In a solar system similar to Earth's, a sparkling silver object orbited a planet shrouded in darkness. A myriad of lights, both organic and electric, highlighted the planet's surface in splotches of colour. Brighter areas connected by paths of matted hues and the dark areas subtly lit by somber shades.
The object glittered as two wheels rotated around a large central shaft. The larger ring was being constructed around the smaller, older one. Pastel ships of all shades went to and fro from the station like gnats above a river as those rings rotated in space like a waterwheel churning on a slow summer day. Their pale blue engines reflected off of the silver plating of the station.
At the end of the central beam was the largest hanger, even among those of the larger ring. Pink lights blinked in unison among scaffolding. In that hangar a ship sat; scaffolding and cables covered its form as only a few workers in heavy suits graced the scaffolding. The workers wore two extra manipulators arms, using them to methodically remove the construction equipment from around the ship. Occasionally a glow of heated metal could be seen, with the worker near tying fluorescent orange ribbons at the scaffolding nearby.
Underneath the web of scaffolding, a beautiful ship of polished silver metal lay. Like the station, a long cylinder made up the center, with two toroids near the front and back of it. The rear held a cluster of engines on sturdy beams that resembled thick branches. Tubing and other smaller beams connected engines to beams and beams to engine. The host of tubes and cables resembled a canopy of a tree strung with vines.
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A mural of paint had been lovingly applied over the skin of the ship. It started near the nose and detailed a meeting between a group of bipeds on red soil gesturing up at a white vessel in the sky. A wide swath of beige, triple the size of the painted section, waited to be expanded upon.
Slowly, the remaining workers on the vessel left. After the last one clambered into the station the cables attached to the scaffolding pulled ever so more taut and the blinking pink lights shifted to a steady bright glow. A series of flashes triggered on the scaffolding as it slowly drifted away from the ship and retreated into a series of small hatches in the hangar walls.
Embossed over the main compartment were two strings of text, one in English and the other in Glintish; the inhabitants of the planet below. The vessel's name was Tempered longing. Made with the knowledge of Humanity and the materials from the Glint, both helped construct it as a symbol of alliance between the Human and Glint, and their future efforts to find more like them.
As the last piece of scaffolding was stowed, the Tempered Longing's engines flickered to life, and a pale blue glow illuminated the array of the ship. Small orange thrusters flashed briefly to halt its rotation once clear of the hangar. It pivoted then drifted toward the docking rings.