It had been years since I, Jared, and Emerald had made our way through space to the Euthenian Nebula. Zin and Zan had never ventured away from their home planet.

The brothers were anything but nervous, though, as they looked out the large window in the front of the ship. Though neither of them had ever been on an actual ship, both had been trained to fly them.

Zan sat at the helm and Zin was his navigator. Both had wide smiles on their faces as they flew at speeds they’d only ever read about.

The flight to the planet closest to Euthenia took only six hours. The black sky was dotted with the distant stars, and none of us could stop looking at it all.

I held Emerald close to me, my arm wrapped loosely around her narrow waist. Her long blonde hair was pulled into a braid. She was wearing a pair of pants and a shirt with protective qualities that also took on the colors of the surrounding air and vegetation to camouflage the person wearing it.

We all wore the same uniform to make sure we were as safe as possible while checking out the planet. In the large pockets of our pants, there were ropes and things to light fires with. Everything Jared and I could think of to help us for the two nights we’d be on the planet.

Traveling light, we brought along powdered food to keep our bodies nourished and small filtration systems so we could drink the water the planet offered.

“Look,” Zin pointed ahead to the swirling red line that ran in a circle around the planet. “There it is!”

The Euthenians called it the burgundy planet because of its red color. Other than that, they had never given it a real name.

Emerald looked a little worried. “Is that red stuff going to push the ship around? It looks like it’s moving really fast!”

Zan gave her a smile. “Nah. Our thrusters can handle it. I don’t think the particles are very thick. The dark color just makes them look that way.”

As we entered the atmosphere of the planet, Emerald held tight on to me. My older brother, Jared smiled at me. “I need to go back and get my wife if we’re going to stay in the capital. I miss her sweet smile.”

I winked at him. “And her warm body?”

Emerald frowned at me and smacked me on the chest. “Caleb!”

We laughed as we made our way through the red cloud surrounding the planet. It seemed to be a wall of red particles similar to dirt. Once we passed that barrier, the skies were clear white with blue clouds.

A flock of large, birdlike creatures flew through the sky. The suns glistened off their orange wings. Their beaks were black. The birds had sharp teeth and sharp claws.

Zin commented, “They look terrifying. I’m not sure I’d like to share a place with them.”

We watched out the large window in the front of the ship as one of the birds landed, and we were delighted to find that it didn't seem to be a meat eater, it just ate grass. Little creatures ate right along with him, and none seemed worried the bird was about to devour them.

Jared walked to Zin and patted him on the back. “It seems harmless.”

“Seems that way, but I wonder why it needs those claws and teeth.” Zin gave Zan a knowing look.

“Maybe to fend off real predators,” I said. “There might be some here that are very ferocious if the birds are equipped with such things.”

Jared tapped his left pocket. “Remember we have our sticks to fend them off, guys.”

The two Euthenian men gave him a nod, but neither looked stoked about the fact they might have to use them to save their lives against a monster.

Zan landed the ship, and we all walked out onto the brown surface of the clearing we’d found to land. The air was tinged with a slightly sulfuric odor, but it wasn’t too bad. I scanned the area where we landed.

The grass on the planet was a golden color. It grew in bunches that were close together. It was knee high, and the constant breeze blew it, making it wave over the surface.

Nearby, there was a beautiful forest of tall trees in orange and yellow hues. Red globes of some kind of fruit grew on the orange leaved trees, and green ones on the yellow trees small. The trees were so tall one would have to climb them to get the fruit.

Jared jogged over to the tree closest to us and found a piece of the red fruit on the ground. He picked it up and came back to share it with us.

Taking his knife from his pocket, he cut a few pieces, and we all tried a bite of the fruit that was full of pulp, like an orange. All five of us nodded in agreement that the fruit was good.

“It’s creamy. A mixture of an orange and a raspberry,” I said and took another bite.

Emerald smiled and said, “I could definitely see me eating these often. So we have at least one natural food source.” She took out her communicator and took a picture of the fruit. “I’m naming it, Ruby fruit.”

Zin laughed. “Ruby fruit it is! Our first discovery!”

The ground beneath our feet shook as a creature that walked on all fours came walking towards the forest of trees and had a long neck but a very short body. Its short legs kept its stomach low to the ground.

The creature looked docile. Tanned, smooth skin ran over the large round bodied thing. Large, brown eyes gingerly ran over us and then up to the top of a yellow tree.

We watched as the creature elongated its neck to reach for the fruit at the highest parts of the tree. Then its neck went back to its normal size as it chewed on the small green fruit.

