Forging Our Relation

By MrFanMan42 (This is an older story, sorry if things get a bit too wordy!)

“We’re approaching the target destination soon captain,” the speaker said inside my ship’s control console. “Oh this is so exciting! A new undiscovered planet just for the two of us to explore!”


“Don’t get your hopes up yet, Amanda. It may support life but for all we know it could just be some hostile wasteland filled with sand. I hate sand,” I replied. People called me a fool for taking on an expedition this far out into unknown territory. However nobody was going to stop me, Jackson Grayson, from exploring the unexplored. Amanda was my personal assistant accompanying me on this trip, and it wasn’t our first trip either. Of course, with her being the ship’s onboard AI, it was only natural to be overjoyed when surveying a new world. All I had to do was sit back and let her control the ship’s descent into the planet’s atmosphere. From what the sensors told us it was definitely suitable for life and rich in resources, but heavy storms prevented a more in-depth scan. Its green and yellow aura sure was pretty to look at though.


“Should be landing in about five minutes if everything goes right,” Amanda said. “I’m sensing some electrical interference in the storms, but it shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle.”


“Good, I always love a smooth landing. That last trip to the Zeta sector taught me to never leave my drink uncapped. Getting those stains out of my suit took forever!”


“Or… you could have just tossed that suit away and put on a clean one.”


“I could never do such a thing! Me and this suit have been through so much it’s almost part of me now. All the memories this thing holds, it would be like tossing away a portion of my soul.”


“Yeah, and it smells the part too.”


“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re an AI, you don’t have to worry about smells making you sick.”


“Just because I can’t throw up in the presence of something horrid doesn’t mean I can’t distinguish between a good fragrance and absolute filth.” A small nozzle descended from the cabin’s ceiling only to spray me with a nullifying odor.


“Ack! Quit it! You’re going to screw up my mojo!” I swatted away the sprayer only to hear a giggle from the speaker. The mist did its best to cover up my dirty suit but there was still room to improve. Discarded rations, scraps of packaging, and other kinds of junk were just lying about. People absolutely relied on me to get the job done, but being tidy was not my strong suit. Besides, there’s only so much space where you can store stuff in a ship this small.


“Just how much longer do we have? I need to get out and stretch these good legs of mine.” My slender limbs retracted from using the ship’s console as a footrest and I let out a big yawn.


“About a few more minutes- wait, hold on. That’s new,” Amanda replied.


“What’s new? I thought you said you could-”


The ship violently shook and alarms started blaring. I checked the control console trying my best to make out what was going on. Many of the ship’s systems were knocked out in the surge. Trash flew around the place making it difficult to read what was responding. I knew I should have cleaned up before this trip.


“Sir, we’ve been struck by some huge electrical surge. Putting the ship into emergency power mode.” Ringing alarms and creaking from the ship’s hull made it hard to understand Amanda’s voice.


“Oh this is going to be a rough one, isn’t it?” I asked. With a single button press my suit’s helmet appeared and I buckled myself to the cockpit’s chair. My Mk.12 Ultranium power suit might be lightweight, but it could easily take a beating like this. Now whether or not my insides would survive the crash was a different story. “Please tell me you got this under control.”


“I’m doing my best, sir. We’re rapidly approaching the surface. I’ll do everything I can to stop us from landing somewhere-” The speaker was cut off by a sudden impact. Everything started spinning as the ship barreled through a forest of alien trees. I was slowly losing focus and blacked out for a second. Finally, everything came to a halt but my mind and body was a wreck just like the ship’s interior. It all happened so fast I didn’t know what to think. Adrenaline kicked in. I was still in one piece physically but my body felt like a freighter hit me. I recalled yelling out to Amanda before unbuckling myself from the cockpit. Sparks were flying out of the damaged control panel with scrap strewn about the place. What little energy my body had was fading fast and I needed to escape before this ship became my tomb. Hobbling over to the escape hatch was quite the challenge but I still managed. It took everything left in me to release the seal on the door. The metal slab launched open followed by me landing face first into the dirt. Sparks flew all around me as I rested on the serene soil. It was somewhat a relief to touch solid ground at that moment. Despite being a completely alien planet it welcomed me with open arms. Moments passed and my suit’s internal systems did their best to fix up any injuries. Unfortunately it wouldn’t stop me from passing out anytime soon. Right before I blacked out again I noticed something alien approaching me. I felt whatever it was pick up my limp body and carry me away in big, gentle arms. Then everything went dark as I passed out.


My dreams were not gentle to me one bit. The ship crashing was playing on a constant loop inside my head. After enough torment I woke up gasping for breath. Sweat dripped across my face. I took a deep breath to calm down a bit before realizing I was moved from the crash site. Panic kicked in as I realized I had been taken somewhere else, which meant sapient life forms existed on this planet. However my panic lessened as I focused on the situation more. Whatever or whoever put me here obviously didn’t want to harm me, I hoped. They already had ample opportunity to do so. Instead I was safely nestled away inside what appeared to be a quaint lodge of sorts.


The room was built out of bright yellow lumber with logs squeezed together to form the walls. My wooden bed rested on a smoothed dirt floor, signaling I was on the ground floor. Inserted into the wall left of the bed was a very crude window. The glass was muddy, making it hard to see through while letting light in. A few baskets weaved from some blue plant-like material situated themselves in a corner. Beside the door frame were a pair of stone stools and a table. However this was not your average room. Everything inside was made for something almost twice my size. Panic slightly rose back up, who knew just how big these beings were.


I jumped down from the bed fit for something taller than me and examined the baskets. Nothing inside of them, but there was certainly enough space for me to hide in. The stools were almost as tall as bar stools and fit for a butt way bigger than mine. Atop the table was a plate adorned with various fruits. At least that’s what I assumed, they were all sorts of shapes and colors. The sight of the supposed fruit made my stomach growl. My panic was washed away by the feeling of hunger. I’ll admit I got distracted here but dang that alien fruit looked tasty. Thankfully, this suit of mine had just the right tools for checking the edibility of this alien produce.


I retracted my suit’s helmet and pulled out a small rod underneath my left wrist. It stayed connected by a retractable cable and I gently shoved it into one of the fruits. The screen on my left arm lit up and began analyzing. A few moments later and the results were done. This piece of fruit was completely safe. I shoved the testing rod into the rest of the produce one by one. Everything else came up safe as well. Now it was up to me to start the taste testing. Blue was my favorite color, so I picked up something orange and pear-shaped decked with blue dots. It was crisp and sweet for the initial bite, before transitioning to a more bitter taste after chewing some. Very odd. Each fruit was unique in its own way, ranging from super sweet to super sour and everything in between. What surprised me the most was this round, jet black berry of sorts. Every bite was extremely spicy yet lacked the physical texture of your average pepper. I had to stop eating after my second one due to the extreme heat.


As I was gorging on the alien fruit, a knock clanged from the gigantic wooden door. I froze in terror only to choke on the snack inside my throat. My coughing must have alerted whoever was behind the door because it slammed open like no other. What then rushed into the room had a towering reptilian form. They were about two or three feet taller than me, and I stood at a comfortable six feet. Black and white scales swirled across their plump body. Their backside was mainly black while their stomach converged into white scales. Scattered stripes of the opposite color were painted horizontally across from head to toe. A boxy snout jutted towards me with big white scales around the mouth. Every so often a pink forked tongue would flick out for a second. Two simple dark blue eyes cast their vision my way. Draped over one shoulder down was a dark pink robe, tightened around their belly with a golden rope. It covered their enormous body and reached the ground. The alien wasn’t wearing shoes of any type. I then noticed a very long tail swishing back and forth inside the door frame. It stopped when the reptilian giant saw me focus on said tail.


I was completely terrified at their stature, but we just looked at each other for a while with nobody saying a word. After the initial panic set in I decided it was time for me to break the ice. Besides, it was my job to make contact with aliens like them. First contact shouldn’t be something scary.


“Uhh, hello,” I greeted. The native just stood completely still with their arms behind their back. It was as if they were awaiting a command from me. Then I realized my universal translator was not on. Had to set it to record in order for proper communication to begin. Even though it was not instantaneous at deciphering new languages, the more it recorded the faster it learned. I just had to get some sounds out of whatever this was. That was the plan at least. Fiddling with the input pad on my right arm proved to be unresponsive. The crash must have damaged the translator. Just my luck.


“Damn it!” Slapping the screen did not help either. My anger must have startled the alien because they took a step back. Which was surprising considering the differences between us in size. How could something as small as me scare them? “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. Oh what am I saying, you won’t be able to understand any of this.”


The reptilian stood their ground but as I eased off and put my arms down they changed back to a more relaxed stance. I took note to not make any sudden movements in the future. If I was going to get any help around here I had to stay on the good side of my hosts.


I pointed at myself. “Jack,” I said then pointed back at the lizard. Kept my first name short just in case. The lizard didn’t respond except for tilting their head to the side. Pointing at myself again I made sure to repeat my name slower this time. “Jaaaack.” When I pointed back at the lizard I could tell gears were winding in their reptilian brain. After a moment of staring at my finger they finally spoke up.


“Ixzah.” Their voice was a bit deep but suave at the same time.


“Eh… kza. Ixzah!” I cheered, ecstatic that we had finally connected. This was a huge turning point in our relationship. Hopefully that was their actual name and not the name of their species, but it would have to do for now. I kept the ball rolling with some more word association. There was some fruit left on the plate which gave me an idea. “Fruit,” I said and directed my finger towards the plate. Ixzah piped up and snatched the plate before leaving the room. I was totally not expecting that. In a flash they returned with a fresh plate of fruit. A big reptilian smile drew across Ixzah’s face as they presented the fruit back to me. Were they some kind of servant assigned to me, or just being hospitable?


“Thanks,” I replied, knowing it wouldn’t mean much right now. I grabbed the same orange and blue fruit from before, took a huge bite, then presented it back to them. Perhaps the notion of sharing would spark some more talk. “Fruit,” I said again and gently shook it back at them.


