Mia and Ray, both exhausted by over 24 hours of frantic activity watched with anticipation as the great cylinder of the tether shuttle moved slowly away from the base station increasing speed as it rose upward.
They looked out in awe over the vast sea of dunes thousands of miles across and the green blue sea on the other side stretching into the distance.
Smiling with relief Mia relaxed slightly and rested her head on Ray’s shoulder, grinning at her short cropped hair and tough looking lightly bearded masculine face. Ray grimaced with chagrin “Don’t get too used to this look, I’ll be shedding this ridiculous disguise the first chance I get.”
Mia yawned “I don’t blame you, it’s not a great look.” She closed her eyes for a moment and a few seconds later was asleep cuddled up in her friends arms.
Ray looked across the cabin casually and winked at Dani sitting over on the other side, she nodded imperceptibly with a hint of a relieved smile on her lips.
A little over two hours later having left the atmosphere after an hour into the journey they watched in awe as the shuttle approached Waystation 14, the impressive hub for many of the offworld departures numerous commercial and private vessels departing on a regular basis.
As they moved closer the scale of the huge circular rings of the station became clearer as the shuttle entered the central cylinder stopping smoothly at substation 3 where all arrivals disembarked.
Rayna woke her friend gently and together they made their way down the stairs and ramp to the exit booths.
See how the painting evolved here:
