It seemed to take forever. Jack had some experience in desert areas and was aware of how it all worked in this kind of terrain. You could always see the bad guys long before they actually reached the range of your weapons. That made Jack realize another major problem with their defenses. Pete had drawn it up for soldiers. These people were not. Suddenly Jack began sweating. Fire control in what might come down to a fight could be a real problem. They slid by the first time but, on that occasion there were not so many aliens out there.

"Hey Jack," said Pete. He had not stopped using his binoculars. Even when climbing down off of the shuttle he still watched the approaching group. "Got two more guys on horse back. Same kind of clothing as the black shirt."

Dee's head popped up out of a hole, "Horses?"

Harry’s head popped out of a hole. After that the revelation quickly ran down the line. Jack waved for them all to get back down. The riders were closing. Pete had made out twenty-seven of them. Three of these, in the advance party, were wearing what looked very much like a uniform. Their shirts were really double-breasted black jacket of sorts and embroidered in gold. The pants were actually a light gray with a black stripe down the seams. They all had high fitting leather boots. The only differences in their apparel were the insignia plates on the front of their head gear which turned out to be some kind of leather helmet. The gold they had seen at a distance must have been from those insignia plates.

Jack left his weapon with Pete and made it loud and clear that he was to stay put. "Pete, if those aren't military types, you can kiss my ass."

"For my sake I hope they are."

Leaving the dull humor behind, Jack walked out to greet the approaching Moemen. He did not have long to wait for a reaction to his move. A tall thin man, one of the "soldiers," got off his horse. This guy had a lean face and a long graying mustache. His face showed a bit of confusion or, at least, it looked that way to Jack. This was probably a good thing since it would put them on an even footing. Actually, if the Moeman was confused then Jack was probably better described as being shocked. This was not a Moeman like the first two they had encountered. This man, in the black shirt, looked completely human! He could just walk right down any street back home and no one would give him a second glance!

The man walked up to Jack first. He said nothing. His eyes displayed a sharp, hawkish, stare. There was definitely a lot going on behind them. The guy did not seem to miss anything. He seemed to not feel the need for permission to walk right past Jack and into the defensive perimeter. It was very obvious that he was taking careful note of the crew, their weapons, clothing, and gear. He even seemed somewhat perplexed by the tents. Oddly enough, he did not appear to give the broken up shuttle more than a glance.

He walked back down to Jack. He looked back to his men. He said something, that sounded like so much gibberish, to one of the Neanderthal looking Moemen. The Neanderthal guy pulled his hood back. He placed his hands behind his ears and wiggled his fingers. This brought a round of laughter from the Neanderthals who were close by. Jack wasn't sure but it was possible this was the same Moeman that had visited them several days ago. It seemed almost politically incorrect but Jack could not really tell them apart.

This display and laughter only got a growl of disgust from the alien standing next to Jack. The man looked Jack over from head to toe, again. He stroked his mustache and looked some more. His eyes were a piercing dark blue that seemingly had the ability to penetrate your soul. No matter how many shivers it gave Jack he still stood his ground.

The man finally addressed Jack directly, "Dot... Ithan..."

"Uh," Jack couldn't even guess, "Colonel Francis John Kelly, United States Marine Corps."

It was obvious that this man had no more understanding than Jack. He just bowed his head slightly, "Ulamijozetan."

Jack nodded back, "Nice to meet you uh... sir."

The man was obviously as frustrated as Jack with the communications problem. He walked back to his horse and seemed to confer with his other black shirt friends. The others, apparently, were just as short of answers. At least that was the way it looked to Jack at the moment. He could see himself in a similar situation with the roles reversed. What would he be saying to his men? It would probably be something along the lines of, "What the fuck do we do now?"

The man walked back up to Jack. He let out a long-winded statement. Jack shrugged and the man went back to stroking his mustache. Finally he started a game of charades. He pointed to his men and then to the cloud of dust behind them. He pointed to Jack's tents and then to his own group. He started acting like he was planting something or maybe working a shovel? He put his hands over his head at an angle. In final frustration he pointed back to his group and then down at the dirt.