As the animal shook the limb to detach the fruit, several more of them fell to the ground, and Zan walked over very slowly, so as not to startle the creature, and picked a few of them up.

The skin was very rough, and he peeled it off, finding a white inside. He took a tiny taste and made a horrible face. “It’s sour! Yuk!”

Zin took one from his brother and took a nibble of the rough skin. “This part is sweet.”

I took a picture of it. “Hmm. You eat the outside and leave the middle alone. Interesting. Emerald what will you name this one.”

“Oh, I’m in charge of naming everything?” she asked with a laugh.

She took a little bite and frowned. Then Zin said, “How about backward fruit?”

I pressed the buttons, writing the new name and smiled. “A second discovery already and we haven’t even really begun to scout the area. This is looking good.” I took Emerald by the hand. “Stay together and scout the area. Make sure to use your communicators to keep in touch and take pictures of anything you find of interest.”

Jared added. “If anyone finds shelter let all the others know about it. It won’t be getting dark for another 15 hours on this planet, but there isn't a lot known about it. The weather is not known. The temperatures once the suns set is not known. So we do need to find some type of shelter and get a fire going. If none can be found, reconvene at the ship before nightfall.”

The planet had the same two suns as Euthenia did. There were no moons showing in the sky at that time. We had no idea if there was a moon or not as we didn’t even see one when we were still out in space. The night was sure to be black if there would be no moonlight.

Emerald and I headed out to the right and Jared, Zin, and Zan headed to the left. We began our search on the planet to see if it would be a place we could make another part of Euthenia.

The first creatures Emerald and I came upon as we walked towards a green pond were some small, feathered creatures with long beaks and feet that looked like paddles. They had a funny little walk as they made their way toward the water away from Emerald and me, but they didn't seem afraid of us. They merely seemed to be on their way to the pond.

“It’s doubtful they can fly. Their wings are much too short to carry their wide bodies,” I said as I pointed to the little animals.

The golden grass grew all the way to the edge of the large, oval-shaped pond. Bubbles came up from the bottom of the pond and made little splashes.

Emerald said, “It’s probably gasses from underneath, escaping the water.”

I bent down and took a handful of the water and smelled it. Then I let her smell it too. It smelled of eggs, but they noticed that the little, birdlike creatures that got into it quickly drank from it.

It seemed to be okay, so I tasted the water. “It tastes fine. It’s warm to the touch. The source is probably a natural underground spring.”

“Look over there,” Emerald said as she pointed to a large, gray rock in the grassy field. “Let’s go climb it.”

I took her hand and off we went to see what kind of rock it was. We climbed up the dome shaped thing. Once we reached the top, we found it wasn’t a rock after all.

It was a large tortoise-like animal, and its huge head was busy eating the grass. We slid back off the thing and made our way around to look at it.

“It has big, brown eyes, Caleb. It looks kind.” Emerald took a few steps to get closer, and it raised its large head and looked at her. Then it went right back to eating.

I laughed and pulled Emerald along. “If it’s that big, eating must be a full-time job. Come on.”

We had walked for an hour before we came to a clearing in the grass. Nothing grew for as far as we could see. Just black dirt that when we stepped on it, it crackled beneath our feet.

It was as if nothing had ever walked over it. I took a few steps. “Warm puffs of air come up with every step. It must be some kind of volcanic activity.”

“So this part of the planet is not habitable?” Emerald asked as she took a few steps on the dirt.

“No, but not all parts of any planet are.” I looked off to the sides, and a green color caught my eye. “This way.”

It took an hour and a half to get to the green area. It was a lush forest. Very tropical and dense with vines that ran over the tall and large leafed trees.

We heard the sounds of many animals and insects; little creeks, twitters, and chirps were all around us. Then a terrible howling sound seemed to come from everywhere, and I pulled Emerald to my side, taking out the small stick I could use to paralyze anything that meant us harm.

Emerald and I searched all around for the horrible creature making such a racket. The howling got closer and closer, yet we saw nothing.

Emerald pointed to the trunk of the tree nearest to us. “Look, Caleb. That little green thing with the tiny red eyes and the tiny mouth shaped in an open circle. I think that’s what’s making this noise.”

I waved a hand over the tiny thing, and it jumped off the tree and bounded away, the loud sound going with it. “It was! I don’t know how it made that loud sound.”

Emerald giggled. “We can call it the howler hopper.”

