"This is Colonel Andrew Burke in charge of the Special Forces Division 4. We have no hostile intentions. Please, identify yourselves. I repeat, this is Colonel Andrew Burke…"

"What now?" Commander Maroth asked Taark. "It seems we have been detected, sir."

"I know that much myself!" Maroth replied scornfully. "This was your idea to bring the children here. Perhaps you'd care to advise us how we shall now proceed?"

Taark looked around as if expecting some help. They were in a large room serving as Maroth's official audience room. All the senior staff was there and yet Maroth was asking him what to do, albeit ironically. Everybody was staring at Taark. He sighed.

"The children really mean us no harm," he said quietly. "Perhaps we will be able to establish a peaceful relationship with adults, too?"

Maroth looked at him incredulously.

"Are you saying we should respond to their hail?"

"Is there any other option? We may, of course, try and hide deeper. But these people are persistent. Once they've realized we're here, they will not stop looking until they find us.

"They're coming here!" One of the guards rushed into the room and shouted. "The Pouli are coming!"

The people started to talk all at once.

"Quiet!" Maroth demanded, his voice echoing throughout the room. Everyone froze.

"You go and talk to them!" Maroth pointed at Taark.

"Me, sir?" Taark shivered but he nodded obediently. He was too young to argue with the Commander, even if he thought his orders were…strange. He turned around to leave the room and find his way outside to try and convince the humans that they were no threat to them, when the door opened and another messenger rushed in, breathless.

"Commander!" He panted. "We're receiving another signal!"

"From whom?!" Maroth asked.

"I… I don't know, sir," the man stuttered. "We don't understand their language yet."

Maroth and Taark looked at each other, the former with clear disdain. Taark hung his head low and left the room. He was feeling really guilty for all the trouble he'd caused.

* * *

"We call ourselves Taarkanians," he was explaining to a group of humans out in the forest about half an hour later. "We crash landed on your planet some time ago."

He thought it was not a good time to reveal just how long they had been there. Not yet.

"Why have you contacted us only now?" The human asked, cautiously.

The group of humans was positioned in a semicircle around Taark. He had approached them openly, showing he had no weapon but they were still suspecting him. Taark did everything to appear friendly.

"We were afraid of you. We knew nothing of your culture, or your ways. At first, we thought we'd just make our repairs and only then contact you but it proved impossible."

The human who was questioning him nodded. Then he scratched his head.

"I'll have to contact my superiors," he said thoughtfully. "Of course, the guys from NASA! They might be able to help you," he added, looking at Taark. It felt so strange to talk to a huge, blue cutworm…

Taark shook his head. "I'll have to contact my superiors, too," he replied. "But I'm not sure they'll be very outgoing in terms of showing you our ship. From what I understand, our technology is…" he paused. "Is very different," he finished later. Quickly, he congratulated himself on being so wise. At the last moment he had stopped himself from saying 'superior.' It was better not to say too much just yet.

Everything was going well, and Taark thought he succeeded in his mission. The humans were thinking about contacting authorities and sending representatives, not about immediately attacking their settlement. Taark was about to get up and head back to Maroth, to deliver a report when someone approached Colonel Burke and whispered a few words to him. The man signaled his people and, all of a sudden, all their weapons were again trained at Taark.

"What happened?" He asked, shocked.

"I have just received a word," the colonel started slowly. "That another ship is on its way to Earth. Your ship," he added, frowning and it sounded like an accusation.

Taark was stunned. "Our ship?" He repeated. He never had a chance to say anything more. He felt, more than heard some movement behind him. He was young but he was nevertheless well trained. Even though he'd never been in a combat situation before, he knew what to do. An instinct developed through countless simulations.

Immediately he threw his long body and pressed himself flat to the ground. There wasn't much shooting. A few seconds later, the group of humans were laying all around him, unconscious. Taark got up and turned around to see Maroth's guards with their stun-pistols still in their hands.

"Why?" He asked, out of breath.

"No time!" One of the guards dismissed him impatiently. "We're leaving. Let's go."

"Leaving?" Taark blinked. "Leaving where? How?"

"The ship is functional enough to take us into the orbit," another guard apparently more forthcoming, explained while they were headed back to the settlement.

"This other contact…" Taark was thinking aloud.

"Yes, the rescue mission! Finally, after all these years!" The guard nodded enthusiastically.

"But…" there was still something Taark didn't understand. "You said you didn't understand their language?"

The guards around him laughed.

"Taark?" One of them asked. "What language do you think you're speaking now?"

Taark opened his mouth and promptly shut them again. Everything was clear now. They had been on this planet for so long, listening to human's transmissions, watching their… TV programs. Slowly, after a few generations, they started speaking their language rather than their own.

* * *

The ship banked and swayed sideways but they were steadily gaining altitude. The Taarkanians, all of them born on alien this planet, were so excited about finally going home.

For some reason, Taark didn't share their enthusiasm. He still saw the bodies lying there in the forest. Oh, he knew they'd be alright in a couple of hours: they'd just been stunned. But still, he regretted the contact was never really made.

After the ship took off, he was pointed to his quarters. He opened the door and slowly closed it behind him. So that was it, he thought. The end of the mission, the end of the adventure before it even started…

"Hello, Taark!"

He turned briskly to see Anita, smiling at him.

END OF BOOK I