"Smile Jack," Vitosk had slipped up behind him.

"What?"

"I said smile. If anything we have established that is either a friendly gesture here or a recognition of bad taste."

"Huh," then Jack caught on. The Moeman from the other day had laughed at Saiid and his Vulcan ears. "Yeah but what is he trying to say?"

"For some reason I don't gather that this man is normally accustomed to making an idiot out of himself. I think he's trying to tell us he wants to camp here next to us."

It made some sense. Jack thought about the gestures he had witnessed. He could see the actions as putting up a tent. Jack tried some charades of his own. He pointed to the man, then to the spot. Jack topped it off with a smile. That brought a returned smile and the man went back to his comrades. The next thing he did was no secret to Jack. The man was obviously issuing orders. When he was finished several of his comrades, including one of his "human" looking black shirts, rode back to the cloud of dust off in the distance.

"What do you suppose they want?" asked the Russian.

"I think we are going to find out. Tell everybody they can stand down Yurgani. All weapons stay on at all times though. Move our more sensitive gear back inside the shuttle and put a guard on it."

It sounded like a reasonable precaution to Yurgani. If in charge, he would do the same. With one little addition of course, "Jack, I strongly suggest that we, at least to begin with, minimize the contact between our people and theirs. We might not want to break some little taboo."

"Agreed," Jack started walking back to his own camp, "Stand down everybody. We're having some guests for dinner, tonight, it looks like."

The dust cloud had been a rather large one. The numbers that produced it did not seem as great as Jack would have first thought. He sat atop the shuttle and watched them set up camp. He was happy to see that his native counterpart seemed to have some compatible ideas. This guys people, most of whom seemed to be what Harry was now calling Neanderthal Moe Wu Sapiens, were staying clear of Jacks well-marked perimeter. That was with the exception of one.

She was one of the normal looking humans. She was the first female that Jack had ever seen on this world. Harry was calling the normal looking ones Homo Moe Wu Sapiens. If her looks were not that distinguishable at this distance then her clothing gave her away. The Neanderthal looking Moe’s dressed differently from their more normal looking counterparts. This girl wore a simple long dress and a bonnet of sorts for head gear. Some of her hair fell down behind the bonnet and it was a deep dark jet black. She just stood there watching the Earth camp, much the same as Jack was looking at the alien.

Dee climbed up and sat down next to Jack. The sun, Alpha Centauri, was starting to fall below the horizon and the temperature was about to make its nightly thirty-degree fall. Dee tossed Jack his green flight jacket. "Thought you might be getting cold."

Tossing it aside, Jack never stopped looking at their new neighbors. "What do you make of all this Dee?"

"What is there to say? I'm stunned. I mean just finding some form of hominid was incredible. Now we've seen people who are obviously human and then horses too? It must be... that the evolutionary pattern on every world is close to the same. Who would have ever believed that? You know the folks back home are going to freak."

"Yeah," said Jack in a rare thoughtful mood, "kind of knocks us out of our special place in the universe, don't it?"

"Did you see their big pack animals Jack? Those things over there."

"How could I miss 'em. They would solve a lot of our problems wouldn't they?”

Dee strained her eyes studying them. "I swear to god Jack. Those look almost like Wooly Mammoths. I mean we know what they look like because we've found dead frozen ones back home."

"Oh really?" replied Jack. "I thought they more favored those things in... what was that movie with Luke Solo in it?"

"Never saw it."

"Jesus Dee, didn't you ever watch TV when you were a kid? I saw those movies in the theater. I was a little kid and my Dad took me to see them. Empire Goes On Strike? No that wasn't it.”

“Well, anyway you know they had all the laser blasts and flying broomstick chases and space fighter duels. They even had a desert planet. I thought it was the neatest thing ever. Now, looking at this, it's kind of dull in comparison. I mean these guys don't have dueling flashlights and stuff but, to just be here looking at them... Well I can‘t think of any words to describe it."

"I know," replied Dee. "Jack... I'm sorry for not telling you about all of this. I told you why and I'm not getting into it again. It's just, you know, until you hit the ground. I mean my whole world has been books Jack. So many things I never understood before now. I logically could make sense of... I... I just didn't see things the way I do now."

