Mu Draconis (Part Three)

March 11 - Al Raqis

Dressed in my desert traveling clothes, I rejoined the Consulari Raghilda outside the main house. As comfortable as I am in my uniform, the hydrosuit was the only way to exist comfortably on this burning rock.

"All ready," I reported.

"This way, Major," she replied.

I followed her down some steps and across a pathway adjacent to the Al Raqis Medical Centre.

We came to a small street in the residential district. While no two houses were the same, a majority of them were of the style characteristic of this planet. We stopped in front of a simple two storey structure that looked vaguely like my place in the Hagga Settlement.

"This residence?" I asked.

She said yes.

"I love the windows," I remarked.

The Consulari pointed out a few features of the neighborhood in general.

"And these persons were spotted here?" I asked.

"People matching the description," she replied.

It was a charming little street actually. It needed something green though.

"Not much to see here," she added.

She was correct. There was nothing to indicate or deny that an Alliance team operated in the area.

I changed the subject.

"Can you show me the Guild mooring?" I requested.

"Yes," she replied and turned to lead us back towards the marketplace.

I followed and called out to her, "And the Heighliner over Vortex.... similar markings? or are all there ships the same?"

"Identical," she answered, "They recognized it from the picture the Constable gave me."

I twisted my mouth in thought. "Yes..." I said aloud.

We trudged along the path, the Consulari out in front. The tread of our boots leaving patterns in the light coating of sand.

-----

She led us out into the desert near the Zenobian Quarter.

In contrast to Tillery's new car, the Consulari's craft was a humble affair of local origin. Angular in design, it's wings looked like they could flap during atmospheric flight. It reminded me of an insect.

We broke atmosphere and the tiny craft shuddered and whined like a petulant child complaining about leaving the secure environment of home. Consulari Raghilda worked at the controls and soon we were in silent flight speeding towards Ardra's ship.

It's funny how powerful an image is. Despite the Consulari's earlier description of the dimensions of the ship, I still expected to see a craft much like the one in the security camera capture. A dark tube, hovering above the clouds, marked by three luminous green circles joined center to center by two horizontal bars.

However as we approached the actual mooring of the heighliner, it soon became quite apparent.

The security camera had lied.

That wasn't Ardra's ship seen hovering in the clouds over Splintered Rock.

That was merely her shuttle craft.