On the high desert the suns set quickly. They lit the sky first with a bright yellow as they dipped towards the horizon. This colour faded as the first glowing orb sank below the horizon leaving a cool ice blue wash from the smaller brighter heavenly body. But soon the land was wreathed in the shroud of night. As the sky shot to black the temperature plummeted and the winds strengthened.
The moons were visible in the sky, as they were on most evenings. The regular shapes of floating platforms in low orbit could be seen on the horizon, but no platforms lay in orbit above this plateau. There were satellites in stationary orbit for geolocation, communications and surveying, but these were tiny and not visible to the unenhanced eye.
It was cold. Without protection it would take less than an hour for an organic to die on the plateau. In the dome the figure turned up the heating on their internal suit and made sure the doorway was fully sealed. They had a small electrical heater but it had not fully charged from the solar panels on the dome and there were more essential systems for the limited power in the cells.
The figure powered up the orbital communications system and set it to a steady pulse. The device had the capability to broadcast on a broad spectrum but the figure had set it to a very specific frequency. They checked that there was enough power to last the device until dawn, there was. They took a moment to eat and drink from a small survival kit before pulling a small, compact, bedroll from the kit. They carefully got into the bedding and sealed it onto the suit.
It would be a long, cold, night. According to the schedule they were given the contact would arrive anytime in the next three days so this may be a boring wait. But the figure was used to waiting and they could use the sleep.
