Square and speeding towards the Hus statue on an electric longboard she had in

  her hybrid. She left the car parked at Letná and rode through the tunnel down to

  the river. I don’t understand how she managed to avoid the traffic jams and find

  somewhere to park. I have absolutely no idea how she did it!”

  A while later, the happy winner herself explained this to Petr and everyone else

  in a live chat with Standa Větrovec.

  “My car’s really smart, that’s all. It contains a built-in SIM card with navigation,

  which showed me the shortest unblocked route and even found me a parking place

  where my longboard was in range. What will I do with the prize money? I’ll go on a

  round-the-world trip. And can I say something else? Thanks a lot, bro!!!”

  Correct answer: b

  Which of the following

  innovations has the

  ŠKODA brand not

  yet presented and

  evidently won’t be part

  of its cars’ features in

  2020?

  aElectric longboard

  b Electric wakeboard

  c Folding kick-scooter

  What will we ride?

• Page 30

  30

• Page 31

  31

  TWO WEDDINGS

  AND THREE GOLDEN HAIRS

  Once upon a time,

  beyond tall mountains, a wide river and thirty fields of corn lay

  a small kingdom. It was ruled by a wise old king and his kind queen, who were

  raising a daughter called Maruška. She was growing up into a beautiful young

  woman, and when she reached her seventeenth year they decide to find her a hus-

  band. It was clear who the groom would be. Prince Jaromír from the neighbouring

  country had been friends with Maruška since they were little, they loved each oth-

  er and they were always in each other’s thoughts. And so a wedding was prepared.

  “I hope you will dress up nicely, princess!” Jaromír teased Maruška a week

  before the wedding. “I’ve become too accustomed to you and I need something

  nice and new to look at.”

  “Wait and see, prince,” Maruška replied, sticking out her tongue at him. But

  deep down she was hurt, and she decided she would show Jaromír. “If you loved

  me, you would marry me even if I was wearing a sack,” she thought.

  And so the wedding day arrived. The whole castle was ready, all the courtiers

  lined up with the prince at the end of the line, waiting for the bride. Ceremonial

  music started up, the courtiers straightened up, the prince at the end smiled,

  looked back – and froze. The king was leading the princess along the line wea-

  ring a jute sack.

  “What the...” Prince Jaromír said, exceedingly offended. He didn’t know that

  the princess had a dress on under the sack and was just teasing him. He set out

  down the line towards the bride, threw the little box containing the ring down

  at her feet and hissed angrily, “You’ve gone too far. You can marry a six-headed

  dragon looking like that, for all I care!” All of a sudden it became dark. A cold

  draught swept through the corridors, there was an awful scraping sound and

  the roof over the ceremonial hall was pulled off like a yoghurt pot lid. A terrible

  six-headed dragon was hovering above the castle. “DID SOMEONE CALL ME?” it

  asked in a voice that made everyone present fall to the floor. He did not receive

  an answer.

  “AH, A SERVANT GIRL IN A SACK, I SEE,” the dragon went on. “I HAPPEN TO

  NEED SOMEONE FOR MY HOUSEHOLD. WOULD YOU BE SO KIND, MISS?” He

  A FAIRY TALE

• Page 32

  32

  picked up the panic-stricken princess in his yellow palm, lowered the roof again,

  and with two flaps of his wings he was gone.

  It was a long time before the king, queen, courtiers and prince got up from the

  floor. Once the initial shock had passed, they all began to sob and wail. The prince,

  terrified to his core, walked for hours on the castle ramparts, wondering what

  had happened. He could sense everyone’s reproachful glances and did not know

  what to do. On and on he walked and wondered. “Who am I to confront such a

  monster?” he said to himself. But when he saw everyone crying, he realised that

  he had to do something.

  “I shall go and find her,” he told them. The king smiled sadly, because he knew

  that Jaromír was actually a bit of a booby, but he did not try to stop him.

  “Go and ask the Wise Old Man for advice, lad. And take the KAROQ from the

  royal garage, it’s the cleverest car I own. Google Maps will help you find the way.”

  With at least a smidgeon of hope, Jaromír set off to visit the Wise Old Man. Thanks

  to the speed of the car, good maps, short breaks and improving driving skills,

  Jaromír reached the Wise Old Man’s high mountain in just two weeks. He stopped

  in front of an opulent, gleaming house, rang the bell and waited.

  An old lady hobbled out from behind the door. “How can I help you, lad?” she

  asked.

  “I’ve come to see the Wise Old Man,” the prince replied. “I want to ask him

  where I can find the six-headed dragon who abducted my bride.”