“Tarrash,” Ixzah replied.


“Tarrash.” I shook the fruit once again to make sure I had their attention. “Tarrash, fruit. Fruit, tarrash.”


“F-fer oot… fruit,” they said. It took them a few tries but they eventually got it down. The fact that they repeated a word from my language filled me with joy, but I knew that the focus should be on learning their language instead. Continuing with our little fruit exercise I picked up a round and green one and called it tarrash. This was to check if tarrash meant any fruit or just that specific one.


Ixzah shook their head. “Milli. Aey tarrash.” Their quick response was the answer I was looking for. We spent the next few minutes going through all the fruit available as well as the furniture around the room. Learning that “yol” meant bed would prove to be extremely useful later. Ixzah was always fast to respond and didn’t complicate things with extra words. I could tell they were having just as much fun as I was with this. However the time for fun was over and I needed to find my ship. Activating my suit’s tracker module just resulted in more bad luck. Nothing showed up on the screen so either my suit was that busted or the ship was in worse condition that I thought. Ixzah watched with prying eyes as I ran some diagnostics on my suit’s systems. Fiddling with every single button on my suit just returned the same empty result. It was now time for plan B: getting help from the locals.


I reverted my attention back to the lizard. How was I going to ask them for help? Maybe if I could get Ixzah to guide me around I could find a chieftain or leader of sorts. They would definitely know where I was rescued from. I grabbed Ixzah’s hand and pointed towards the door. With luck they understood that I wanted to leave. What I got was a very confused look on their face. The longer I held on the more worried they became, turning into what was probably panic as they looked at me and the door multiple times. Was I not supposed to go out or was hand holding some unspeakable act in their community? Part of me wanted to let go but I just had a hunch to keep holding on. They finally acted and dragged me out of the room. We were now in a slightly bigger room with plenty of shelves and baskets lining the place. A few more doors were lined up on the same wall as my room. Across the room from the row of doors was one more with two windows on each side.


In the center was another stone table and chairs with two new aliens lounging about. One was a dark shade of blue and appeared to be taking a nap, their head gently resting on the table. The other looked more like Ixzah but with a grayer tone to their dark scales. Both still shared the white underbelly and splotchy pattern that Ixzah had. Their clothing looked more like leather armor of sorts, vastly different from Ixzah’s smooth robe. They had a dark brown vest that left their entire arms bare while covering most of their upper torso. Below that were some very short shorts underneath a skirt split up in sections around their waist. Unlike Ixzah they had some light wrappings covering their feet, though their claws were still exposed.


Our sudden presence caught the gray one’s attention, who then gave the blue one a quick slap on the face as they stood up. The blue one looked like they were in a groggy state until they saw me. They also stood at attention once realizing I was in the room. These two were even taller than Ixzah was and towered over us. The pair of what I assumed were guards looked strong and fearsome, save for the same worried face they shared with Ixzah once they started talking. I sure did start a commotion just trying to leave. Some more back and forth talk that I couldn’t understand carried out and they eventually decided to escort Ixzah and I out. Both guards picked up some hefty stone spears and led the way out, Ixzah still dragging me along.


Outside I finally got the view of their busy little village. The whole place was situated inside a big clearing surrounded by alien trees reaching up to the light green sky above us. All of their buildings were made out of a mix of wood and stone. In one direction I saw a wide path leading down to a huge river off in the distance. From our location all of the buildings were laid out in a circle pattern, surrounding what seemed to be a spot for a huge burn pit. It looked pretty barren and has not seen use in a while. I just hoped I wouldn’t be its next attraction. Many of the locals were up and about doing various tasks around the place. Most of the busy work came from the path towards the river. Lots of lizards pulling carts in and out with various loads of caught fish. Similar to the two guards, the most popular choice for clothing was some kind of leather. Rarely did anyone have on something close to what Ixzah was wearing. Did Ixzah have some kind of higher status than the rest, or was it just to look nice for me? All the lizards had very similar white scale patterns, with their primary color being the only thing different. The most common I saw were different shades of black, but there were some blues and reds scattered about.


The villagers weren’t too keen on my presence though. Either they ignored me outright or only gave cautious glances my way before continuing on with their work. Totally understandable to be this wary about an outsider like me, especially since I’m the alien here who fell out of the sky. But their overall tone felt more like they were afraid of me for some reason. Except for the little ones running about which I assumed were juveniles. And by little I meant around my height, little in comparison to the adults. I saw a ton playing around the village and helping others with chores. Whenever they saw me most of them froze in awe. However those overseeing their activities weren’t happy most of the time. The children were usually corralled back inside by their parents as I walked past. There was a lot of uncertainty about this place. My desire to investigate everything grew with every passing moment.


The two guards led us around the village for a few minutes. It was a lot bigger than I imagined but I couldn’t put a number on their population count just yet. Along the way I caught wind of what looked like some animal husbandry going on in a field beside the path. Villagers were working with these weird scaled sheep of sorts. Some kind of golden sap was being harvested from underneath the creature’s big plates on its back, but the creatures didn’t seem to mind. Was the sap edible or used for other purposes? I didn’t have much time to question it because it looked like we reached our destination. At the top of a hill in the forest clearing was a huge wooden hut. This was most certainly where the top brass resided. We walked inside to be greeted by more guards with a grand throne in the back. Seated before us was a very plump lizard with purple scales. They wore a crown made from some animal skull with three large antlers poking upward. Not much else was worn by this important alien barring a simple loincloth, thankfully. The entire hall was lit with multiple stone braziers while cloth drapes of various colors adorned the walls. My arrival shook up the congregation of guards but the chieftain remained still.


Ixzah began talking to the chieftain, raising my arm up whenever they said my name. I remained quiet for the time being. The chieftain was certainly interested in whatever Ixzah was talking about. Soon they paused their conversation and looked down at me. They whispered my name with a smile then nudged me forward. Guess it was my time to shine.


“Uhh, hello,” I said with a slight quiver. Then pointed at myself again before saying my name. “Jack, Jaaaack.”


“Jack,” the chieftain replied with nothing more. He was clearly waiting for my next move, which was figuring out a way to ask where my ship was. The first idea that came to my mind was some good old charades. I clenched my right hand into a fist and raised it into the air. Then I held my left hand out flat with the palm up.


“Yeeeeeoooooowwwwn.” I tried mimicking the sounds of a crashing ship while slowly moving my right hand down in an arc towards my left. When it hit I finished the simple gesture with a “ka-boom” sound, spreading both arms out to hopefully display an explosion of sorts. I stared back at the chieftain with my arms sprawled apart for a good minute. He was trying to make sense of my little show before releasing a bellowing laugh, at least that’s what I hoped it was. It sounded like a khhhh sound in between his breaths. The chieftain slapped his throne and laughed for a bit. My display was entertaining but being the court’s jester was not the reason for being here. One thing that struck me as odd was how worried everyone else looked as the chieftain snickered about. Did I do something terribly wrong? Maybe offended them with my display? Whatever the case I had to keep trying. I surveyed the room for anything that could be used as a better visual aid. Then it dawned on me that we were standing on a dirt floor. Perfect.


Turning around put me face to face with Ixzah and our two escorts. I pointed at the blue one’s spear hoping they would give it to me. If my acting wasn’t enough to convey my message then maybe some drawings would. The blue guard stared at me wide eyed before looking towards the chieftain. Probably waiting for approval to give up their weapon. The chieftain leaned forward and nodded. Despite being a total alien I sure did gain a lot of their trust. Reluctantly, the blue lizard handed me their spear. It was quite the tool but I could make it work. Using the base of its staff I began sketching my masterpiece in the dirt. First, I started with a crude figure of myself. Then I surrounded it with taller reptilian figures to represent everyone else. After that I drew some simple houses to portray the village itself. Some murmurs spread about the lizards while the chieftain kept his eyes on the drawing. Looks like I was getting somewhere.


Continuing with my drawing, I sketched the outline of my ship high above the rest. The planet’s sun was also present. Hopefully that would show them where I came from. To finalize my artwork I drew an arrow arcing from the ship to the ground pointing towards a smoking wreckage. With one last touch I made another figure of myself lying down by the crashed ship.


“Ship,” I said while tapping above the crash site with the spear. I stepped back to make sure the chieftain could observe my piece of art for a moment. To help relieve some tension within the crowd I handed the stone spear back to the blue lizard. All I could do now was hope and wait that they understood the meaning of my drawing. The chieftain rose from his dusty throne. All eyes were on him as he stomped his way towards my chicken scratch on the dirt floor. While everyone else was about a foot or two higher than I was, the chieftain’s height dwarfed the land with his massive girth. He stopped at my drawing to kneel down, put a claw on the village that I drew, then dragged it over to the shipwreck.


“Ship,” he blared out and tapped on the drawing.


“Ship. Yes, my ship!” I eagerly nodded in response. It was almost impossible for me to contain my excitement. The chieftain smiled and put his big scaly hand on my shoulder. With a hand that large he could have easily crushed my head, but this gesture was a kind one. He turned me around and led us back outside.


“Jack, ship.” The chieftain pointed at me then in a direction almost perpendicular to the riverbank.


“Ship, you mean my ship?” I asked. The fact I had successfully learned where my ship was filled me with joy. I turned back around to shake the chieftain’s hand as a sign of gratitude. “Thank you thank you thank you!”


The chieftain responded with another uproar of laughter from the depths of his gut. He proceeded to order some of the guards around, including my original two escorts, and mentioned both my name and the ship in the process. Guess it was about time to finally check the wreckage. With any luck I could get the ship back up in running order and fix my universal translator. I just hoped Amanda was alright. Soon an entire posse of about five guards including Ixzah had surrounded me. The chieftain proclaimed my name again as he waved his goodbyes. I waved back from within the crowd of lizards as we made our way down into the village again.


