We knew we were a young race in the eyes of the stars. having only been traversing the heaveans for a short time. intergalactic treaties prevented us from being able to aquire the knowledge of hyperspace travel until we had gained it on our own. In the past, we had been offered the technology by very unscrupulous means, however when the intergalactic community learned of the offers, all involved were eradicated. It became quite clear that each race was required to gain their own methodology of the tech to traverse the stars; and those who tried to bring us into the heaveans faster were wiped out systematically.

Our home planet, which we called Earth, became a tourist locale for the various species that we could communicate with; but traversing the distances ourselves was still out of reach. And then, it happened. The breakthrough that changed mankind; and cost us dearly in the process. The gasses of Saturn and Uranus were found, by our own scientists, to be the ideal mixture for extrasolar travel; and a massive colony was built in order to harvest the atmosphere of the planets. Within the span of ten years; we went from planning generational ships to get to the nearest stars; to having personal yachts that could carry people across the galaxy within a week; and any star within our own galactic arm within a day, two at the most.

The space race of the old calander's 1960s looked like a bunch of children playing with tinkertoys in comparison.

as a child, I had dreamed of seeing the stars; and in my teen years, that became possible. Now; at 26 years of age, I am part of a survey team to see if a planet is able to become an agriculture planet for our colonies. Well, myself and 16 other humans from earth. Two Elcars, and two Bentreals are traveling with us, both races sending a male and a female along. They are to act as ambasadors if we find intelegent life, or mere observers until we do something wrong according to the plethora of treaties that the Galactic alliance has brought us. Telven and Kednir are the Bentreals; where Ded, and Vale are the Elcars with us.

"Benjamain Lyle Gazer; are you ready for what will be hapening in a few cycles?" Vale asked me again. I didn't move my face from looking out the window at the violet and viridian planet below, but I could easily see her intelegent, silver irises peering into my back in the reflection the window gave me. The emerald green pupil, had taken me a bit to get used to; even so, she was beautiful by human standards; and by Elcar standards; well, she was their princess. so I couldn't really tell if Ded thought she was pretty or not; he spent most of his time looking anywhere but in her direction, as was considered respectful in their culture.

"Vale, we humans rarely use full names. You always make me feel like I am in trouble when you say it like that." I replied while looking at her reflection. I heard Ded inhale as though he was about to say something to me about how I had adressed her, but a quick motion from Vale's hand; and I heard nothing from him.

"I am aware; however not using your full name; by your own culture also shows varying degrees of intimacy which are foriegn to us."

"Please, either refer to me as Mr. Gazer if you wish to be formal, or just simply Ben, if you do not. permissions like this are usually not expressed, but I still forget that Elcars have only recently become interested in our race." I responded to her. "and as for your question; honestly, I don't know." I turned to face her, but I kept my eyes closed; the closest compromise I could give between our two cultures as to not show disrespect, but also get my point across. "If there is no other intelegent life on this planet; it is a class M, and most of our crops will grow here, and there will be no issues; but that is the best outcome. however, plans rarely survive contact with reality, and I stand here mulling over the possiblities of what will happen if the best outcome for us can not be achieved; and as to what level of success at that point could actually be considered successful. or the worst case scenerio, we find a civilisation similar to our own down there, and can't bring anything to the table as a member of the galactic community. What demands will they attempt to make, what can we inspectors offer in negotiations without giving too much away, and/or still maintainting the treaties."

I feel her hand on my shoulder, something that Elcars rarely do, physical contact. Only some, who have been on Earth for more than a year, have come to understand is part of our nature, and how we convey various emotions such as sympathy. "Mr. Gazer; that is why we are here; if that 'worst case' occours. feel at ease." I felt her leave the room, and heard Ded grunt as the hatch sealed behind him.

One Human will remain on the ship when we head down to the planet, Lillian Gazer, my sister, was the one chosen to do so by our commander. Her mental processing is insane by human standards, but she barely matches a two year old Bentreal's abilities. Bentreals are known the galaxy over as cutthroat merchants. and a Bentreal that introduces themselves as a Captain are part of the elite of their society; Telven and Kedner, however, are both Admirals, capable of processing 15 thought-controlled ships simultaniously in battle.

A light chime plays through the speakers of my room. The alarm telling me its time to go; its time for Planetfall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where I landed, seemed to be a vast plain, but it was barren. The soil was dry. What I had thought was vegitation from space, was nothing more than the bright color of the soil itself.

Ded was with me, and the three other Humans in my group. I was the mechanic; my only job was to fix the equipment, or the shuttle, if anything was damaged or broke; I was also the Doctor, so I guess you could say I was still the Mechanic; it just didn't matter wether or not the machine I worked on was biological, or man-made.

I kicked a rock, as I bumbled around the area where we were to camp for the night; and stopped in my tracks as I stood on the crest of the nearby cliff, that overlooked a river valley. Looking back at me, were unmistakable signs of a civilisation. Tombstones.