  “My poor boy!” the old lady said, clapping her hands together. “The Wise Old

  Man isn’t at home! He knows an awful lot about people, so he doesn’t like them

  at all! He would give you such a look you’d burst into flames! Come inside, hide

  behind the curtain and I’ll try to ask him about the dragon.”

  Jaromír went inside, hid behind the curtain and kept as silent as a mouse.

  In a while there was a noise from the door. “Hello, mother!” said a deep, rough

  voice. “Are you hiding a human here again?”

  “No, son!” the old lady stammered. “There’s nobody here.”

  “Don’t talk nonsense, his car is parked in front of the house,” the Wise Old

  Man said, annoyed. “I bet you’ve hidden him behind the curtain again.” And be-

  fore Jaromír could move, the Wise Old Man pulled back the curtain. The terrified

  prince told him his story.

  “Because you have confessed, I won’t burn you with my gaze and I’ll send you

  in the right direction at least. Mother, come and pull out my last three hairs. You

  probably won’t survive anyway.”

  The Wise Old Man took the hairs in his hand and explained what Jaromír

  should do. Jaromír got into his car and set off. First the hair above the sunroof

  started to shine. It led Jaromír down a long road across many a valley, bridge,

  mountain and crossroads. Its light got brighter and brighter, and Jaromír could

• Page 33

  33

  feel the heat from it above his head. He turned on the air conditioning, but even

  that did not help. It seemed that the hair would burn the prince. When he had

  almost sweated out all the water in his body and was struggling to keep hold of

  the steering wheel, he remembered that the KAROQ comes with a sunroof that

  has an adjustable tint. Relieved, he darkened the roof, and kept darkening it

  more and more.

  At that moment the second hair started to shine. It flew ahead at great speed,

  and Jaromír could only just make it out in the distance. The prince had to turn

  off all the lights to see it. The night was moonless, and the car raced through the

  darkness, while Jaromír could not see a thing except the glowing point a long way

  ahead.

  The prince felt they would fly off the road at any moment. But nothing hap-

  pened. He found out why a while later: the KAROQ has a lane assistant. Even

  at the highest speeds, this device would keep him safely between the lines. He

  breathed a sigh of relief. The hair in the distance suddenly stopped and went

  dark. But the last hair started to glow in his Jaromír’s breast pocket. He carefully

  took it in the fingers of both hands. He knew he must not let go of it. But at the

  same time he had to park. Jaromír took a deep breath, tried to calm his fiercely

  beating heart and placed his life in the hands of the parking assistant. The de-

  vice turned the wheel like a pro and successfully positioned the car between

  two lines on the high cliff at the first attempt. Jaromír, still holding the hair in

  his hands, got out of the car all a-tremble and watched to see what direction it

  was shining in. The direction led him to a cave that gaped ominously in the dark

  mountainside.

  Jaromír had to walk down a long tangle of corridors, rooms full of treasure and

  drains with foul-smelling mud. He saw huge halls and narrow passages and then,

  all of a sudden, the hair went out. Jaromír was crushed by a powerful force and

  he had the feeling that he would take his last breath. Then it became light and the

  prince saw that the dragon was holding him in its paw. The six heads inspected

  him with unconcealed curiosity.

  “Let me go, you monster!” he cried. “There’s an army of ten thousand men just

  behind me. Surrender fast and I promise you’ll get a nice cage in the zoo.”

  “You don’t say,” the dragon said, shaking its heads, some of which smiled a lit

  -

  tle. “You don’t have to fight me. I know you’ve come for the princess, she told me

  about you. We sorted out the misunderstanding about the maid ages ago, but she

  didn’t want to go back straightaway so that she could punish you. But I think your

  journey has made quite an impression on her!”

  There was a loud thump as the weight fell from Jaromír’s shoulders. He smiled

  at the dragon in disbelief, allowed himself to be placed on the floor and looked

  around in confusion. He soon saw Princess Maruška in her wedding gown.

  “Hello, Jaromír,” she called to him. “You did absolutely brilliantly!” The prince

  swelled with pride.

• Page 34

  34

  “I’ve sent an e-mail to my parents to get the castle ready again. Dragula here

  will take us there,” the princess went on. And that is indeed what happened. The

  six-headed dragon, having donned his formal blue scales, put the princess, the

  prince and his car on his back and flew them to the castle, where another banquet

  was prepared. The Wise Old Man and his mother were among the guests. At the

  banquet the dragon made a deal with a cleaning lady and everyone ate, drank and

  feasted for three days and three nights. And, if they haven’t died, they still drive

  a KAROQ to this day.

