In The Woods

Greetings to one and all, from Bonnie Scotland.

I’m making progress. I used my minicruiser to return to Earth, and I’ve found a place in the mountains where I should be safe from scrutiny for a while. I plan to create a hideout here (don’t worry, there will be zero environmental impact), but it will be a longish task. In the mean time I’ll have to rely on tactics such as hovering on antigrav in the forest canopy with the cloak enabled. The gravity planers do make a little noise, but I’m kind of relying on the local weather conditions to mask that, and I’m well away from any walking routes.

I have to admit that it’s a rather beautiful place. I’d got quite accustomed to meditating in near-geostationary orbit while looking at the stars, yet there’s something about a sky being above (as opposed to all around) that feels quite special.

Jalaa’s ship is still where I left it. I’ve configured automatic placeholding, and I’ve also set up an alert in case anyone comes aboard – partly for fear of intruders, but also, I must confess, out of a wistful desire to be proved wrong about what happened. Whether Jalaa returns or not, the ship will remain, as both a beacon and a tribute.

I’ve already called in at Mike’s place to have a chat. He’s doing pretty well and appears to enjoy being a Scot! He’d run out of whisky, though, which was rather inconsiderate of him. Anyway, he’s not too far away so it should make things more efficient in future if we need to meet.

Got to go now. I think there might be a forestry vehicle snooping about so I need to keep an eye on that. I’ll be back with another report before long!