By the time the Rhino had begun its descent through the thin upper atmosphere of Parador, the sun was already bringing dawn to the continent below. Ellie gripped her seat as supersonic winds shook and rattled and howled against the little craft. The blackness of space evaporated like a dream as they flew deeper into the world.

Stars faded into a whitening sky. The hull of the ship glowed under the intense friction of the air. The sky changed again from white to blue, and far below them fluffy clouds of silver-grey gleamed in the fresh morning light.

The dense, lower atmosphere slowed their ship even more, and their flight smoothed. Malachi flew the ship lower. Now they could make out features of the landscape beneath them. Fuzzy patches of green and blue came into sharp focus.

A thin yellow strip of coastline divided land and sea, the blue of the ocean now flecked with the white of cresting waves. Further north, the coastline disappeared beneath snow and ice, and the rough, undulating surface of the sea gave way to sheets of pure blinding white where they reflected the glory of the new day’s sun.

The trio watched in awe, drinking in the magnificent sight of a sunrise seen from ten thousand metres up.

Tila spoke quietly, needing to move forward but not wanting to break the moment. ‘Where can we land?’

Malachi forced his attention back to the controls. A soon as they had entered the atmosphere, the Rhino’s planetary navigation computer had begun sucking in data from local satellites and surface navigation stations. He flicked through the options.

‘There’s some hills or small mountains north of the city. That would be a good place to land. The commercial spaceport is on the south, so I think this way we can avoid local traffic.’

‘What’s the city called? Is it far?’ said Tila.

‘Caldera. And it’s not far if you don’t mind walking, but I’ll get us as close as I think is safe.’

Ellie, hypnotised by the view outside the ship, said nothing. She had never seen anything so beautiful.

* * * * *

Malachi winced and pressed a palm to one ear. Tila wiggled a finger in her own ear and Ellie squeezed her eyes and swallowed. It didn’t work on land, either, and her ears popped painfully as the pressure seals released. The door hissed, and airtight seals retreated into the door housings.

The door opened, and a new world beckoned.

The sun was a little higher now, and its light, though blinding a short time before, now filtered through the green, leafy canopy above them. It was softened further still by the dissipating early morning mist which surrounded them and filled the valley in which they had landed. Cool air crept into the cabin and hugged their ankles as the warmer air of their ship escaped through the open door. The chirps and whistles of birds, temporarily frightened into silence and now full of righteous anger at their arrival, once again filled the air.

Malachi and gave Ellie a gentle push toward the door. ‘Well, are you going outside?’

‘Is it safe?’

Tila smiled at her caution. ‘It’s safe.’

Ellie stopped at the threshold and held out one hand. Dappled sunlight danced over her fingers, and she felt a warmth she had never experienced before. She could almost feel the light seeping into her fingers. It was a strange thing to feel the cool air around them yet be warmed by a shaft of light. There was a rich quality to the light, and the warmth had a depth and realness to it that was utterly new.

In space, the sun was cold and hard. If you wanted to be warm you turned on a heater and hoped it worked. But here the sunlight was gentle. Soft and welcoming. It was like touching heaven.

Ellie walked with small steps down the short ramp and put her foot on a planet for the first time. Beneath her feet, grass and firm packed earth cushioned her step. Earth, not metal tiles.

The sunlight beamed around her and over her skin. She lifted her eyes to find its source and gasped.

All her life there had been something above her. If she looked up on the Juggernaut, there would be some metal barrier she could not see beyond. Here, there was no limit to what she could see. There were leaves, and branches, and then nothing else but the open sky.

Still inside the ship, Malachi elbowed Tila and pointed at Ellie as she absorbed the scene.

‘What do you think?’ Tila said to Ellie.

‘Do you want to say something profound?’ said Malachi, grinning.

Ellie struggled for the right words.

‘I don’t know. There’s so much… up,’ she said.

Malachi looked at Tila, who looked up at the same sky and shrugged.

‘She’s right, though,’ said Tila.

Malachi cleared the ramp in two quick, heavy footsteps which shook Ellie from her rapture, breaking the spell.

‘Honestly, you are the least romantic people I know. Come on, Ellie, there’s plenty more to see on the way.’

He hefted a pack to his shoulder, ignoring Tila’s offer to carry it instead of her own, smaller backpack. Tila strode down the ramp and onto the damp grass and tapped Ellie on the shoulder. She was still mesmerised by the abundance of green all around. Malachi was last to leave. The ramp folded up behind them, and the door closed.

‘You ready?’ Malachi asked Tila.