“You’re quite good at this, Emerald.” I took her hand, and we went into the thick forest.

The suns’ light was filtered, and it was dim in many places. A large outcropping of rocks stood out in part of the forest, and we went to see if there might be a shelter in them.

I hesitated at the opening. “It seems to be a cave.” I took out my light source, and we moved forward into the cave.

It seemed to go on forever. We walked through one giant cavern after the other until we smelled something burning. “Caleb,” Emerald whispered. “There’s someone in here. Do you think it’s the others?”

With a shrug, I said, “Let’s find out.”

We crept along, staying close to the sides to stay hidden. I held out my arm, stopping Emerald from moving ahead. I pointed, and there, by a small fire, there was something with long hair.

It sniffed the air and looked back at us. Then it shrieked, stood up and started running toward us. I quickly moved Emerald behind me and took the paralyzing stick out of my pocket.

“Stop! We mean you no harm!” I shouted.

The long haired thing just kept running toward us. It let out a growl and slowed down as it saw that the tip of the stick I held, began to glow. It stopped altogether, let out a shriek and then turned the other way and ran.

“Come on. That’s a human,” I said as I grabbed Emerald by the hand and started running after the thing.

“Are you sure?” Emerald asked. “It didn’t sound human.”

The thing let out another shriek as it left the cave through a different opening than the one we’d come in. Our feet pounded the forest floor as we ran.

We could see much better now. That thing was tall, and the hair was in ratty, light brown waves to its waist. A tattered, dirty dress-like thing covered its body, and no shoes were on its dirty feet.

Then just ahead of where it was running Jared, Zin, and Zan came through the forest, igniting another harsh growl and shriek from the thing.

The men got in front of it to stop it, and all three took out their paralyzing sticks. I already had mine out, and Emerald got hers out as well. We had it surrounded as we moved to form a circle around the thing.

It stopped. Hair covered its face as it turned to find it was trapped. Then it fell to the ground and moved its body into a ball.

Emerald moved forward. “We don’t want to hurt you. Are you a man or a woman?”

It looked up and pushed the hair away from its face, revealing a male face covered with a thick, light brown beard. “I am a man.”

The rest of us came forward, and I asked. “How did you get here?”

Jared added, “Where are you from?”

Zin asked, “What’s your name?”

Then Zan said, “You guys need to let him answer one question at a time.” He held his hand out to the man. “Come, stand up. We can help you if you want help.”

The man took Zan’s hand and got up. “My name is Xavultan. Euthenia was my home. I cannot go back otherwise, my brother will kill me. It was he who put me here after I made him believe I killed his wife.”

Jaws dropped as I asked, “Is your brother Hexultan?”

The man nodded. “My brother is the King of Euthenia. And I am stuck here as I can never go back to that planet or he will surely take my life.”

“It was you who hid the Queen.” Zan smiled. “You can go back. You’re a hero.”

The man shook his head. “I am no hero. I merely couldn’t kill her. A real hero would have done so much more than hide her. He would’ve stood up to his older brother and told the planet what he wanted him to do. Instead, I hid the Queen. A coward is what I am.”

I shook my head. “You are no coward. A coward would’ve killed her. Come with us. We have some clothes you can put on and a pair of boots as well.”

After exchanging introductions, we started making our way back to the ship as Xavultan told us about the planet that had been his home for years. “There is no moon and the nights are awful here.”

I asked. “What about animals? Are there any that would make it hard to live here?”

“I’ve seen one giant thing. Tall as the palace, yet it’s a stealthy predator. It hides in the tall forests and then plucks the birds from the sky and eats them whole. I have no idea if it would be a threat to men or not,” he told us.

“How many have you seen?” Emerald asked as she stepped over a puddle of red liquid.

Xavultan gestured to the puddle. “You can light that liquid, and it will take many hours to burn.”

I took a picture of it and labeled it, firewater. “That could be useful. Xavultan, what would you say to being the top authority for the exploration and colonization of this planet?”

With a chuckle, he said, “I see none better than me for that job. And as for more than one of the giant animals, I have only ever seen this one. I call him the snake, as he reaches out with his long arms just like a snake does to strike.”

All the way back to the ship he told us about the planet and with his knowledge we were able to make our trip shorter than planned.

As we got to the ship, I said, “In light of finding this man and the expert on this planet, I say we head back to Euthenia, so this man can get cleaned up and sleep in a soft bed after all this time.”

Everyone agreed, especially Xavultan.

I wondered how the Queen would take this surprise…