Going back through the village something caught my eye. One of the villagers was walking out of a building with some baskets in hand. It wasn’t them that interested me but instead what I saw inside the room while the door was open. Something shiny that clearly resembled a small storage crate you would see on a cargo ship. I barely had any time to think it over as the group marched on. Was my mind playing tricks on me? For now investigating it would have to wait. It was time to fix my ship. That was the plan, but things never go as planned around here.


Our little squad had just made it to the edge of the village and were about to enter the forest. Just then the absolute worst thing happened to me. I reeled over in pain and dropped down to my knees. My entire body was pulsating in immense pain. At first I didn’t know what happened, until I noticed a small flashing red light on the front of my suit. Just my luck. As we were about to find my ship the painkillers from earlier had worn off. I was hoping this would have happened after I got the ship back up and running. All I could do now was take some deep breaths and endure the pain. Also, I had to deal with everyone around me being scared to death. They frantically chatted away trying to figure out why I was in such pain. Most of them stepped back in fear while Ixzah knelt down beside me.


“Jack, Jack!” they cried out, giving me a slight tap on the shoulder. In this very moment there was only one thing I could say in response.


“Yol… yol, please,” I muttered and pointed back in the direction of my room, hoping they knew I needed rest. Ixzah understood exactly what I meant and gently scooped me up in their arms. They barked some orders at the others then carried me back to my lodge. It was a short trip but the pain made it feel like an eternity. Ixzah slammed the door open and laid me atop the bed. The simple sheets felt like heaven, more than I could ever ask for.


“Thank you, Ixzah,” I muttered. Even speaking was painful. There was clearly a stressful look across Ixzah’s face as they sat on the edge of the bed. I heard more talking from the other room and saw the gray and blue guards peeking in. Ixzah gave them a scorned face like no other and the door slammed shut in an instant. Now it was just the two of us alone again. I laid back and probed my suit’s systems. Another dose of painkillers entered my system, albeit in a smaller amount due to how little was left in reserve. It wasn’t much but right now I needed all the relief I could get.


As I winced in pain Ixzah decided to give me some comfort as well. They slowly ran their claws through my hair over and over. I wondered if they ever felt anything like it before. Resting here gave me more time to ponder about this whole situation. What exactly was Ixzah doing here? Were they assigned to be my servant or did they volunteer to help me, an outsider? Did they see something in me? Was Ixzah a girl? I didn’t give it much thought before due to all the villagers looking very similar. Ixzah was a bit smaller and slimmer than the majority around, but other than that I couldn’t see any apparent sexual dimorphism at play. It was more how they acted that made me guess. Very nurturing and obsessed with my well-being. Of course that’s just me applying my past experiences to a completely alien culture. For all I knew the gender roles could be swapped around here. If only I had my translator up and running. That would have made this so much easier, but for now it would have to wait.


My train of thought was interrupted by an immense pain from my entire right thigh. The only relief I could get was gently massaging it for a few minutes. After Ixzah saw what I was doing they took over massaging my thigh for me. There was so much pain I didn’t even realize they were doing it at first. I was just glad to have somebody as sweet as Ixzah to keep me company while I recuperated. Or so I thought.


Another challenge faced me as I laid in bed. I needed something to drink. It had been a while since the crash and I was feeling a bit parched. The only problem was this language barrier between us. I sat up and grabbed Ixzah’s attention. Charades were my first option again because I did not feel like getting up. I formed my fist into a cup shape and brought it to my mouth while tilting my head back. My goal here was to replicate a drinking motion and give Ixzah the proper hint. They most certainly got the hint all right, but it wasn’t the hint I meant to give.


Ixzah got up and instead of walking out to grab a drink got up on top of me. The bed buckled for a bit from the addition of their sizable frame. They were kneeling over my legs and started to caress my stomach region. It was all so unexpected that I just froze, trying not to move much due to discomfort. I really didn’t know what was going on. Once Ixzah started to bring their hands closer to my crotch I finally made the connection. Although it caused much pain I immediately sat up and scooched my body to the back of the wall. We both stared at each other for a solid minute in total silence. Whatever that motion was it most certainly did not mean to drink. Ixzah looked at me with a very guilty face like they did something wrong. True, it was something wrong but I didn’t blame Ixzah personally for it. I was surprised to find how willing, almost eager, Ixzah was to do something so perverse with me. Their commitment only cemented my theory about Ixzah being a girl even more.


“No no no no no. Big no,” I said and stuck my palm out as a sign to stop. My legs were already curled up against my body to shield my private parts even more. Ixzah turned away from me in shame and scooted back to the edge of the bed. That sorry look on their face made me feel bad even after their saucy attempt to please me. Somehow I had to portray to Ixzah that I was sorry for this misunderstanding. Even though getting some rest was a top priority this was more important. I pulled myself to the edge of the bed and sat right beside Ixzah.


“Hey, Ixzah. Sorry about that.” There was so much I wanted to say but I knew all of it would just go over their head. I made the same motion again then shook my head while sliding my hand side to side. There’s only so much you can do when a language barrier this big is between two people. I took my chances and hoped Ixzah understood my gesture. Ixzah’s face slowly reverted back to a less gloomy state so I guess my body language worked.


Despite avoiding some unwanted contact between us I was still really thirsty. It was time to take things into my own hands and find an actual cup to demonstrate more effectively. There was only a plate of fruit on the table so my other option would require a smidgen of suffering. I strained myself getting up and grabbed Ixzah’s hand again. They were less shocked this time and followed me as I hobbled into the next room.


Sitting down at the center table was once again the same blue lizard, napping as usual. However, the gray one was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t take long for me to scan the room for a cup because there was one right beside mister blue’s head. The cup was huge for my standards and made out of polished stone but it was all I needed. I doubt blue here would mind me using it for demonstration purposes.


“Drink,” I said and pointed towards the cup. Ixzah still didn’t understand so I said drink again and made the same motion from before. A really surprised look spread across their face. I had a feeling the right message wasn’t getting through.


“No no no, drink.” This time I actually picked up the cup with both hands and repeated the motion. When the cup was directly in front of my mouth I caught a good whiff of its contents. It was almost too strong at first, but the smell reminded me of something bitter and juicy. I paused for a moment to regain my senses because that stuff was potent whatever it was. The liquid itself looked very familiar to that weird golden sap being harvested earlier. I pointed to the cup then to myself. “Drink.”


Ixzah made what might have been a sigh of relief and finally understood. With a pep in their step they rushed into one of the side rooms. While I waited for Ixzah to prepare us some drinks I gave the blue lizard another look. They were sound asleep, their tongue flicking out with every exhale. Somehow, despite being extremely bulky and possessing the strength to punch my head off, they looked very cute sleeping on the table. I was surprised that this guy was supposed to be my guard. Obviously nobody cared too much that they were sleeping on the job, else Ixzah would have woken them up. If everyone else was okay with them napping all the time then so was I.


The side door swung open and Ixzah came out with a big pitcher in one hand and some cups stacked in the other. They set everything down on the table and began pouring. Inside the pitcher was more of that golden nectar. Guess this would have to do instead of water for now. Ixzah handed me a full cup and took one for themselves. I was prepared this time and took a slow sip. The initial flavor was very crisp and sour with a very mellow aftertaste. It was almost like some weird tasting honey. That mixed with lemon which hit pretty hard then suddenly faded. After taking a few more drinks I just realized that I forgot to test the drink first. Oops. I was so calm about everything that I skipped something this important. Nothing felt wrong at the moment besides all the pain from before so I didn’t even bother. If I died from poisoning here on the spot then so be it.


Looking over I saw Ixzah sipping on their drink as well. Except it wasn’t sipping but instead lapping up the liquid with their long tongue. That would explain why they mistook the drinking motion, because it wasn’t a lizard thing. They had taken a seat between me and the blue lizard. I did the same and sat on the stool next to them. These stools were not the most comfortable for somebody of my size but I didn’t complain. Ixzah seemed to be happy that I was enjoying this elixir of theirs. A bright smile shined across their face as they glanced over. We all sat there for a moment savoring our drinks while my mind began to wonder. Then I got an idea, one that I forgot about earlier.


I grabbed Ixzah’s attention and pointed at myself once more. “Jack,” I said then pointed at them. “Ixzah.”


They nodded in response with a curious look on their face. Then I redirected my finger towards the blue lizard and waited. I wanted to know what their name was. Ixzah paused for a moment before speaking up again.


“Tixi,” they answered. It was definitely a simple name for a simple lizard. Our light conversation was enough to wake up Tixi. A huge yawn escaped their jaws before realizing I was in the room with them. They just froze for a moment while staring wide eyed at me. Ixzah said something to Tixi that calmed them down before the two conversed. I imagined they were expecting me to be in bed right now. The two kept talking while I sat and listened. If only I had my universal translator working right now.


The outside door opened revealing the gray lizard carrying two big stone plates. One had some more fruit while the other a steaming pile of cooked meat. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious. The gray lizard focused on me for a second before setting the plates down. They did not look too happy about my presence. Ixzah greeted them before they sat down and started chomping away at some meat. The room filled with the aroma of the cooked alien meat. I pointed at the pile of meat and gave Ixzah a glance. They understood my request and broke off a small leg for me then handed it over. I let the smell overtake me for a moment before chowing down. It was pretty well cooked and tasted like alien chicken, not much else to say. Amazing how no matter where you were in the universe there was always some BBQ to be had. Some dipping sauce would have been nice but I doubted they had any on hand.


Everyone at the table ate their meal in silence. When the gray lizard was done they pointed my way and spoke to Ixzah. My guess was something along the lines of: “what’s he doing here?” The tone of Ixzah’s response supported that guess. They bickered back and forth for a moment while Tixi and I watched in silence. It was somewhat entertaining even though I couldn’t understand a thing. Finally, the gray one gave up and turned away from us. In this brief pause I tapped Ixzah on the arm and pointed at their opponent just like I did with Tixi earlier.