She adjusted her pack on her shoulders and nodded.

‘Let’s go.’

They started walking. Malachi flipped open a computer and entered their destination. Local map data danced around the display as the device triangulated their position.

‘Okay, we go south about four kilometres and then we join one of the main roads heading into the city. That will take us another two K. It looks like the financial district is in the north of town.’

‘Four kilometres before we even reach the road?’ said Ellie. ‘That’s forever.’

‘It’s only two and a half miles.’

Ellie looked at him through narrowed eyes. ‘What’s a mile? Is that better? Is it the same? It’s the same, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, it’s the same, but it sounds less.’

‘So let’s go,’ urged Tila. ‘We don’t have all day.’

‘Actually, we do,’ Malachi whispered to Ellie as they followed. ‘People in the city are probably only just waking up now.’

Tila set the pace, driving them forward as fast as she could make them. If it was up to her, she would have them run all the way. They could be there in less than an hour. She suggested this to Malachi after the first half hour of walking, but he rejected the idea.

‘Tila, I can’t run six kilometres! Neither can Ellie. Anyway, what’s the point in rushing? We’ll still be there early, before everyone starts work, and we’re not in so great a rush that we can’t enjoy some time under an open sky, are we?’

Both girls grumbled at this. Ellie because she felt slighted at the claim that she could not run all the way, and Tila because she knew Malachi was right. She was just being impatient.

Thirty minutes later they entered a wild meadow. Their immediate destination, the road heading south into the city, was half a kilometre ahead, but Ellie wanted a break.

‘We’re nearly there,’ Tila said.

‘But we’ve been walking for ages,’ said Ellie. ‘I want a rest.’

‘A few minutes won’t hurt,’ Malachi said to Tila. ‘It’s still early.’

Outvoted, Tila sat, crossed her legs and tore up the grass in violent, but silent, protest. Malachi lay back, closed his eyes to enjoy the morning sun, and ignored the damp seeping into his clothes from the ground. Ellie picked a handful of wild flowers and examined them as if they were jewels under an eyeglass.

Tila watched Ellie as her friend absorbed a thousand new sensations, sights, sounds and smells. For Malachi and herself, they were old friends. Each of them had spent many of their younger years planetside with their respective families. But for Ellie it was all so new.

Tila tried to see the world through Ellie’s eyes. The contrast with the Juggernaut could not be more striking. Here they had bright sunlight instead of low-UV light panels. Here they had fresh air, scented with morning dew and flowers and damp grass. At home, they had filtered air, scented and dried by the process which had led it through a dozen CO2 scrubbers, and who knew how many people, before they breathed it.

On the Juggernaut, they could see only as far as the next bulkhead. Here, it felt like they could see forever.

She smiled to herself as Ellie sorted through her treasure. Ellie had pulled a petal from each one and was stroking them against the underside of her chin to feel how soft they were. Tila remembered doing the same thing as a child. Ellie noticed Tila watching her.

‘Don’t they smell amazing?’ said Ellie.

In truth, Tila had never had much time for flowers, but she didn’t want to take anything away from the moment Ellie was enjoying.

Instead Tila nodded and said absently, ‘I’m surprised you haven’t eaten one yet.’

‘You can eat them?’ said Ellie in surprise.

‘Oh! No, I just meant—’ Tila began, but it was too late and Ellie bit off the flower’s head. For one very brief and happy moment the scent of it filled her nostrils. Then the taste introduced itself to her tongue. Without passing through any intermediate stage, Ellie’s expression changed from one of rapture to one of disgust at nature’s harsh betrayal.

She spat out the half-chewed remains and licked her sleeve to rid her tongue of the taste. ‘Oh, that is disgusting!’ She retched.

Malachi, who had been laying on his back and listening behind closed eyes, laughed so hard he began to cough. Tila opened his bag and fished out a water bottle for her unfortunate friend.

‘But it looked so beautiful, and it smelled so wonderful,’ Ellie complained to nature in general.

‘Sorry, Ellie. I guess not everything that looks so sweet is harmless,’ said Tila.

‘Now you tell me!’ Ellie threw the water bottle at Malachi. ‘Stop laughing!’

Malachi managed to regain his composure long enough to wipe a tear from his cheek, and then made eye contact with Tila, who looked at the flowers, and then back at Malachi. He grinned and set the two of them to laughing again.

Ellie scrambled to her feet, indignant, disappointed and angry with the world for not being the way it ought.

‘Come on. I thought you had somewhere to be,’ she said, and marched past them heading for the city.