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Yet, in the scheme of things, it served a vital purpose she had to grudgingly respect.
    The launch’s maneuvering thrusters fired as they slowly descended to a docking platform. Passengers gathered their belongings and waited to disembark. LaRenna mustered her courage and retrieved her own bag from under the seat. “Well,” she whispered with a wary gaze to the platform below. “No one said this was going to be easy.”
    A jolt signaled touchdown, the landing locks hissing and grinding as they secured to the platform receptors. The doors slid open and smothering humidity flooded the compartment. LaRenna gasped as the heavy air filled her lungs with suffocating pressure. An older Autlach woman in front of her turned back to speak, her forehead beading with moisture. “Polmel’s dampness can be unbearable, can’t it?” She seemed to take LaRenna’s appearance in stride. “Don’t concern yourself with your hood, my dear. Everyone in Polmel knows a Taelach when they see one. There’s almost as many of your kind here as mine.” LaRenna shifted uneasily at the unexpected attention. “You won’t be given any trouble while in public.”
    They stepped off the launch and the woman showed the platform sentry her travel card. LaRenna pulled back her hood for identification, produced her card, and gave it to the sentry as well. He read it then passed it back with a salute to match his begrudged tone. “Have a good trip to Langus, third officer.”
    “Langus?” The woman had lingered. “Well, young lady, that’s where I’m heading as well, at least a day or so.” She swiped at the perspiration that ran down her face. “My two youngest sons and their families live in a farming compound on the edge of the Balleye Breaks. I’m heading there for a quick visit on my way to Saria Proper. Beautiful country, the Balleye Breaks, you’ll have to visit them sometime during your stay.” She walked toward the archway at the platform head. Her left foot dragged along the ground as she moved, giving her an odd limp. After a rather amused glance back at LaRenna’s apprehensive face, she beckoned her to come closer. “The port at Polmel is near impossible to navigate if you’ve never been here. Carry my bag, child, and I’ll take us to our platform.”
    LaRenna gratefully accepted the woman’s generosity, relieved to know she wouldn’t have to find her way through the honeycomb of walkways and landing platforms alone. She took the extra bag and followed. Keeping up with the old woman proved a challenge as they made their way through the crowds. She wove skillfully in and out of the throngs of populace, despite her obvious infirmity.
    By the time they reached the Langus transport, LaRenna was exhausted. The weight of her baggage and cloak had drenched her in perspiration, causing everything she wore to stick to her skin. They stopped by a peddler cart at the edge of a vacant platform. “I’m parched!” declared the Autlach, fanning herself. The cooling halted when she noticed LaRenna. “Gracious me, child, but you’re half-drowned! Why don’t we get a drink?”
    LaRenna nodded her heavy head in agreement.
    “I’ll get us something before we board. Goodness knows the transport doesn’t serve enough to keep an insect alive, much less a pretty young woman such as you. Are you hungry?”
    “The heat,” LaRenna answered as she shook the hair from her sweating neck. “It’s made me half ill.”
    “Understandable. I’ll get us some water and a few bush fruits for later.” She addressed the peddler and purchased the items. Taking back her bag, she handed LaRenna a large cup of water. “I didn’t let him ice it. The cold will cramp you in this heat.” LaRenna looped her bag over her shoulder, drew a folded Autlach bill from her pocket, and gave it to the woman, who took the money and placed it along with two small fruits in LaRenna’s cloak pocket. “No, child, don’t insult me,” she said in a mothering way.