“Koyope,” Ixzah said. The mention of their name caused Koyope to turn an eye my way, snarling at me. I figured it was time to leave this little party and not cause anymore trouble. After finishing my plate I went back into my room for some more rest. Ixzah did not follow me in, probably to talk with Koyope some more since I heard the two sparring once I left. I laid down on my bed just in time to notice the sun set as the room became pretty dark. My cue to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day with me fixing the ship.


No one bothered me since, but after tossing and turning in bed for an hour I just couldn’t fall asleep. The painkillers I took earlier had also kicked in, giving me a jolt of energy I didn’t need. What I saw earlier in that building kept me up all night. Why would a crate from some trade ship be here? This was an unexplored system. With the crate’s existence and the general mood about me I doubted the validity of that statement. Time for a little investigation. I got up and opened the door just a crack. Ixzah and Koyope were nowhere to be seen but Tixi was still fast asleep at the table. Perfect. Tiptoeing across the room was easy enough, but getting to that storage shack in the middle of the night could prove a bit more challenging. Opening up the outside door revealed the village lit up with multiple torches around each building. Not much foot traffic except for a few guards patrolling the place. I waited for the right opportunity and bolted to the back of the building. Keeping a low profile was not a difficult task due to all the fences about and everything being so big. I sneaked my way over to the shack in silence.


The village was quiet as I skittered throughout the dark. After waiting for some guards to leave the storage building I darted inside. It was pretty dark in here but I knew what to look for. I set my suit’s flashlight to low and inspected the room. The crate was in the same spot as before. Upon a closer look the crate’s storage manifest could be seen stuck to its side. “Sterling Trading Co.” it read in burgundy text. Interesting. I noted down its tracking number and unlocked the latches around the lid. Time for the big reveal… of absolutely nothing. Empty, just my luck. I locked it back up but before I could leave I heard some footsteps outside. There was barely any time to react so I jumped into an empty basket in the corner. The door opened right as I pulled the basket’s lid back on. From what I could hear there was only one walking around. They checked some other baskets for a second before leaving. Sweat was dripping across my face like a waterfall. I got out of my hiding spot and approached the door. The coast was clear outside so I booked it back to my room.


My trip back was thankfully uneventful. I had walked inside and made it past the table before Tixi woke up. They yawned then looked at me with a glaze over their eyes. Luckily my cup from earlier was still on the table so I picked it up and pretended to drink from it. Tixi just stared at me before resting their head back down. Crisis avoided. I went back into my room and relaxed on the bed. Even though that shipping crate being here was odd at least I had a clue where to look next. If I could fix the ship and establish a subspace channel then maybe I could look up the crate’s tracking number. That would tell me everything about what cargo ship it was from and where it had been previously. I fell asleep on the thought, wondering what awaited me in the morning.


Slight warmth from the sun’s beams through the foggy window woke me up. I sat up and stretched my arms out feeling better than ever. It’s amazing how comfortable they make these suits to sleep in. I rolled out of my bed and was about to open the door before Ixzah walked in. They greeted me with a familiar smile and a fresh plate of fruit. No better way to start your morning than with some alien berries. I took a handful and gobbled them down before asking today’s all important question.


“Ship?” I ask Ixzah. They nodded and waited for me to finish breakfast. One last bite and I was now ready for our trek. “Alright then, lets go!”


Ixzah followed me into the next room where Tixi, Koyope, and two other guards stood by. As usual Koyope wasn’t too happy and Tixi was sleeping standing up. The other two lizards were pretty tense however. They didn’t look like the few that were with us yesterday. Ixzah said something to Koyope who then grumbled at the rest and we made our way out. No sudden exhaustion for me this time as we walked into the forest. Many chirps and buzzes could be heard throughout the wilderness. It was most certainly alive with all kinds of creatures. The fact that these lizards carried spears however kept me on high alert. Spears like that were not for show. Probably alien bears or other predators that roamed these outskirts. I was thankful to have the escorts in the first place, but as a last resort I could always pull out my hidden boot gun.


Our group followed a clear path in the trees for about half an hour before veering off into unclaimed territory. It was really thick in these parts of the woods but the villagers were more than equipped to handle anything rough in their path. Their sharp claws sliced through vines and shrubs like a plasma knife through butter. I began to notice scratches and broken limbs in increasing quantities before a clearing opened up to us. What laid before me was my glorious ship, sunken into the ground with metal strewn about the place. It was not in the best condition and the destruction it left in its wake really showed.


“Oh good, it’s still in once piece.” The sight of the ship alone was enough to make my day. I started shaking Ixzah’s hand even though they didn’t understand it. “Thank you so much!”


Ixzah stood bewildered for a moment as I slid down the slope leading to my ship. None of the lizards followed me down, probably for the best anyways. Once there I pried open a maintenance panel and tried rebooting any systems possible. A little fiddling around and I finally got power, followed by a screen lighting up displaying Amanda’s blue avatar.


“Jack, is that you? Oh my goodness, I’m so glad you’re alive! It’s a miracle we both survived the crash,” Amanda said while her avatar danced around with glee.


“Yeah, I’m happy you’re still kicking, too. Sorry I didn’t get here sooner, had a little run in with the locals earlier,” I said.

“Locals? You mean there’s actual civilized people on this planet? Oh that is so exciting! The federation is going to love this!”


“That is if we manage to get off this planet first. Give it to me straight: how bad is the ship?”

Amanda’s avatar started to think for a bit. It then pulled out a little clipboard as she read off the report. “I’ve good news and bad news. Good news is the reactor and fabricator are still intact, so we have power and we can make whatever parts we need. Bad news is… we need to make a lot of new parts. I’m talking “build-half-of-the-ship” lots. We might be stuck here for a while. How advanced are these locals?”


“Hmm, from what I saw they’re still in the stone age. No signs of metallurgy anywhere. Why do you ask?”


“Well… if they were any more advanced you could have just asked them for the resources. But since they haven’t even started working with metal that means you’re going to have to find it all for us.”


“Wonderful, it’s survival training all over again.” I sighed at the thought of having to go out and mine whatever resources Amanda needed. “Please tell me some of the tools survived.”

“They sure did. I’m also uploading the required materials to your suit right now.” A secondary panel popped open and revealed a blue toolbox. It was filled with everything needed to work on the ship and more. I checked the list Amanda sent me and sure enough it was a lot. Despite having such advanced tools at my disposal it was going to take some time to gather all the necessary resources.


“Also, my universal translator broke in the crash. Do you think you can whip me up a new one?” I asked.


“Sure thing, give me your old one.” I removed the translator from my right arm and stuck it in the slot as instructed. A few moments later and a brand new one slid back out. “So it was broken all this time? How did you manage with the locals?”


“Oh, I just did my thing like I always do. The villagers have been extremely nice to me ever since they rescued me from the crash. I even got my own room and free meals!”


“Lucky you to crash land on a planet offering free bed and breakfast to newcomers. Meanwhile I’ve been idle all this time performing what little repairs I can with the internal systems. Need anything else before you go off on your mining adventures?”


I made sure not to forget about the mysterious crate and typed in the number I found. “Yeah, once you get subspace communications back online can you look up this tracking number?”


“Okay, but where did you find this?” Amanda asked.


“I have a feeling we aren’t the first ones here. Found an empty shipping crate in the village. Don’t know what it means but maybe you can find something out for me.”


“On it, boss! You get me those materials and I’ll get you info on that mystery box.” Amanda’s avatar winked while showing off a huge thumbs up.


“Thanks, guess I’ll get to work then. Probably best I spend my nights with the locals so I can keep up with learning their language. If I don’t come back within three days at any point then assume the worst.” I closed the panel and collected my gear. With these new tools in hand and a working translator it was time for me to begin my master plan. The amount of materials needed was absurdly high for one man to gather by themselves. Thankfully I wasn’t alone, though it might take some convincing of the locals to help me out. But for now it was going to be a solo job. I climbed back up to Ixzah and the others who had been keeping watch all this time.


“I need to stay with the ship,” I said while pointing to myself then to the wreckage. Ixzah thought for a moment before turning around and saying something to the others. They started to march away while Ixzah looked back at me. I just gave them a big wave as they carried off back to the village. Something I didn’t expect was Ixzah awkwardly waving back at me. It was pretty awesome to see just how far we both connected with very little grasp of their spoken language. Hopefully I could reinforce that connection even more with my universal translator, but that would have to wait.


My operation started small as I gathered all the pieces of scrap metal scattered around the crash site. The fabricator could definitely recycle most of it and allow Amanda to begin work on repairs. Once that was done it was time to start surveying for iron. With the villagers still in the stone age there were untapped deposits everywhere. The easiest to find was bog iron, naturally occurring deposits in marshy regions. My mineral scanner was quick to pick up on these locations, with plenty being not too far from the ship. I gathered what I could with my all in one multi-tool and brought them back. Raw iron couldn’t be used in the fabricator so it was up to me to smelt it.


Building a simple furnace was no sweat, my experience from survival training was beginning to pay off. Everyone in the exploration program had to go through rigorous trials to ensure we were prepared for the worst. That included fixing your ship from scratch in a situation like this. Some charcoal later and I had a super heated clay furnace. Having all these emergency tools really sped up the process, like my plasma torch. The iron was fired up and eventually formed into what was known as “bloom.” A spongy iron mass ready for one last step. I set up a makeshift anvil from some scrap parts of the ship and hammered away at the bloom, eventually producing malleable iron I could shape to my whim. It wasn’t a lot but it was all I required for the next task.


I needed help. A ton of help to be exact. It was incredibly lucky for me to crash land on a planet that not only supported life but also had an active civilization. Now all I had to do was gather support from the villagers to help with mining resources in mass quantities. Doing that involved learning their language, which meant spending lots of my time in the village. Many weren’t too happy about my presence at first but they still gave me room and board with Ixzah as my helpful guide. However the more of their speech I learned the more accepting they became.


