"Tell me something about yourself," Anita settled down on a pile of pillows with Taark curled comfortably in her lap. It was so much fun to have a pet you could talk to! Taark, albeit reluctantly, helped Anita with her school project (she had to draw a starship and she had never seen one) and then they talked all the afternoon. Well, to be exact, she talked and Taark was just listening. She told him all about that hateful girl from next door who always teased her on their way to school and how much she hated spinach and her mother would always make her eat loads of it and how she was going to the mountains during the holiday, for the first time without her Mommy and Daddy and how scared and proud she was and, and, and…

Taark was patient. No one had ever been so patient for her before. He was just sitting there, his blue fur cascading down the sofa, he never even fidgeted. His amazingly dark eyes were fixed on her face and she felt she was really important to him. He was just lovely and Anita wished her mother had so much time and patience to listen to what she had to say. Finally, she got tired of talking.

"What am I supposed to talk about?"

"Everything! Where do you live? Where are your parents? Do you have many friends?" Anita started listing excitedly. "How old are you? Can you play ball? "What do you like eating…" the list of questions was endless but Anita realized that if she wanted to get any answers, she had to let him speak.

Taark just sat there for a while, pondering all her questions.

"I live very far away," he began slowly. "I come from another planet…"

"Planet?!?" Anita jumped up with excitement. "Where?!?"

"In another solar system," Taark explained patiently. "I came in a starship but it's been heavily damaged. I can't go back," he added sadly.

Anita started stroking his long fur, deep in thoughts.

"Can't it be repaired?" She asked after a pause. "My father is very smart, he can fix a lot of things, maybe he can help you?"

"No!" Taark replied urgently. Anita stopped petting him and looked at her new friend suspiciously.

"Why?"

He sighed and nuzzled against her, demanding more pets. "You would have to tell him all about me, wouldn't you?" He purred. "You didn't want to do that, remember?"

"Right! I haven't thought about this," Anita nodded her head. "They wouldn't let me keep you."

* * *

"You're going where?!" Croanti's fur floated in the air as she asked, showing her agitation. "Can't they send you somewhere else on your first mission? It's so dangerous!"

"Morrus stretched himself with pleasure. His wife was so caring! They had been married for five oltas now and she still cared deeply for him. She was really concerned.

He watched her moving around the house, preparing the evening pipe for him. They had been very lucky to get an apartment so close to the center, even though it was rather small. He could easily see his wife in the other room, her image only slightly distorted by the glass wall. He liked it. He still thought his wife was the most beautiful creature in the world.

The shade of her fur was a little darker than his own, her body long and slender and she moved around with certain dignity. Even now, when she was nervous.

Morrus got up from the hammock and slid to the smoking room. Croanti was just mixing his favorite blend in the big pot. The pipes were already laid on the stool. He moved closer and ran his hands through her fur.

"Don't worry," he whispered softly. I'll be all right."

Croanti sighed and turned to him with a spoon filled with tobacco. The smell was delicious.

"I know you can handle it," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's just that I wish they'd let you some time to train. Perhaps I could talk to the admiral…"

"No," Morrus said forcefully, moving away from her and letting her finish spicing the tobacco. "I want this mission." He said..

Croanti nodded, handing him the pipe.

"I know," she repeated. They both settled down on the cushions and smoked in silence for a while. The blend was exactly as Morrus liked. His wife knew his taste.

* * *

"This is Taark," Anita said proudly, pointing at a huge, hairy cutworm, lying on the sofa with his eyes closed.

"He's not moving!" Her friend was clearly disappointed. Jake was expecting to see an exotic animal, not just yet another furry toy from a local shop.

"He's alive, I tell you," Anita sat down on the sofa and poked the creature. Taark never moved.

"Yeah, right!" Jake wasn't impressed. He was two years older than Anita and there were really not many things that she could do to make him interested. Taark was a chance she didn't intend to waste. She grabbed a handful of his long, blue hairs and pulled real hard.

"Ouch!" Taark yelled, waking up. "That hurt!"

"He can talk!" Jake exclaimed with utter disbelief.

"Of course I can talk," Taark regained his dignity after Anita let go of his fur and was now trying to look like nothing happened. "Did you think I was mute?"

"He's from another planet," Anita whispered confidentially to Jake. "His ship is broken and he can't go back."

"Oh, yeah?" Jake was trying to hide his surprise. He let Anita bring him here but hadn't believed in her fantastic story for one second. "And what planet is that?" He asked casually, as if he was used to conversing with aliens on a daily basis.

"We call it Taarkan," the creature replied, rubbing down his fur to make it look decent. "It's in the middle of what you call the Orion Nebula."

"Uhum," Jake said, trying to sound totally unimpressed. "It's not really very far, is it?"

Taark stopped smoothing out his fur and looked at the human boy carefully.

"Can you take me there?" He asked. Jake's face became red.

"Umm… no, not really," he stuttered. "I… we…" Taark nodded his head sadly.

"You don't have starships. I suspected that."