Welcome to Azura

Bright sunlight flooded her ship from the outside. But that was not all. It was the heat wave that shocked Shannon. Within seconds she could feel sweat pouring down on her back. She took a few steps back into the ship. Apparently, Azura's climate really was hot. She checked the thermostat that showed temperature outside the ship.

"40 degrees!" she exclaimed. "That's inhuman!"

She couldn't remember ever feeling that hot. Well, maybe when friends talked her into visiting beaches during summer. But she was just a kid back then. And even then she hated it. She took another look at the thermostat, hoping she'd misread it. Nope, 40 degrees outside. Ever since she opened the hatch, even the inside temperature turned to 30 from the comfortable 22 she liked during travelling. If she didn't close the hatch soon, her ship would turn into a freaking oven. With an indecisive groan she grabbed a little bottle of water -- a little bottle that weighted about 10 pounds -- and stepped out of her ship, closing the hatch behind her.

Immediately she could feel the sun on her skin. Even through her shades it took a while for her eyes to adjust to the brightness. While she stood there blinded by the sunlight, she grabbed the railing to steady herself. Bad idea.

"Ouch!" she pulled her hand away. The railing was as hot as... well as something really hot.

Whoever built this spaceport should have had the brains to not build railing from metal that absorbs heat that easily. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she looked around the hangar. The spaceport was at the northern edge of the city, and she could look at the endless ocean behind her. She could even see a mirage near the horizon. She checked her watch as she walked down the stairs. She was in time, there was no need to hurry. She hadn't expected it, but that little extra weight added to her body made that walk down the stairs a hell of a lot harder. She could especially feel it in her calfs and thighs. Well, maybe high heeled boots were not a good idea. Then she walked to the door leading out of her hangar. The door opened automatically and she stepped out onto the bright Azurian streets. She pressed her palm against a console and the doors sealed. This way just a security measure to only allow the owner entrance into that particular hangar. She had booked it, after all.

"Welcome to Azura City. Have a pleasant stay." came the voice from a floating little probe above the door.

"Yeah, yeah..." she said as she took in the sight before her.

Azura City was a circular maze of tall skyscrapers, streets and canals. She kne that much from the maps. It would have seemed impossible, but the city was actually floating on the literally endless sea. Only the many artifical beaches around it gave the illusion of it being built on an island. Well, now she could tell she had been to Azura. Yay... Another planet she could cross off her little list, hopefully never to visit again.

The first thing she noticed was that all the buildings were covered with mirrors, or something mirror-like, which reflected the rays of the sun everywhere. She didn't know about nighttimes, but Azura must have been the brightest city during daytime she had ever seen. And she'd been to the Promenade of Sun City once. It also had the undesirable effect of always having at least on building blinding her, wherever she stood. Luckily, she had shades.

The next thing she noticed was that the people in the city wore very little clothing. An important-looking man with a briefcase walked past her and he was wearing shorts, flip-flops and a tie. Nothing else. And he was not the only one. Granted the city wasn't crowded, but out of the many men she could see in her immediate vicinity, only two wore any kind of shirts. And the women? Well, the women were all bikini-clad. She kind of felt herself totally out of place in long jeans, boots and a shirt. Out of place and extremely hot. She could already feel the sweaty shirt sticking to her body. And she had just arrived.

Ugh, whatever... She snapped off her navigation probe from her belt and let go of it. The handy little floating ball would lead her to her destination. Gone were the days where people needed maps or directions. She strutted after the probe into the shining beach city of Azura, trying to ignore all the scantily dressed people around her.