"Everyone Halt!" I yelled out. Ded, came running up the hill, and stopped next to me, his already pale complection seemed to become pasty in an instant; Jeremy, Beverly, and Kyle ran up the hill as well, and it seemed the reality hit them as well. "Ded, would it be out of place for me to see if I can read what is on these stones?" I asked without looking toward him.

"Benjamain Lyle Gazer; if you step foot into a memorial park; you must do so with the utmost care, and constant thought of the ancestors, as well as posterity of any possible race interred within the park."

"Understood. Please have everyone wait here."

"Agreed." he replied simply, and I saw him turn around in the corner of my vision.

most of the stones were simple, and simply read a name, a pair of dates; and how the one interred had passed. the part that had surprised me however, was that every stone was carved; and the language was in English. although, I didn't understand the calender used, it wasn't hard to miss the gist of a timeline.

Myra Linseed; First Leaf 921 - Second Frost 956; Childbearing

Cory Linseed; Third Fire 930 - First Frost 966; Starvation

Miriam Linseed; Second Frost 956 - First frost 966; Starvation

Bedrim Wolfe; Unknown - First frost 966; Starvation

Adele Wolfe; Unknown - First Frost 966; Starvation

Sylvia Leaf; First Wind 655 - First Frost 966; Starvation

Dorn Leaf; Second Wind 656 - Second Frost 966; Stabbing

I slowly walked through the stones, and quickly noticed the plethora of Starvation deaths during the time frame of First Frost 966. Easily half of the stones I saw were like that. Then I saw the first of the ones that were different; all the stones up until I had spotted this one were simple rectangle stones; with little to no information on them. But, this one; this one had a cast effegy resting on a clear stone, embedded into a cylendrical pillar. It was so different from every one of the stones I had come across so far, I wondered why I hadn't seen it before; as I walked around to the front of it, a cold sweat began to form.

Edwin Von Grip; First Frost 966 - First leaf 1274; Old Age Edwin Von Grip; born during the Famine of 966 in Westland, Myra. Rose through the ranks of the Imperian Navy; and later the Collaborative Space Force. Retired at 244 years of age from the Planetary defense fleet. First CSF Ace pilot, with 46 confirmed downed craft at the time of his retirement.

I looked around to see if there were any similar stones nearby, and saw two more cylenders; each with a different cast statue on top of a clear stone, embedded into the pillar.

Myrian Wolfe; First Fire 955 - Second Wind 1270; Old Age Myrian Wolfe; Survivor of the Famine of 966 in Westland Myra. Born in Caldris, Myra. Imperian Navy Admiral; first Collaborative Space Force Admiral; died from age related complications while serving aboard Imperian Navy Planetary Defense Platform Delta while still on active service.

the statue depicted an old woman; standing proudly, her shoulders back; and her hands clasped behind her back; standing in the same position as the burly man on Edwin's statue. I walked over to the last one.

Syndney Leaf; Third Leaf 966 - First Wind 1389; War. Syndney Leaf; only Infant survivor of the Famine of 966 in Westland, Myra. Born in Westland, Myra. Imperian Navy Tactician; Friend of the Monarch. Died from beheading during the Talderian uprising. Interred at the Monarch's burrial grounds in Galderan, Myra. Stone placed in Westland, Myra at Syndney Leaf's last request.

"Can I help you?" I hear a young voice behind me. I turn to look, and see a violet haired girl carrrying what look like a few blades of grass.

"I came across these stones, and wished to pay my respects." I answered her.

"Grandfather would appreciate that." the girl said as she placed the few scrap leaves at the base of the stone I had just finished reading. She pursed her lips, and gave a short whistle. as she did, the clear stones the statues rested upon changed colors; and I felt something tremble in the air. it was a beautiful sound. "You are not Myran." she finished with her eyes closed.

"No, I am not."

"Are you Teldaran?" she asked.

"I am not. I am from a place called Earth."

"I haven't heard the name of that country before." she sighed, and sat down, facing the stone. "Myra no longer travels the heavans because of Teldara. They sabotoged almost all of our ships; and several good men and women died because of their actions. Does your country traverse the heavens?"

"I do not speak of a country named Earth; but a world. And yes; we Traverse the Heavens." I replied the way Ded had said I should; mimicing the flow of indigenous people. The fact that this person is speaking to me in a language that I thought would have only existed on Earth nearly made me loose my cool, but I kept it down.

"Are you a scout, or an ambasador?" she asked.

"I guess you could call me a bit of both." I answered honestly. "I was sent here to be a part of a team to see if we could grow plants in this area; however, seeing this, and meeting you; we will not be able to do that."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"we have treaties in place that prevent my people from using something that is already being used by intelegent beings; that means we can't use this land."

"I see." she gives a faint smile as she touches the memorial stone. "I must return to Westland before the sun sets. I would sugest you do the same; and quickly. nights in this area can be unforgiving; there aren't many trees, and you do not want to be on the ground once the sun goes down."

she stands, wipes the back of her long skirt off; then walks away from me.