Portaleige

     What had been a tiny dot in the distance had grown to reveal an entire city. Floating in space, Portaleige was buzzing with the activity of ships, like bees around the hive. The tallest structure, its roof dancing with a frantic, blue-white electricity bleed, caught Sam’s eye. Like a searchlight, it was slowly rotating into the nothingness surrounding the city. Below lay a diversity of domes and spires, some dark and grimy, others so clean their sleek exteriors reflected the city lights. From their approaching vantage point, Donovan marveled at the underbelly of a thousand antennas, shooting down like tendrils around great pipe works, belching exhaust into the blackness. Flying ever closer, they could see a massive transparent dome revealing the constant movement inside the city center.

     Searching for an open slip, Web moved closer to the docking structure. A central line hanging off the bottom of the city offered two stories of docking bays, each level a circular pattern, sticking out like bicycle spokes. Slow and easy, he passed several monstrous ships parked at the outside dock ends. Then, maneuvering the craft with a final micro thrust, he docked, triggering a giant mechanical arm swung out from the pier and clamped on, locking them in place.