The universal translator did wonders to speed up learning. How it worked was by recording everyday speech from the villagers and using that data to decipher it faster than learning it naturally. An onboard artificial intelligence did all the busy work but also required some outside help from me to kick start the process. I had to take pictures of objects and people then match them up with the associated word. Once it gathered enough information the AI went to work and started translating for me. The process was slow but still better than if I tried on my own.


Ixzah was super excited the moment my universal translator started working. They had been following me around defining the name of anything I pointed at. We walked around the village for almost an entire day while my translator recorded every sight and sound. Once the sun started to set we went back to my room to test the results. Ixzah sat down right beside me on the edge of my bed, eager for what would come next.


“Alright, here goes nothing,” I said to myself and activated the translator. My inner ear implant would now convert their speech into something I would understand. Talking to them was just as easy. The translator would automatically repeat out loud what I said in their language. They’ll hear two voices at once but at least they will be able to understand one of them. “Hello, Ixzah. How are you doing today?”


“Eek! You are actually speaking our language. This is wonderful!” Ixzah could not hold back how thrilling this all was. “Sorry. I mean, I am doing fine, thank you.”


“That’s great to hear. I guess now that I can properly speak with you I should formally introduce myself. I am Jackson Grayson, explorer extraordinaire of the 55th Research Division hailing under the New Galactic Federation! But you can keep calling me Jack for short.”


“Okay, Jack. But I have no idea what most of those words mean.”


“Yeah… don’t worry about it too much. In all fairness I shouldn’t have shown up like this. My presence alone has probably sparked a ton of questions. Speaking of questions if you have any then ask away! I’ll try my best not to over complicate things but some stuff still might not make sense.”

“I have lots of questions for sure, but which one to ask first.” Ixzah pondered for a moment before speaking up again. “I got it! Jack, what are you exactly?”


“My species- well, people are called ‘humans.’ We’re pretty scrawny compared to most other people, as you can clearly tell. But that doesn’t stop us from accomplishing great deeds. If you don’t mind me asking, what are your people called?”


“We call ourselves urikrill. Our people have been around these lands for many years. Where do you come from? Did you really fall out of the sky in that ‘ship’ of yours?”


“To put it simply: yes, I did fall out of the sky,” I cautiously answered. It was going to be tough explaining space and all that to Ixzah but it didn’t stop me from trying. “You know how at night the sky is filled with a seemingly endless amount of stars? Each one of those stars is more land. Another world like this one, just very far away. That’s why each star looks so small. Does this make sense?”

“A little bit. Keep going though it is very interesting.” Ixzah continued listening to my ramblings.


“Okay then. So my ship allows me to travel between these worlds and meet all their inhabitants. Unfortunately, my ship crashed here. I’m kind of stuck for the time being. Also that reminded me, I can’t thank you and your people enough for offering me shelter and food. I’ll make sure to pay you all back one way or another.”

“It is nothing. We are just helping a- umm, stranger in need. It would be cruel to let somebody who is lost struggle in these lands.”


“That’s reassuring. Anyways, as to where I come from, let's just say I was born between the stars. There are bigger ships than mine holding more of our people and are constantly in travel. We humans have a true home called ‘Earth’ but I’ve never been there before. From the pictures- I mean, from what I’m told it’s very similar to this place.”


“So you have never been to your birthplace? And what about your family? Where might they be?”


“Earth is the origin of humans, but it’s not my birthplace. Like I said I was born on a ship far away from Earth. As for my family I did have one but that was long ago. My parents aren’t… with me anymore.” The memories came back like a surprise storm. I remembered all the fun times I had with them growing up. Then that horrible day our space ship was attacked in transit. Dad’s face can still be seen clear as day when he pushed me into the airlock and sealed the door. My eyes started to tear up just thinking about it.


“Is there something wrong, Jack?” Ixzah asked.


I had to look away for a second to try and distract myself from those distant memories. “No, it’s just- can we talk about something else?”


“Okay, how about you ask me something then?”


“Alright, but what to ask...” I trailed off trying to think of something crucial to inquire about. Then I was reminded of our little infraction a while ago. “Ixzah, I’m sorry to ask this but I need to know: are you a boy or a girl?”


“What? You can not tell?” Ixzah was surprised I asked such a thing but didn’t seem angry about it.


“Not really, especially because I’m a complete outsider and know nothing about your people. Also, human male and females vary greatly. Males are generally built bigger, have broader shoulders, and have a deeper voice. Females have a lot more curves and are smaller on average. Also girls have a pretty generous bust compared to boys. And in case you are wondering, yes, I am a male.”


“That all sounds very exotic,” Ixzah said. They paused for a moment while examining my features. “But to answer your question, I am a female. We urikrill have some visual differences between male and female but I see how an outsider would miss these variations. Males are also bigger for the most part with a squarer head and longer tail. Compared to females they have brighter colors, but it is not uncommon to see a dull male or a colorful female.”


“Kind of like Koyope, right? I’m assuming Koyope is a male. They act just as dull as they look.”


Ixzah giggled at the joke. I thought it was a giggle, it sounded similar to the chieftain’s laughter from before. “You would be correct. He can be very serious no matter the situation, but that is also Koyope’s greatest strength. He is one of our best warriors this village has ever seen.”


“That explains a lot. Though I get the feeling he’s not too fond of me. I hope I didn’t offend him in some way.” I went through everything that’s happened since the crash, trying to think of something I might have done wrong in front of Koyope.


“I am sure he does not have anything against you. He is just very tentative when it comes to things like this.” Ixzah began looking over me again, probably trying to make sense of my suit and all this weird technology.


“Hey, Ixzah.”


She looked back at my face. “Yes?”


“Remember the night when I collapsed and you brought me back here? That hand signal I did in an attempt to ask for a drink, did it really… mean what I think it means? Were you actually willing to go that far for someone like me?”


Ixzah froze in what looked like embarrassment, similar to that night when I pushed her attempt away. “I...” Ixzah started to say something but couldn’t let it out.


“If you don’t want to talk about it then that’s alright, I understand.” We both sat in silence. I could tell Ixzah’s mind was racing just from the look on her face. After what seemed like a solid five minutes she spoke up.


“I wanted to make sure that you were… happy,” Ixzah said in a trembling tone. “Even if that meant pleasing you in such a way. It was immature of me, I know. But you are an outsider not even from these lands. I had taken a chance that I should not have, especially for such a simple request. I am sorry.”


“Listen, you don’t need to worry about it. Stuff like this is bound to happen, you couldn’t have known. There’s no need to be sorry.” My words might have been reassuring enough on their own but I knew she needed a bit more. “Hey, how about a hug?”


“A what?”


“A hug. Guess you don’t know what that is. It’s where you pull somebody in close and wrap your arms around them. Us humans do it to show affection and care to those in need. Just do what I do.” I slowly wrapped my arm around Ixzah’s tree trunk of a body. She was reluctant to copy me but after getting a feel of my body warmth she complied. Her arm carefully enveloped my side, pulling me in closer. Another round of silence came as we sat there hugging it out. I knew Ixzah was liking this because she moved her tail around to touch my thigh.


“Thank you, Jack. I like how warm you are.” Ixzah gave me another reptilian smile.


“It’s just a human thing. We’re naturally warm like that. You’re also quite nice to hug.”


“Also, your scale colors are very lively. Those are some very odd patterns I must say, green and blue is something you do not see around here.”


“What?” It took me a second to realize what she meant. “Oh! This isn’t actually part of me, it’s a suit that I’m wearing. My entire body is just the same as this pale skin on my face. The suit is just for protection from the elements.”


“Do you ever take this suit off?”


“Yeah, but I probably won’t anytime soon. It’s best for me if I just keep it on all the time. What about your dress? I haven’t seen anyone else wear something like that around here.”


“I put this on to hopefully improve our first impressions. These are only reserved for special occasions such as right now. Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s very pretty. Definitely the right thing to wear to impress an outsider like me. You look absolutely beautiful in it.” My little comment took Ixzah by surprise. I think she was becoming flustered from my praise because her tongue started flicking at a fast rate.


“O-Oh, t-thank you,” she stuttered. Probably didn’t expect that from an alien like me. But what I said was true, Ixzah’s scales were absolutely gorgeous alongside the pink dress of hers. I had to make sure our relationship stayed strong if I ever wanted to get off this planet. Not that I didn’t like it here, but I still had my duties.


“You… remind me of somebody,” Ixzah quietly said. “It is almost scary how close you resemble their actions and way of thinking.”


“And who might that be?” I asked.


“Just somebody I used to know. They’re not here anymore...” Ixzah trailed off in a somber tone. From how she sounded it probably wasn’t best to inquire about this person anymore. I didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that I reminded her of somebody. Only time would tell.


We continued to talk throughout the rest of the night. I told Ixzah everything I could about my profession and she told me all about the village. The town’s name was Zahi and is governed by their chief Palalka, the big purple dude. Their tribe has been here for very many years, living off mostly fish from the huge river nearby. It’s also their main export to various other villages that exist in this region. Despite being in the stone age they were very industrious people.


I didn’t want to ask about the mysterious crate just yet. Its presence was almost too bizarre to even think about. Once the ship was fixed enough Amanda could find out why it was here, hopefully. For now though I spent some more time with Ixzah learning everything I could. The more I knew about her people and strengthened relationships the easier it would be for the next step of my master plan.

After a few more days of mining and smelting on my own I was able to help Amanda fix the ship’s subspace communicator. Now we could look up the tracking number on that perplexing crate. One search later and Amanda gave me the results. Turns out the cargo ship carrying it was recently attacked by pirates about one earth month ago. Not much else to go by though. My guess was the pirates flew off into this sector and dumped their cargo, some of it falling onto this planet. I told Amanda to keep investigating while I continued with my efforts. Even though we had communication up it would take way too long for somebody to come rescue me. By that point I would have the ship fixed anyways.


