Chapter 2 – Arrival
The thrusters on the shuttle worked at full power, giving out a deafening roar as they sought to cushion the craft's final decent onto the landing platform. Functionary had finally arrived at his destination. Miles above the planet, the passengers had transferred from the space ship which had been their home for nearly half-a-year, into the small silver shuttle capable of withstanding the forces of planetary gravity and the frictions of atmosphere.
While waiting to disembark, Functionary had been able to scrutinise the planet that was to be his new home for many years. From miles up, Pristine shone brightly, brilliantly reflecting the light from the star around which it orbited. Pristine was a picture in white and clearly delineated shades of light grey. It was beautiful to behold and suggested pristine qualities which reflected its name: clean, unsullied, new. But in its shades of grey, Functionary fretted that this was a planet devoid of vegetation, animal life and even any significant flow of liquids or gases and that, as such, its beauty came only from craters and rock formations and, the changing illumination from its distant sun. It would be a simple, static landscape changing little with place and the effects of nature or with time and the impact of season or climatic conditions. Functionary doubted that the beauty of Pristine would be long interesting on the eye. This was a place to come to, to visit and to view: but it was not a place to tarry.
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