I looked at the human, finding myself being hypnotized by her beautiful eyes. She was trembling with fear and I did my best to comfort her.

“Don’t worry, they won’t find us,” I said.

“I’m going to be considered a traitor now. More than likely, there will be a swift trial and executed when I get back to Earth,” Jessie said as drops of water began to form in her eyes. I wondered why Earthlings only had water come from their eyes when they were sad. It seemed so strange to me.

“Then don’t go back with them,” I said, knowing that it would be difficult if not impossible for her to survive long term on Karkast.

"You know as well as I do that I can't breathe the air in this atmosphere,” she said.

“I can create a temporary oxygen bubble for you. Let me show you,” I said as I got up from where I sat next to her. I closed my eyes and focused my energy on expelling all of the excess oxygen from my pores. Once I opened my eyes and sniffed the air, I knew it was safe.

“Go on and remove your safety helmet,” I said.

Jessie looked slightly skeptical, but removed the helmet and took a deep breath.

“Wow, that’s amazing! How long does it last?”

"Only for a few minutes, I'm afraid. We can't sustain it for long periods of time without risking oxygen deprivation of our own bodies," I said. I took a moment to admire the beauty of this Earth creature and found myself desiring to see the rest of her. Her hair, her eyes, and her pale skin captivated me and I couldn't remember ever meeting a creature that I felt this attracted to. I could tell by the way she looked at me that she felt much the same way as I did.

“I just want to say that I’m sorry that my fellow Earthlings are unenlightened. It doesn’t take much for them to believe that an entire race of people is bad because of the actions of a few,” she said.

“Karkastians are no better. Most of them think that humans are vile, primitive and destructive beings that are only out to serve themselves,” I said.

“Well truth be told, many of them are,” she said.

I found myself engaging in what the humans called laughter and Jessie was amazed as she watched me.

“You laughed Yahn! How did it feel?”

“It feels quite wonderful actually. I want to experience that as much as possible!” I said.

“I’m starting to get hungry,” Jessie said as she removed her pack and began to look for food. There was one tiny section of the rectangular meal pouch that she had left. She referred to it as ‘rations’. It neither smelled nor tasted appetizing in the least.

“I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I will transform into mist and see if I can obtain us some more food. You wait here and I will be back as quickly as I can.”

“No Yahn, please don’t leave me!” she said, clutching my hand. I felt something that I had never felt before when she touched me- like a jolt of electricity.

“I won’t be gone long, trust me. If someone comes in, you will see them long before they see you and you can blast them with your laser cannon.”

“Please hurry back!” she said.

I can’t wait to get back to you, I thought as I turned to leave the cave. I tried to sort through the strange feelings that I had begun to feel towards this Earth creature. I could just imagine what my mother would say if she were still alive.

I transformed into mist and made my way to the Earthling’s ship. Several of them were gathered around eating rations and taking about Jessie.

“I just can’t believe that she would do such a thing,” One of the males said.

“Well when I find her I can tell you it’s going to take all of the restraint I can muster not to kill her!” the one called James said, clutching his wrapped up hand.

“You leave it to the authorities to punish her. If you take the law into your own hands, they will punish you almost as harshly as they will her. Is that understood Private Perry?” their captain said.

"Yes, sir."

“Now, after lunch, we are going to resume our patrols. I want Private Hampton brought back to me as soon as possible. Then she will have to face a court-martial and will likely be imprisoned.”

“Yes sir,” they all said in unison. I waited until they all dispersed in various directions. I made my way to the ship and got all of the rations that I could carry. Just as I began to exit the ship, the only female Earthling came walking in my direction. I panicked and began to transform again.

“No, it’s ok, you don’t have to be afraid of me,” she said. “My name is Wendy. I’m a friend of Jessie’s,” she said. I stopped my transformation and gave her a curious glance.

“You aren’t going to try and capture me?” I asked.

“You’re the one that Jessie helped out are you not?”

“I am,” I answered.

“Is she ok? Is she safe?”

“Yes, she is in a safe hiding place. I just came here to get us some supplies. I’m about to go back to her now.”

“What is she going to do now?”

"I don't know, but I will not let them capture her. They obviously mean to cause her harm."