Relations with the village improved drastically since I got my translator running. They seemed less afraid now that they could communicate with me hassle free. Everyone wanted to know who and what I was. I gave them the same spiel each time and they just loved it. Especially the children. The more I told them stories about my travels the more they adored me. And who wouldn’t? An adventurer like me deserves all the praise they could get. With relations high it was now time for phase two of my master plan.


My plan was to give back to this village. One day I gathered around their top craftsmen, builders, and warriors to introduce the wonders of metal. I had made a variety of tools to show off just how more efficient iron is compared to stone. With some help from Tixi we started off with an iron ax. He began chopping at a tree with a simple stone ax. It was barely making the cut so to speak, taking way too long to fell it. When I handed him the iron ax the results were almost instant compared to using stone. In just under five minutes Tixi managed to cut down the tree with no sweat. Everyone was impressed.


Next was an iron pickaxe. It was very important I showed this one off so they would know how effective it was at mining. Tixi had brought up two similar sized boulders as wide as my torso. I instructed him to start banging away at the rock with his stone tools. Just like before it was very inefficient. My pointy iron pickaxe was up next. To show just how powerful it was I swung at the second rock. A loud crack was heard and the pickaxe was lodged halfway through in just one go. Another swing and I split the stone in two. The crowd was ecstatic over what somebody the same size as their children could do with iron tools.


Now it was time for something a bit more complex but not as exciting. I procured some simple iron nails and a hammer. Then with some wooden planks I had crafted earlier I began nailing it all together. My final creation was a simple chair, and I sat down to show its robustness. A few murmurs spread throughout the crowd. They were definitely interested but not everyone was head over heels about it. Though I saw some of the more crafty villagers inspecting my wooden chair while the rest headed to my final display.


Lastly, I had something for the hunters and warriors of the group. It was a few iron knives, spears, and even a short sword that I was very proud to show off. With the knives I chopped up some fresh meat to show how efficient it was compared to something made out of bone or flint. Then I brought up some animal leather stretched out over a wooden frame. I grabbed a stone spear and tried my best to pierce the hide. Piercing it was taking way too much effort. However the iron spear begged to differ. In one thrust the iron tip cut through like it was nothing. I finished off the display by taking an even bigger cut of meat and slicing it in half with one chop from my short sword. Every villager watching was pleased with my results. Even Koyope, who was reluctant to be among the crowd, became very excited over just how sharp my iron blades were. These were most certainly weapons fit for a warrior like him.


The rest of the day was spent showing how to produce such wondrous material. I told them the ins and outs of how to find iron and how to smelt it. This was made easier by the existence of their furnaces used for making glass. With some easy improvements each was fit for smelting ore. Alongside that I also showed them more efficient glass making techniques, producing something more clearer and pleasant to look through. I gave them all a detailed demonstration first then supervised as they practiced on their own. The night came with many of the workers smelting acceptable iron bloom of their own. This new metal was sure to be a hit within their community.


A few days passed since I taught them basic metallurgy. Relations were at an all time high as I helped improve the village’s way of life little by little. The advanced iron tools allowed them to gather resources faster and increased productivity. I made sure to scout out plenty of iron ore deposits in advance. Didn’t want them wasting time searching the land for iron at first. It was amazing how fast they could mine out huge ore veins. One urikrill could mine almost twice that of a human in the same amount of time. My ship was going to be repaired sooner than I expected thanks to their adept mining skills.


There were other aspects of life that I helped advance besides metal working. I showed them better ways to preserve food, the importance of washing your hands when cooking and practicing medicine, and so much more. Most stuff I taught them were improvements on existing practices they already knew. For now my goal wasn’t to thrust their level of technology forward as fast as possible, just make their lives easier and safer. Of course metallurgy was a big one but they were bound to figure that out at some point. I made sure they experimented on their own so the learning process was still there. It was a gradual process, but way better than throwing space age technology at them without any explanation. However, that goal might change when I leave this place.

One day something completely unexpected happened. Something that I could have prevented had I been more observant. I was taking a lunch break with some of the villagers after mining all that morning. We were enjoying our meal outside and I was watching some children playing around their house. There was a young gray lizard chasing another around with a stick they had found. Typical kid stuff. What wasn’t typical was when the gray one started coughing. And they were coughing a lot. So much so that they fell to the ground and started coughing up blood. Panic filled the area and many rushed over to help, myself included. The kid’s mother came out and cradled them, trying to figure out what was wrong. I had to push my way through the crowd to get a better look at the afflicted child.


“Excuse me. Coming through here,” I said as I made my way forward. The young lizard was looking worse and worse with each second. Whatever was wrong with them it would take some special equipment to diagnose them. I switched my suit’s sensors on and began scanning the poor kid.


“Please, my son, say something! What happened?” the mother cried out towards her child. The child said nothing as they kept still inside their mother’s arms. She started sobbing as more blood was coughed up.


When I started scanning I instantly knew what was wrong. The implant in my inner ear began to click rapidly. It was a dreadful clicking sound that I’ve heard many times before. This child had radiation sickness. How they acquired such an awful dose of rads puzzled me. Perhaps there was some above ground source? Then the realization finally hit me.


“Hey, do you know where your child has been recently?” I asked the crying mother.


“I do not. They go exploring a lot throughout the day but always keep near the village. Unless...”


“Unless what?”


“Oh no no no no,” the mother directed towards their sickly child. “Do not tell me you have been wandering around the cursed place.”


“The cursed place? Where’s that?” Something called the cursed place was definitely not good news. However everyone kept silent when I asked, even the mother. It was extremely odd and not the response I wanted. “Okay, you can tell me later. I’ll be back with some medicine that should hopefully heal them before it gets worse. Just take them to bed and keep giving them fresh water to drink.”


The mother nodded and carried the gray lizard back inside. Everyone else watched me run off into the direction of my ship. I was on my way to grab some emergency anti-radiation pills any sane spaceman would have. It might not instantly cure the child’s sickness but it would at least prevent any more damage to their system. I ran as fast as I could, saying a quick word to Amanda at the ship before heading back with medicine in hand. Everything was a blur as I hurried back to their house. The sobbing mother was waiting outside and directed me back to the kid’s room. They were propped up in bed while another villager was giving them some fresh water.


“Thank you, I’ll take it from here,” I said and relieved the villager of their duties. The kid was not looking great. They were still conscious but barely holding on. After giving them some more water and a few of the anti-rad pills they closed their eyes and fell asleep. The kid stopped coughing up blood but now it was just a waiting game. I took a few more in-depth scans to see if there was anything major I might have missed. From what I saw there wasn’t anything life threatening for now. It was a good sign, just had to hope the medicine would remove the remaining rads before things turned worse. Even with the tools at my disposal there was not much else I could do.


I told the mother everything I could that would make sense to them. They needed to keep giving the child water and wait it out. The mother was extremely grateful for my help. When I asked them about this so-called “cursed place” they didn’t respond. Whatever it was, they did not want to talk about it. I had a hunch but needed to investigate more.


Going around the village and asking about its whereabouts was not easy. Anyone I talked to just stayed silent when I brought it up. Similar to my first time here when everyone was weary about my presence. There was some connection for sure. When I went back to my bedroom to ask Ixzah about it, Koyope stopped me in the main room.


“Ixzah is not here, if that is what you are wondering,” Koyope said as they reclined back on a wall.


“Do you know where she is?” I asked. “I need to talk to her about this cursed place or whatever it’s called.”


Koyope paused for a moment after hearing me say cursed place. “I do not know. Besides, I do not think she would want to talk about it either.”


My pent up frustration finally broke free. “Nobody wants to talk to me about it! Whatever this place is, I need to deal with it. It could be something far out of this village’s control. Something only I know how to fix.”


“You could stop it?”


“Yes, I’m the only one here wearing something that’ll protect me from it’s harmful presence. Trust me, this could be an environmental hazard. I want to stop it before something worse happens to this village.”


There was another long pause before Koyope spoke up again. “Alright, I will show you where this place is. If you say it is a threat to the village then I must help you.”


“Thank you! Just let me get my tools and we can be on our way.” Koyope’s demeanor changed for sure after talking about this. Mentioning the potential threat to the village was enough to grab his attention. I picked up the toolbox I left in my room and Koyope led me out of the village. It wasn’t long before my suit’s sensors picked up something. The Geiger counter started clicking ever so softly.


“Stop.” I said and turned to Koyope. “Is it straight in this direction?”

“Yes, not too far from here just up that hill.”


“Then you can’t follow me anymore. In fact, you should probably head back to the village and make sure nobody comes close to this place.”


“But why? Many of us have been closer to it before and no ill effects were present.”


“Because whatever this threat is, it's invisible. I don’t have the time to explain but unless you want to end up like that poor child as well I advise you stop following me.” Koyope was hesitant to leave. I knew the warrior spirit in him wanted to fight this unseen adversary but he didn’t know what the real danger was. “Koyope, please. Trust me on this. I am the only one here who knows what it is and how to stop it.”


“Okay. I will leave this in your hands, Jack. But you promise me and the village that this danger gets defeated.” Koyope then left without even waiting for my response.


“I promise!” I called out as he walked away. Once he was out of sight I activated my suit’s helmet and continued up the path. I wasn’t sure what exactly was causing this source of radiation but it was up to me to try and stop it. Many ideas floated around my mind as to what it could be. Meanwhile my Geiger counter was growing more intense the closer I got. Near the top of the hill I saw what I was looking for.


Scattered around a clearing on the hillside was a ton of leftover scrap, crates, and other supplies from somebody not native to this planet. It was all spacer gear for sure. Close bye were some burn marks in the rocky ground, definitely from ship thrusters. The site confirmed my suspicions of not being the first one here. But whoever was here before me was in a rush to leave. Could this have been a little campsite of the pirates that were in this region? The presence of more crates similar to the one found in the village answered that question. These were definitely all from the same shipment. Just my luck pirates got here before someone like me from the Federation did.


