Owen dropped the shuttle from the statutory high-speed flight level of 30,000 feet down towards the beautiful dark blue lake, called Lake Clarity. The trip from Serenity City had taken a full hour due to the speed restrictions at low level between Serenity City and Lake Town, and getting clearance for high-level flight between the two was similar to the chances of finding gold-pressed latinum in the front yard.
Owen looked out of the wide viewport of his new craft down at the lake ahead of him. To the east of the lake was a large forest which extended up towards the mountains, and surrounding the lake were small woodlands and open grass plains. As the shuttle dropped to a few meters above ground level the water of the lake sprayed out to the sides almost parting in the path of the craft. Owen flew towards the north end of the lake and followed the easternmost river towards the mountains, slowing the craft down to a steady 100kilometer/hour.
A few kilometers upstream the river forked towards the mountains to the east, Owen glanced down at the navigation data. That was the directions the estate agent had given him. The entire purpose of the flight was to visit a small cabin on the River Clarity, which fed Lake Clarity which in turn fed the Blue Lake. The cabin was situated on the edge of the river in a small clearing in the forest and had a small access road which led in one direction up into the mountains and in the other down on the 2000 kilometer journey to Lake Town.
As the shuttle flew steadily up the river Owen noticed the clearing to the southern side of the river and tapped the console to bring the shuttle back around and touch down gradually beside the wooden cabin, just uphill of the river itself. As the shuttle's engines powered down the rear hatch dropped open with a hiss and Owen stood up and exited into the fresh air of the open countryside.
He glanced around at the view before walking off the ramp and turning to face the cabin itself. The word cabin did not really describe the building at all, wooden marvel would have been better. The building stood proudly on the hillside, with wooden supports at the end of the building facing the river. They supported the deck which surrounded the building itself, which was an impressive structure. It was about 15 meters wide on the river-facing side and 20 meters long which extended back into the forest itself. The river facing side was almost entirely glass, with the occasional wooden support for the roof. The small clearing in front of the cabin led down to the river, and was littered with small trees and shrubbery. The whole spectacle was quite impressive from the outside and it was excellently maintained considering it had remained unused for 4 months.
Owen made his way up the slope to the cabin and walked up the steps to the right of the building, which led to the front entrance. As he reached the top step level with the deck he looked around at the view and gasped. Due to the height of the building above the river, the view extended to Lake Clarity over the forest and in the far distance he could make out the hills, over the far side of which was Blue Lake.
After gazing for a few moments Owen touched the panel beside the front door and on identifying him the door unlocked with a click and Owen pushed it open and walked inside. The inside of the building was partitioned into bedroom at the rear side of the property, facing the forest, and living area, that being the lounge, dining area and full 21st century style kitchen at the front overlooking the river. A sliding door, which was barely distinguishable from the windows, led out onto the deck which overlooked the river. There was no furniture inside the building and it took Owen a few minutes to imagine the huge rooms being furnished.
Breaking the silence a bell-like noise rang out from somewhere above him and, from the direction of the entrance, a voice called out, "Mind if I come in?"
Owen looked back towards the door. There he saw Ash, the farmer who had been kind enough to give him a ride to Serenity the day before.
"Not at all," Owen replied and turned around to face the door.
Ash entered and strolled into the lounge, slowly looking around, admiring the inside of the cabin.
"I caught sight of your new wings diving towards the lake from our farm," Ash said, cheerfully. "I thought I'd see what you were up to. Looking for a house?"
"Yeah," Owen replied. "I've been in the mountains, the desert, up on a lovely little island, but it was freezing."
"The prices here are ridiculously cheap, people want homes in the city so anything remote goes for next to nothing," Ash commented. "This place is pretty suave though."
Owen nodded in response. "It's the best I've looked at."
"Well we're only just down river from you, and about 3 clicks into the fields on the west," Ash stated. "Probably your closest neighbor."
Owen laughed, the idea of the closest neighbor being several kilometers away was quite appealing, much more than in the city where the neighbors were a matter of meters from your lounge.
"They're going to furnish it too apparently," Owen said. "They have a warehouse full of hand-crafted stuff from around the quadrant, pretty much any style you want."
"And it's all included in the price, which is?" Ash asked, clearly interested in the money as usual.
"Forty thousand I got them down to," Owen replied, seeming quite impressed at the achievement.
"Well I like it," Ash said, he began heading for the door. "The view's great. I could sit here all day if I didn't have work to do."
"I think I'll take it," Owen said after a moments thought.
He strolled towards the door behind Ash and out onto the stone steps of the entrance, closing the door behind him.
"Now to sort out the furniture," he said, as they walked down the slope towards the two parked shuttlecraft, one Owen's Centauri Class, the other the huge but sleek Omega Class, which Ash had clearly traded his old Raven Class ship for.
"Like the new bird?" Ash said as he walked up the ramp into the rear. "Got it from the same place as you, about an hour after, straight swap for an old Raven Class."
"Not a bad deal, although that ship of yours was pretty reliable, it came 100 lightyears without much problem," Owen replied as he stood in the entrance to his own shuttle.
"Christine named it Clarity Light something to do with the reflection from the lake this morning," Ash said, sounding slightly puzzled.
"I'm still thinking of something for mine," Owen said laughing as the hatch began to close. "I'll catch you later."
The hatch clunked shut and the reactor began powering up as Owen got comfortable in the blue leather-look pilot's seat.
Hmmm, Blue Angel... he thought, as he tapped the controls and the shuttle lifted off. It has to be blue something...
He watched as the Clarity Light accelerated over the river and the forest on the far side towards the fields a few kilometers away.
Blue, he continued to think. He glanced down at the PADD he had received from Sanford, on top of the co-pilots seat and the first thing that caught his eye was the abbreviation 'BLU' under the 'Shuttle type:' heading.
"BLU, Blue," he said aloud, smiling. "Simple, but accurate."
He tapped the controls and the shuttle accelerated on a direct course for Serenity City, he had business to attend to, namely buying the cabin.
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