“They are going to take her back to Earth and more than likely she will be trialed as a traitor and put to death.”

“I will not let that happen!” I insisted.

“Thank you for protecting her.”

“What does ‘thank you’ mean?” I asked. I had never heard such a phrase before.

“It’s something we say to show gratitude,” Wendy said.

“I see, well thank you for not trying to capture me or tell the others,” I said.

“You’re welcome. You had better get out of here before one of the others spots you. What are you going to do?”

"I'm not sure. We could remain in hiding until your team leaves, but Jessie will not be able to survive long term on this planet because of the lack of oxygen. You poor humans cannot generate it the way that we can.

“Well, tell Jessie that I’m thinking of her.”

“I will,” I said and then I ran off in the direction of the crater, carrying the rations. I soon realized that there were a couple of humans from the expedition team off to the north that had spotted me. One of them pointed in my direction and gestured for the others to follow him. I vanished into the crater as quickly as I could and ran through the passage to get to Jessie.

As soon as I got back into the chamber we had been hiding in, I called out to her.

“Quickly, we have to get out of here. I’ve been spotted. There’s a crew of humans to the north headed in this direction.”

"Oh no. Were any of them stationed on the ship?" she asked.

"They were, but they split off to carry out their patrols. I did talk briefly with your friend, the one that calls herself Wendy. She wishes you well," he said.

“So only Wendy was there. That’s good. Here’s what we need to do if you are willing to leave with me. We need to head to the main ship and escape from the planet using one of the escape pods,” she said.

I knew there wasn’t much time to think about it; but I was hesitant to leave Karkast, the only home I ever knew. On the other hand, there wasn’t much left for me here now that all of my loved ones had been incinerated. I realized in that moment that this female human that I had known only for a short time, was the only thing that I cared about.

“Come on, let’s get you out of here and back to your ship,” I said, still pondering my decision.

As soon as we got out of the crater, the patrol was only a hundred yards away. They spotted us as soon as we took off across the rocky plains.

“Come on, they are gaining on us. We have to get to the ship as quickly as we can!” Jessie yelled.

“Don’t worry, we are going to make it!” I said as the ship came into view. Luckily all of the other crews were still out on their patrols or else our escape would be impossible.

As soon as we got to the loading platform, Jessie typed in the identification code and a ramp lowered down from the bottom of the ship. The humans that were pursuing us were now only a short distance away.

“Where are the escape pods?” I asked as I followed Jessie.

“This way, towards the back of the ship. All we have to do is strap ourselves in and program it for launch,” she said. “So, have you decided what you’re going to do? If you stay here they will either capture you or kill you. Once you are captured, you will be taken back to Earth where you will probably be imprisoned or killed,” she said.

“Well my options don’t sound too appealing, so I guess I’m coming with you,” I said. We made our way to the back of the ship at the same time that the human crew began to board it. We could hear their voices:

“They got on board the ship, Captain, I saw them!” A familiar voice said. I realized it was the one called James; the one Jessie had shot on my behalf.

“They are making for the escape pods. We must not let them activate one!” the captain said.

“Quickly!” I said as Jessie tried to remember the activation code.

“Hmm, let’s see. Oh yes, it’s the captain’s birthday- zero, six, five, fourteen…” A round, metal door came open and Jessie pulled me by the hand into the escape pod. It was small and round with only enough room for six beings to sit. Jessie pressed the controls on the main control board and the pod door shut just as the Captain and James came into view.

“Open this pod door now, Jessie!” The captain shouted.

“No!” Jessie said and she continued to type commands into the main control board.

“What are you doing? Shouldn’t we be taking off?” I asked.

"It takes a minute for the pod to power its boosters. I'm typing in an override code so that the captain can't gain access," she said.

The captain was furiously typing away at the control panel outside of the pod, but the door refused to open.

"Damn, she's typed in the override code. Now we can't get inside," the captain said. "Listen, Jessie, you are only making things harder for yourself. You know as well as I do that this pod is programmed to return to Earth. If you return there, you will be arrested and your Karkastian friend will more than likely be eliminated."

“I’ll take my chances!” Jessie said. It only took a second for the power boosters to charge.

"Strap yourself in, we're ready for takeoff!" Jessie said.