Looking around the site some more finally revealed the cause of all this radiation. A damaged fuel cell for a ship had been discarded inside one of the crates. It was leaking a ton of rads due to being almost full. This was clearly the work of pirates who didn’t care for their environment whatsoever. Any Federation member would have properly disposed of this, or not let it get damaged in the first place. Unfortunately, I did not have the tools with me to do so. It was time for a more temporary approach. First I scanned the area for any sources of groundwater, making sure it wasn’t polluting anything. No results came up which was a good sign. Then with my plasma cutter in hand I began drilling into the rocky side of the hill. I had to bury this fuel cell for the time being so that its effects would hopefully be nullified. The distance I needed to mine would take a while but was nothing out of my reach. Steadily I kept drilling, the sun slowly setting as I toiled with the earth.


Before long it was finally night and I had finished my tomb for the fuel cell. I kept it in the crate and buried it at the end of the winding tunnel I dug out. None of the fuel itself had leaked so the only threat was the radiation it emitted. The deep tunnel should be enough to keep it from affecting anyone on the surface for the time being. I knew I couldn’t just leave it here though, too dangerous to just bury and forget. Once my ship was complete I would come back and dispose of it properly. Probably by throwing it into the sun just to be safe.


For one more layer of protection I went around and gathered some stones to encompass the surrounding area. Every few feet I would take a big one and carve a warning message in it. If anyone was curious to come back here for the time being then hopefully this would scare them off. After thinking about what Koyope said they seemed to be more resistant to radiation. My guess was their scales were thick enough to block lower levels of radiation that would have harmed humans. I just wondered how close that kid got to make him sick.


Speaking of radiation, my suit was going to be contaminated for a while. There was no doubt about it that I wasn’t going back to the village tonight. I circled around and made my way to the ship. There I told Amanda everything about the site and the damaged fuel cell.


“So those pirates must have made an emergency landing and dumped that broken cell,” Amanda said through the ship’s console. The ship’s interior was somewhat functional again after many repairs.


“Yep. I buried it for now but we’ll have to do something about it later once we leave,” I said. “Speaking of the ship, how’s it coming along? The outside looks fairly complete.”


“Well, thanks to you and your efforts from the villagers we’re almost done here. The ship’s drives should be online within a week. Are you going to give them the offer before we leave?”


“I pretty much have to at this point. After helping the village so much it would be rude not to invite them into the Federation. Especially since some pirates messed with them before we got here.”


“Lets just hope they didn’t mess with them too much. Hopefully you can figure out something once you go back. They seem pretty superstitious about all this. Be careful when you ask them, Jack.”


“Yeah yeah, it shouldn’t be too much trouble. But for now I’m going to get this suit cleaned and take a well deserved rest. Good night, Amanda.” With that I ran my suit through the ship’s decontamination unit and went to bed. My sleeping quarters were finally fixed up and I could spend the night here on the ship. I didn’t know what they might say to my invitation to join the Federation but hopefully it would all be for the best.


The next morning came and I woke up completely refreshed thanks to my ergonomic sleeping bunk. It was so relaxing compared to the wooden bed back at the village. But one thing it didn’t have was the charm. There’s just something about a cozy wooden hut that you can’t replicate even with the most luxurious spacer tech. I got up, grabbed a protein bar from storage, and ate it on my way back to the village. It was time for me to give them the “offer.” Basically an invitation to join the Federation as a vassal state and slowly become integrated with our society. If they declined then we would back off from this planet and observe their advancements from a distance. My bet was on them accepting after all I’ve done for them.


The trek to the village didn’t take long and I went back to my room to see if Ixzah was around. I’m sure she was worried sick when I failed to show up last night, especially after what I told Koyope. I was still thankful that I spoke to Koyope about it though. If there was anyone I trusted to keep villagers from venturing near the site it was him.


Once inside I was greeted with the sight of Ixzah, Koyope, and Tixi patiently waiting around the table. Ixzah brightened up at my presence and got up to give me a hug. Except it was an extremely big hug that lifted me off the ground a good foot or two.


“Jack! You came back! I am glad that you are safe. We were all worried to the bone about you,” Ixzah said as her huge forearms pulled me in tight.


“Ixzah- you’re… crushing me,” I gasped.


“Oh, sorry. I am just too happy that you returned after what Koyope told me last night. Is the threat dealt with?”


“Yeah, for now at least. As long as nobody goes near that place then everything should be fine.”


“Should be?” Koyope interrupted. “You told me you would take care of it for good.”


“And I will, but right now I can’t properly dispose of the source until my ship is ready to fly. So for the time being I sealed it away inside the hill. It won’t harm anyone but just to be safe people need to be kept away from that area.”


“You better keep your promise then. I hate it when people break promises.” Koyope then left with a sneer on his face.


“Man, after all I’ve done here he still doesn’t trust me,” I said.


“Like I told you before, he is very serious about things of this nature,” Ixzah remarked.


“Speaking of being serious, I have something important to ask you. Why didn’t you tell me about the site earlier? There were pirates that came here before me and were the cause of all this. Did the village even notice them at all?”


“Well- I umm… did not tell you… because...” Ixzah trailed off and began choking on her words.


“Please, tell me the truth. Did the pirates interact with the village at all? I need to know.”


“They… they- yes, they did.” Ixzah said. Her eyes were starting to tear up. “I-It was about fifteen days before you arrived. They came down and mingled about before...”

“Before what? Did they hurt anybody?”

“Before they did that horrible thing to us… and my brother… and the rest of them!” At this point Ixzah was crying her eyes out and ran into one of the side rooms. All that could be heard was her constant bellowing of despair. Tixi got up and knocked on her door.


“Ixzah! Ixzah it is going to be okay, he did not know,” Tixi called out to the door. “Listen, I will make sure she is fine. You go talk to Palalka about this. He can tell you everything you need.”


“Alright thank you, Tixi.” The sounds of Ixzah crying could be heard from outside as I rushed my way towards Chief Palalka. Those pirates did something bad to this village and I had to find out. Ixzah mentioning her brother was also news to me. Not once did she bring up her family whenever we talked earlier. I should have noticed her skirting around the subject but I was just too absorbed with her personally and this village. Stupid me, always failing to read between the lines.


Chief Palalka was still resting on his giant throne when I arrived. All the guards took immediate notice of my presence. I had rarely been here since my arrival so this was a surprise to all of them. Most of the time you had to be invited to go talk with Palalka.


“Chief Palalka, we need to talk,” I boldly stated. The guards all turned to the big lizard. He stared back for a moment before dismissing everyone. Now it was just the two of us alone in the stony throne room.


“You may speak,” he proclaimed.


“Why didn’t you tell me about the others who were here before me? What did they do to your people? And to Ixzah’s brother?”


“I am truly sorry for not telling you earlier,” Palalka said. “Our people are very… nervous when it comes to these things. We had never seen anything like them before, I am sure you understand. Even the idea of mentioning these demons’ names puts fear in some villagers.”


“So what did they do? Ixzah mentioned something about a few of your people and her brother.”


The chief leaned closer to tell me everything. “When they first arrived, they were very cautious about our village. Some of our guards would report their appearances every few nights. Eventually they made proper contact with us. None of them could talk to us like you can but it was clear they meant no harm. Or so it seemed.”


“How many were there?” I asked, interrupting his speech. “From what I found around their little camp it couldn’t have been that many.”

“There were at least four of them. Very similar in appearance to you but less refined. Their clothing was well worn and none of them looked to be in the best shape. I imagined they came to us for aid first, which we provided.


“One night we were setting up a bonfire for another feast. Our ‘guests’ did not like it one bit. My assumption was they thought we were going to eat them or something. Pah! And we had been so kind to them since, I do not know why they would think otherwise.”


“They’re pirates,” I interjected. “Anything slightly threatening will set them off.”


“Indeed. They tried leaving the village when some of our guards met them. The guards did not mean any harm but due to our lack of communication the pirates saw it as a threat. Before we knew it four of the guards were killed and three villagers had been kidnapped. One of them including Ixzah’s poor brother. Our men were defenseless against their weaponry. Somehow they produced beams of light that pierced scale like it was nothing.”


Of course the pirates would use blasters against underdeveloped people. “I’m so sorry. No wonder Ixzah did not want to talk about it. So they just left after kidnapping the two?”


“Correct. They were gone before we knew it. The village was so distressed about their encounter that rumors and myths were twisted about to try and make sense of it. Some believe this was punishment for past acts. Others saw it as the end of our world.”


“So then what about me? Fifteen days later I crash landed nearby and yet you still took me in. Surely my arrival would have caused even more anxiety.”


Palalka chuckled for a moment. “You would be right to say so, but we took our chances and brought you in. Most of us believed that if you were not rescued then even more wrath would come about. We thought you were also part of these pirates. After meeting you for the first time however I knew you were different. The pirates were not as open as you were. They were very cautious, yet you took every opportunity to connect with us. Most of the villagers did not see this but I did.”


“And that’s why everyone else opened up once I got my translator working. They could finally tell I was not one of the pirates whatsoever.” It all started to make sense now. They were scared in the beginning and for a good reason. Two encounters with aliens in such a short span would really shake things up for people like them. Maybe that’s why Ixzah was so supportive, to make sure I was happy and didn’t repeat what the pirates did. Perhaps it was her brother that I reminded her of.


“We are now grateful for your arrival. Especially after everything you have done for this village. There is probably no way for us to ever repay you, but I have a feeling you are one of those who does not want payment.”


“You would be right about that. The fact that I got help collecting resources to repair my ship was all the payment I needed.” I took a quick pause to reflect on what he said about the pirates. “I just wish I could have been your first contact. If only I had arrived here a little sooner.”


