11)

The view was amazing. Even through all the destruction, the exotic beauty of the place showed inevitably. The buildings, at least those few still intact were made of some dark blue glass which reflected the delicately bluish light of the planet's sun. All of them were shaped as cupolas with wide, open streets covered with blue stone.

Kurt was looking from the shuttle window with his breath held. As they got lower, more details of that vast, alien city were coming into view. He saw that almost all the domes were shattered, the glass lying around on the blue streets. Here and there, smoke was still rising from the ruins. And… there was no one in the streets.

'Where did they all go?' He asked his pilot, a young, white

man with fair hair and well shaped body. Human body.

'They're hiding.'

'Hiding?'

The pilot turned to give him a quick glance. 'Don't your people hide from the attacks during the war?' He asked with a very human smirk on his handsome face. Kurt felt a sudden blush.

'There are force fields,' he said. 'There's no need to hide if they're operational. If not…' he shrugged. 'When the force fields fail, there's no time to run and hide. Everyone's killed instantly.'

The pilot nodded sadly.

'Your technology,' he said as an acknowledgement. 'We don't have force fields, you see. When your soldiers attack from the air, we have to run for the shelter.'

Kurt was shocked. He had always assumed that the conflict between their peoples was more or less on equal chances.

'You want to tell me that when a squadron comes to bombard your base you're… defenseless?! How can anyone survive with no force fields? Our missiles would reach you within seconds from the higher orbit!'

'That's what they usually do,' the pilot replied slowly. 'Unless we're warned in advance and manage to escape under ground, everybody dies in such an attack. Men, women and children.'

Kurt gasped for air.

'Now, wait a second!' He exclaimed. 'What women and children? We're attacking your army installments, not civilian cities! Why would you have women and children in your military bases?'

The pilot shook his head. They were now hovering pretty low over the streets of the almost totally destroyed city. Through the shattered glass, Kurt could look inside some of the buildings. The interiors were mostly in ruins but a piece of unusually shaped, though still recognizable, furniture here and there made him see these used to be living areas.

'Does that look like a military base to you?' The pilot's voice was flat. 'Take a good look. That's one of the reasons we've brought you here. To see for yourself. I don't suppose you'd believe us if we told you.'

'No,' Kurt whispered. 'I wouldn't have…'

The alien pilot fell silent. For the next few minutes they were just circling above the city. It must have been a lovely place. Kurt could almost see where the inhabitants would gather, there were large squares and vast park areas throughout the city where children would go and play. In his mind he could see the streets busy and full of life.

'How come…' he began and stopped. He couldn't find the words. The pilot understood.

'Your men were probably told it was yet another military base,' he answered Kurt's unfinished question. 'They never stopped to take a look, they were simply following orders.'

Kurt quickly looked at his companion. No, there was no bitterness in the man's face. He was just sad.

'I… I don't know what to say,' he said softly.

'Don't say anything,' the pilot shrugged. 'Just look and remember.'

12)

'We've got to stop the destruction! Now that you've seen it, you'll believe us. We are desperate!'

Kurt was sitting alone in a room filled with some technological equipment. He didn't recognize the alien configuration but he was fairly sure one of the consoles was a communication device. The familiar voice he was hearing, though, was coming from every direction. He looked around the bare, blue walls but didn't find any speakers.

'Can't we talk face to face?' He asked into the thin air.

'You're sure you want this?'

Kurt nodded. He didn't know if he was visible to the aliens so he said, "Yes."

The door in the far corner of the room opened and…

It was difficult to describe the creature that went through them. It was… black. Not humanoid in shape. If anything, it reminded him of a huge dog. With hands. The creature had four legs and a pair of arms. It's head was proportional, slightly elongated with big, protruded ears. He was almost expecting to see fur but the creature had a smooth, shiny skin. As it came closer, Kurt saw its eyes. They were enormous with dilated pupils and bright, blue irises.

'You're…' he didn't have the courage to finish the sentence.

*I'm Katija,* the creature thought to him. *That's what I really look like.*

Kurt had a sudden, sinking feeling. He vividly remembered the beautiful woman he met a few days ago. He closed his eyes.

*I'm sorry…*

'No!" he said aloud. 'You have nothing to be sorry about! It's my fault…'

Katija settled on a small cushion-like piece of furniture. Now he understood why it was shaped like that – she wouldn't be able to get comfortable in a chair.

*Will you help us?* She thought to him. *We don't want to fight you anymore.*

*Why have you started the conflict in the first place?* He asked the question that had been nagging him for a long time now.

*We haven't…* the creature was alien enough but he could easily read the expression of sadness in her blue eyes. *Your people attacked our colony three years ago. They destroyed the entire world in a matter of hours.*

'What?!?' Kurt wasn't prepared to hear it. 'What are you talking about? I was there! Your fleet destroyed two hundred of our ships! With no warning!'

Katija fidgeted nervously in her seat. She flattened her ears and looked at him uneasily.

*I was afraid you wouldn't believe me,* she thought somewhat sadly. *That's what they told you but it wasn't the first battle. You see, the first attack had been conveyed by your secret forces. It had never been made public. The way your propaganda has it, we're the ones responsible for the war.*

'I can't believe this!' Kurt got up and started pacing the room. 'The State has always been a peaceful organization? Why would we attack you?'

*We don't know. We have never threatened you. Before you attacked, we didn't even know you existed…*

'That's impossible! I need proof!'

*We'll give you one.*

'How?'

Katija got up and approached one of the consoles. She pushed a few buttons and a small screen above it came to life. It showed a planet as seen from a low orbit. A big continent came into view with cities and communication tracks easily recognizable.

*It's the data we managed to retrieve from one of the satellites,* she explained. *Watch carefully.*

Kurt was standing there, hypnotized, as the battle revealed itself before his eyes. He saw a swarm of the Soldier Shuttles appearing out of nowhere in the lower orbit. Suddenly, a bombardment started. The missiles filled the atmosphere like heavy rain. After a few moments the surface of the planet was covered with dust from the explosions. The attack was methodical, no one spot was left intact. The time index rushed forward and he saw the planet a few hours later. There were no cities, no signs of a civilization whatsoever. Only craters.

'You converted the time index to show me a date I can recognize. How do I know it's not falsified altogether?' He asked, trying to sound calm.

*We'll upload the data to your computers,* Katija replied in his mind. *You'll be able to verify its authenticity.*

'Please, do,' Kurt sat back, suddenly feeling very tired.