The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]The silver, crescent-shaped ship dove boldly into the phosphorescent atmosphere and activated the seeker drone. The drone, a small black bullet, flew off determinedly, streaking straight down toward the planet. The pilot had preprogrammed it with all the pertinent details of the quarry, and it was hot on the trail.

Suddenly he went into a panic, casting visually about the cockpit. Did he remember his harvesting permit? The authorities would insist on checking it in order to leave the planet with his cargo. Sure, he could try to dodge their patrols but that would be dangerous. He could be marked and he was no smuggler, he was a legal trader.

Now where was that gederiscett permit? Ah, there it is under his log; he could see it sticking out, the then edge of the bright green alloy on which it was inscribed betraying its hiding place. He sighed in genuine relief, absently matched his ship heading with the seeker transmission, locked it in. Now he could feel free to sit back and enjoy the growing landscape of this gorgeous gem of a planet. (He just hoped the man was worth the trip.)