“It is terrible that we had to meet like this.” Palalka said. “I just hope there is some chance to see our people again.”


The fact that some pirates – who had nothing to do with this poor village – kidnapped some of their people filled me with fury. I knew I couldn’t leave without doing something about it. The village had become like family to me, and I know exactly how it feels to lose those closest to you. I could fix this.


“Palalka, I want to ask you something,” I sternly said. “But before I do, just know that I vow to track down these pirates and return those captured back to this village. Whatever you say in response will not affect my efforts to save your people.”


“That is very courageous of you, Jack. But what is your question?” Palalka asked.


I straighten myself up to boldly give him the offer. “Will you and your people join our Federation? We can make sure that nothing like these pirates ever happens again to this village, or anyone else on the planet for that matter. We can also uplift your people into a better age, providing technology and knowledge that would improve everyone’s lives.”


Palalka thought it over before countering with a question of his own. “And what would you require out of us if we joined?”


“All I need is one volunteer to come back with me. We’ll train them to become an ambassador for your people to help ease our introduction. That’s all. However I completely understand if you do not want to see another person go. The training is long and rigorous but having one of your people act as a bridge between you and the Federation would make things so much easier. You don’t have to give an answer right now though. I encourage you to discuss this among the village before you make a decision. It is a colossal choice to make.”


“Hmm, this is something very big you are giving us. I will have to set up a council to talk about this. Thank you for the offer. Hopefully you can find our lost people and bring them back. Who knows what horrors they have faced so far. I just hope they are still alive.”


“Me too. I’ll do all I can to get your people back and bring justice for what these pirates did.” It was going to be tough tracking these pirates down but definitely not impossible. I left Palalka’s place at once, eagerly awaiting the village’s decision.

The ship had finally been fixed and Amanda started investigation work on the pirate’s whereabouts. We reported our findings to the Federation through subspace, informing them on everything from the villagers to the kidnapping. Despite being in the vastness of space, pirates rarely ventured far from space faring civilizations. All jump drives left a trail of residue that could be tracked so finding out where they went would be a simple task. For the time being I stayed with the village and waited patiently for their response to my offer.


While I waited there was still one final task to complete. With the ship fixed up I could now properly dispose of that damaged fuel cell. It didn’t take long to dig it up from the hole I had left it in. I brought it on board and took it on a one way trip out the airlock into the nearby sun. No more radioactive waste for the villagers to worry about. Koyope was pleased to hear I had finally dealt with the threat. He opened up a bit more after that and even invited me to go on a hunting party with him. It was a thrilling experience using only spears and bows while stalking through the forest. We made out with a big haul thanks to the new iron tipped spears.


The poor child that had been afflicted with radiation sickness was starting to show signs of improvement. He finally recovered enough strength to walk around and was now spending time playing outside. His mother couldn’t thank me enough for the medicine I supplied. Despite this I had a feeling that “cursed place” would persist as a rumor throughout the village, but with the real threat gone it would eventually be forgotten.


Ixzah finally came to her senses after our last interaction. I told her about the offer and she was super excited about it. They even appointed her to the council that was set up to discuss the matter. It took them a whole week to talk it over which I’m glad they did. You should never rush things like this, especially something that’ll change life as you know it even if for the better. Ixzah could not stop talking about it all that week. She was on the side to join the Federation and from what she told me there was very little resistance against it. The time finally came and a huge feast was set up to announce their decision.


Villagers gathered around as tables were set up outside for everyone to enjoy their meal. In the center of town rested the giant bonfire which had been set ablaze. Its warmth covered all the festivities that were transpiring. People were given time to eat first before Chief Palalka stepped up on stage in front of the roaring fire. I was seated next to Ixzah and the others enjoying my meal when Palalka invited me up with him. When I came up he began to speak words of inspiration to the villagers.


“People of Zahi,” Palalka announced to the crowd. “We have gathered here today in honor of the gifts brought to us by our new friend Jackson. First we took him in as an outsider but now he is fit to be one of us! We were all afraid due to the uncertainty that surrounded his arrival. However we still showed him our hospitality and were greatly rewarded. Now the wonders of metal are at our disposal thanks to Jackson. All of our lives have improved greatly due to the kindness of his heart. So here we are to give back to our friend and accept his offer to join the Federation. Jackson, we thank you for all you’ve done and will gladly join you for the new future that awaits us!”


The entire crowd roared with excitement. There was no doubt in my mind they would have declined the offer, but I still had a great feeling about it after hearing his acceptance. It was all almost too much to take in, though one question remained unanswered.


“So, uhh… now that you’ve accepted my offer, who’s going to come back with me to become your ambassador?” I asked out loud to Palalka.


The scene went quiet for a second as everyone turned to their chief. “About that. We have not decided yet. So much time was spent talking over it that we still do not have-”


“I will go.” Everyone turned back to see Ixzah standing up by herself. “I will go with Jack and become our ambassador.”


“Ixzah, are you sure about this?” I asked as she walked towards to the stage.


“Yes, I am. The menace that kidnapped our people needs to be brought to justice. They took away those that we cared about while we were defenseless. I do not want to stand idly by anymore. I want to avenge those who have fallen. I want to save those that we loved. I want to… save my brother.”


“That is very bold of you, young one,” Palalka said. “If anyone objects to dear Ixzah joining our friend into the stars then please give your word now.” The village was silent once more. “There you have it, Jack. Ixzah will join you to become our ambassador. Please treat her well.”


The crowd cheered again and I turned to Ixzah. She just stood silent with that same reptilian smile on her face. “Ixzah, why didn’t you tell the council earlier? Why wait until now to step up?”


“I just… could not speak about it earlier. There was so much I wanted to say but did not have the strength to get it out. Part of me was almost afraid to say something. But now, after seeing you up here receiving praise for everything you have done to help us, it filled me with hope. Hope for a better future surrounding our world. Hope that we find those taken away from us, together.”


“Aww, that’s- it’s- argh, I'm so happy that I can’t even say anything now!” I was speechless, so naturally the only other thing to do was give her a big hug. We stood interlocked for what felt like an eternity while everyone sang songs of praise. At that very moment I promised not only to myself but to the people of this village and Ixzah that we would get their lost ones back.

“Admit it, you only brought that tribal on board because you were getting bored of me!” Amanda said through the control panel speaker.


“I told you already, Ixzah is coming back with us to join the ambassador program. And they aren’t tribals. Her people are very well civilized in all aspects of life. Why would you ever think of something like that?”


“I’m sorry, Jack. You were away for most of the time we had been stranded and I was starting to get lonely. But I knew it was all for the better. Especially with how much you helped those people. You know, this is going to be a very dangerous mission tracking these pirates down.”


“Eh, I’ve handled worse. Speaking of pirates, do we have any leads on where they went?”


Amanda computed for a moment. “Yes, actually! After sending in the atmospheric data on the residue from their jump drives the investigation team found out their last known location. A very tiny starport on the edge of this sector. Officers have already been dispatched to investigate more.”


“Good, I doubt they’re still there but any clues picked up will bring us one jump close to the pirates’ actual location. Thanks, Amanda.”


“No sweat, boss. Also, we’re ready to leave whenever you are- oh dear.” Amanda’s tone quickly shifted. “I’m getting multiple readings of...”


“Of what?” I ask, worried about what Amanda might say next.


“Of somebody messing with the food dispenser in your room.”


“Phew, don’t scare me like that. I’ll handle whatever Ixzah’s up to, but don’t initiate jump just yet!” I said and walked back to my crew quarters. The door slid open to reveal Ixzah panicking over a ton of water gushing out from one of the dispensers.


“Ahh, Jack! I am so sorry! I do not know what I did but water will not stop pouring,” Ixzah claimed.


“Don’t worry, I got this.” I walked over to the panel and showed her what was wrong. “You just set the water pressure a bit too high. See this red ‘X’ icon? That’s one of the universal icons for no, stop, or cancel. You get the point. Press here and the water should turn off.”


Ixzah slowly raised a claw up to the screen and tapped on the cancel button. In an instant the water stopped flowing and everything was calm. “Thanks, Jack. I know I should be keeping to myself but all this ‘technology’ you have is… is, uhh-”


“Out of this world?” I replied with the biggest grin on my face. “Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to learn later. But right now it’s best to let me show you how stuff works around here.”


“Okay, I will make sure not to touch anything… for now.” The room was silent for a moment before she spoke up again. “Do you really think we can find my brother and the others?”


My answer was short and simple. “Yes, we already know where they have been so it shouldn’t be long until we get their current location. Are you sure you’re up for this task? To become your village’s ambassador and take down these pirates? I won’t lie, it’s going to be pretty tough.”


“Yes. I will do anything to protect my people now. That I know is true.”


“Good, because the training is going to be long and challenging. You’ll see plenty of strange people and places you could only begin to dream of. Now come on, I have something to show you.”


I brought Ixzah back to the bridge to show her a view of her world. The atmospheric storm above the continent had finally cleared up. Presented before us was a clear shot of her lush, green planet in all its beauty. Ixzah was literally starstruck by the view and so was I. The innocent world reminded me of the pictures from Earth’s orbit. Although now I’m beginning to treat this planet as my own little Earth after everything I’ve done for it.


“It is so wonderful...” Ixzah said in awe at the sight. “If only my people could see how glorious our planet is from up here.”


“I’m sure they will one day, but now it’s time for us to leave. We’ll be back before you know it. Amanda, prepare us to jump,’ I commanded.


“Roger, boss! Engines are warmed up and we are good to go. Say your goodbyes for now.” A big red button flashed on the control panel in front of us. “Whenever you’re ready, Jack.”


“You ready?” I asked Ixzah.


“Ready,” she said. I placed my hand on top of Ixzah’s scaly claw and pulled it over to the launch button. After one last look at her home Ixzah pressed down on the button, marking the beginning of our new journey.