The Solarian pressed a recessed control on the rear of the shuttle and a small boarding ramp extended, simultaneously a rear hatch opened and the three of them went aboard. Inside it was cramped yet surprisingly comfortable.
There was a large single display with complicated Solarian controls and three large windows to the front, a second small display hung from the ceiling just above the central window.
Fortunately there were three chairs, one for the pilot, another for a co-pilot and a third for a passenger situated behind them and off to the port side of the ship. To the starboard side of the shuttle there was a very small room, with just a single bed which took up half the available space; an overhead storage locker, and a small food synthesiser.
Kerulithar touched a few controls on the main display, the hatch closed, and the shuttle began to power up.
Gradually it began to levitate as the gravitic engines kicked in with a gentle whine; he spoke into the display in his native Solarian language, and the hangar doors began to slowly open.
The shuttle accelerated, and the small bullet-like craft glided gently out into the star lit blackness of space. Smoothly it glided past the various docking arms that jutted out of this side of the station, and past the myriad of ships that frequented the facility.
Once clear of the station and all the surrounding traffic. Kerulithar powered up the plasma drive, and the tiny craft jumped into its own tiny plasma wake and was gone.
Over the course of the journey, Kerulithar taught Michael and Vargev the basics of how to control the shuttle; allowing all three to take turns between piloting, and resting.
The journey passed relatively uneventfully; there was a small Ion storm which they managed to skirt around. And exactly two days later the shuttle arrived in orbit of the Solarian homeworld, Solaris IV, and the capital of the Solarian Confederacy.
The glow emanating from the massive red giant sun of the Solaris system bathed the planet in a red-orange glow. At the same time Michael and Vargev noticed the sheer number of ships going to and fro, there were dozens of them, from smaller inter-system freighters to the battle cruisers and smaller escort craft of the Solarian fleet, to huge star liners carrying thousands of tourists. Not to mention the multiple orbital facilities, stations and satellites that en-circled the planet.
“Are all your planets this busy?” Michael asked.
“No, Solaria is one of the most important planets for trade and tourism in the known galaxy, it is actually rather quiet at the moment.”
Michael laughed incredulously, I’d hate to see it busy then, he thought.
“How do you keep track of all the visitors?” Vargev asked.
“Why would we wish to? All species in-bound to the planet go through a series of highly sensitive scanners, any weapons or items that may pose a threat to the populace are confiscated and destroyed. The person is escorted to a holding facility in orbit until a vessel from his race arrives, then he is instantly deported off the planet,” Kerulithar said as he pressed a control on the panel in front of him, again, he spoke into this panel in his native language. “Aliaris foreth ganost alothios.”
After a slight delay, there came a reply, and the shuttle began to descend into the atmosphere.
“What did you say?” Michael asked.
“I was asking for landing clearance, we have been cleared at pad B on the Allathas spaceport.”
“Can anyone live on your planet?” Vargev asked.
“Of course, but only a very rare few of the other races actually do; mainly wealthy businessmen who trade with Solarian colonies, a few rich celebrities have property here also.”
“Why so few?” Vargev asked interested.
“Mainly cost. Interstellar travel can be an expensive business, especially when used for private use; also the property prices on Solaria are extremely high.”
“Why?” Vargev probed.
“You’ll found out very soon.”
The shuttle cut through the cloud cover, and the surface was at last revealed to them, far off in the distance mountain peaks could be seen; flocks of birds flew far below them. It looked like someone had thrown a smattering of large rubies on the surface of the planet, with one particularly large group; they glittered as the light reflected off of them.
“Are they communities?” Michael asked peering through the shuttle windows.
“Yes, the largest one is Solaria city.”
“What are those buildings made of?” Michael whispered aloud.
“I’ve no idea,” Vargev replied, equally fascinated.
Gradually the shuttle slowed as it began its approach to the small speck that was the Allathas spaceport; its gravitic engines began to whine as they continued to slow the shuttles descent. Gradually the spaceport grew larger as they neared it, individual landing pads could begin to be seen, and some were already occupied by other ships.
Kerulithar pressed a control on the panel above the front window, and the landing legs on the shuttle slowly lowered. The whining of the gravitic engines increased as they killed the last of the shuttles forward momentum, and then stopped as the shuttle rested gently on its landing legs.
Kerulithar pressed another button and the hatch slowly opened.
All three of them disembarked from the shuttle and stepped out onto the landing pad. There was a gentle warm breeze, and clear skies.
Vargev almost immediately stopped in his tracks awestruck, “Mother Russia, have you seen this place!”
Michael stopped and looked at Vargev, “what are you talking about?”
“Look!”
Michael looked around and immediately understood what Vargev was trying to tell him.
“My god!” Michael gasped aloud absolutely amazed.
And there they were, stood on the landing pad gazing out at the magnificent beauty of Solaria city. As far as the eye could see there were crystalline structures, all of which were polished to an almost mirror like finish, large birds flew to and fro high above, and perched on the apexes of the crystals, some of which were hundreds of feet high. Strips of chrome were added to the structures here and there; giving an indication of floors.
The entire city glittered like a collection of bright rubies as the light from the Solaris sun reflected off the sides of the buildings, each of these ‘buildings’ if you could call them that, were connected to one another via massive archways of the grandest baroque design, the occasional Shuttle flew high above the city.
“This cannot be; do my eyes deceive me,” Vargev exclaimed.
“No, they do not deceive you. It’s the reason why I couldn’t tell you on the shuttle, you had to see for yourself,” Kerulithar replied with a smile. “This is Solaria city, the capital of the entire Solarian confederacy, and one of our greatest achievements.”
“An entire city, built from crystal,” Michael said shaking his head almost in disbelief.
“The crystal was already here, as a people we crafted it into this.”
“People on Earth would pay a million credits to see a sight like this; I wish I had a camera,” Michael said.
“How did the crystal get here?” Vargev asked.
“Millions of years ago Solaria had two moons, Kyo and Ora’is, Ora’is exploded however. This caused huge tectonic upheavals on Solaria itself; earthquakes and volcanoes threw tonnes of ash and molten rock into the atmosphere; coming within a whisker of making all life extinct.” Kerulithar bowed his head low.
“With the ash clouding the atmosphere Solaria cooled as did the Volcanoes and the Lava flows. The bubbling chemicals on the surface went through a crystallization process, and produced the crystal structures you see today, crystal structures like these can be seen all over the planet; however this is the most dense cluster.”
“What is the chrome used for?” Michael asked.
“That’s the other great resource this planet has blessed us with; the core of Solaria is 60 % nickel and 40 % chromium, molten chromium was thrown up during the upheavals. It’s primarily used to strengthen the crystal, as well as aesthetic reasons.”