  Correct answer: a

  There is one

  technology Prince

  Jaromír used that you

  won’t find in a current

  KAROQ model. Which

  one is it?

  aPanoramic sunroof you can darken and

  lighten

  b Lane assistant

  c Semi-automatic perpendicular parking

  Once upon a time

• Page 35

  35

  ARE YOU

  UP-TO-DATE WITH

  INNOVATIONS?

  ANSWER

  OUR QUIZ.

• Page 36

  Test your knowl-

  edge of person-

  al mobility inno-

  vations and win

  an electromo-

  bile for a day. All

  you have to do is

  answer the quiz

  questions cor-

  rectly (only one

  answer is cor-

  rect) and impress

  us with your own

  Simply Clever

  solution.

  1

  Experts dis-

  tinguish be-

  tween five levels

  of autonomous

  driving. What lev-

  el does the VI-

  SION E concept

  presented last

  year envisage?

  aThe car speeds

  up and slows

  down by itself and

  also steers

  b The autopi-

  lot automatically

  speeds up, drives,

  brakes and avoids

  obstacles. The

  driver has to be

  prepared to take

  over the driving

  c The vehicles are

  driven by a person,

  but it isn’t neces-

  sary. The car can

  do everything it-

  self, bar some ex-

  ceptional situa-

  tions

  2

  In the con-

  text of the

  services ŠKO-

  DA AUTO wants

  to oer in the fu-

  ture, what does

  the term com-

  bined mobility in-

  volve?

  aTrain-carshare-

  taxi-bus-bus on

  deman

  b Tram-metro-car-

  share on demand

  c Train-car-

  share-airplane

  3

  The

  bike-sharing

  concept is expe-

  riencing rapid de-

  velopment and

  many firms are

  currently launch-

  ing the fifth gen-

  eration of these

  services. What

  is it character-

  ised by?

  aBikes of the

  same colour and

  the chance to bor-

  row one in prede-

  fined places having

  paid a deposit

  b Users identified

  via mobile phone,

  option of return-

  ing the bike any-

  where

  c Borrowing elec-

  tric bikes and com-

  bining them with

  public transport

  4

  What is the

  top speed of

  Europe’s fastest

  train, the Italian

  ETR 1000?

  a365.6 km/h

  b 388.4 km/h

  c 393.8 km/h

  WIN THE CHANCE

  TO BORROW AN

  ELECTROMOBILE

  FOR A DAY

• Page 37

  5

  The first

  flight of the

  electric-pow-

  ered Skylead-

  er 400 Electric

  took o from

  České Budějov-

  ice – Planá air-

  port In Janu-

  ary 2018. What

  is the aircraft’s

  flight range on

  one charge?

  a100 km

  b 300 km

  c 500 km

  6

  Smart park-

  ing in towns

  reckons with arti-

  ficial intelligence,

  which is bring-

  ing interesting in-

  novations. Which

  innovation will

  you not encoun-

  ter in the next

  ten years?

  aCars guided to

  the nearest free

  parking space

  b Automatic re-

  duction and in-

  crease of the price

  of parking accord-

  ing to place and

  time

  c Mobile car-park

  buildings on de-

  mand

  7

  The Chinese

  company

  Ehang Corp. test-

  ed a taxi drone

  called the Ehang

  184 in Dubai and

  Las Vegas. What

  load can it carry?

  a106 kg

  b 186 kg

  c 226 kg

  8

  In what year

  did the first

  driverless bus hit

  the road in Ger-

  many (in Bad

  Birnbach, a spa

  town in Bavaria)?

  a2016

  b 2017

  c 2018

  9

  What cur-

  rent-

  ly non-existent

  Simply Clever

  solution would

  you like to see in

  your car?

  COMPETITION RULES

  All entrants who correctly answer questions 1 to 8 progress to the second round. In

  the second round the jury, composed of the ŠKODA Mobil editorial board, will choose

  three winners who gave the most original answer to question 9. By sending an e-mail

  the entrant consents to the processing of his personal data by ŠKODA AUTO a.s. for

  the purpose of identifying and contacting the competition winners.

  RIDE INTO THE FUTURE

  SUPPLEMENT TO THE ŠKODA MOBIL EMPLOYEE NEWSPAPER

  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Tomáš Novotný CONTENT BY: Simona Havlíková, Kateřina Šulcová,

  Jindřich Novák, Petr Holub, Štefan Švec, Jan Studnička ILLUSTRATIONS: Nikola Logosová, Bedirhan Akçan

  GRAPHIC DESIGN AND PRODUCTION: Boomerang Communication ISSUE DATE: 28. 6. 2018

  E-mail your answers by 31.7.2018 to

  skoda.mobil@skoda-auto.cz

• Page 38