Jack held up his hand, "I understand what you're saying Dee."

His hand came down to rest on her leg. He didn't know why he did that. He probably would have done it to any guy as a simple gesture. She was no guy and she did not complain. She just sat there looking into his eyes.

He told her, "I'm going to need you in the days to come. So I'm going to forget about our past. Go on with our future, OK?"

Dee slid a little closer to him. She laid her head on his shoulder. Jack went ahead and put his arm around her. Again there was no protest. Dee simply made herself more comfortable. "This is incredible Jack. I just have one question for you now."

"Which is?"

"When are going to kiss me?"

He looked at her from an angle, "You sure you want me to?"

She reached up and pulled his face close to hers. He kissed her for only a moment. They said nothing after that. They both just sat there and watched the camp next door, which, was now almost completed. Jack noticed that his watcher friend was gone now. Maybe it was for the best. To say Jack's life was an open book was an understatement. His "autobiography," a ghost written account, of his war and NASA days could be picked up by anyone back on Earth. No doubt Dee had read it, or been briefed on it by her corporate types, before they left. She had the upper hand on him there. He had not even known her ex husband was aboard until they were almost here. He knew almost nothing about her.

Despite Jacks most basic instincts he still liked her. She was withdrawn and kept to herself. Probably would make an ideal wife for somebody one day. Jack was not going to go through all of that again. No matter what happened. If most people could say their marriage devolved into a war then Jack could claim it literally. His wife had chosen the other side. They both lived through it. They had both tried to make it work, after the shooting stopped but, too much water had passed under the bridge by that point.

Thankfully Jack could think about other things now, "Looks like we got company coming."

Her head rose from his shoulder. Dee looked down at the new camp. The tall, slim, leader was on his way over with two other black shirts. "Think you should go down and meet with him?"

"You read my mind. Come on lets go."

"He's being polite," remarked Vitosk who was waiting, for Jack, with Pete, by the southwest hole.

Everyone quickly began to gather around. Jack instructed the Sergeant Major to scatter everybody back amongst the tents. No one went very far though. They only went back far enough to minimize their presence but, none of the crew was about to miss this. That left Jack, Vitosk, Pete, and Dee standing by the hole and trying to figure out their next move. Their visitor waited patiently on horseback not to far away.

Jack put the first question on the floor, "What do we do now?"

Pete answered, "Find out if we can trade something for a few of those pack elephant things of theirs. See if we can get us some more water too."

Dee injected, "No, we need to see if one of them will let us examine them. I mean they look Human but are they? We have to know this stuff."

Vitosk shook his head, and rubbed his eyes, "I was thinking that the first course of action might be to see what the man wants. Maybe even invite him in for some of our,” the Russians voice turned sarcastic, “delicious food."

"No," replied Jack, "Lets not start a war yet. Seeing what he wants is good enough for now."

"Jack," said Pete as his boss began walking towards the visitors, "be careful man. We don't want to offend them and not know why."

Stopping, Jack looked back to his people, "Pete, I'm just going to act natural, be polite, and talk or whatever with the guy. If I'm going to be damned, it'll be for who I am, and not for what I think he wants me to be."

Somehow Jack kind of got the impression that his counterpart was following a similar policy. There was a light behind those eyes of his. The man had to have realized that they were strangers in these parts. On that level the two seemed to communicate well. Jack only wished that the conversations could be a bit more complex. There was so much that he was dying to ask this man.

Once again the black shirt fellow nodded. Maybe it was the custom with these people. Maybe, like Jack, he was being cautious. It seemed to Jack that it was the latter. If indeed this man was military, as Jack suspected, then odds were they thought of their environments in a similar way.

Jack nodded back. The man got quickly down to business after that. He snapped his finger and one of the men standing behind him brought forth a satchel. The Leader took it and then reached inside. What he took out looked like some kind of fruit. Its skin was a brownish red color. It had dark circular discolorations, running in bands, from top to bottom. It was not particularly pleasing to the eye. The most interesting feature, to Jack at least, was that it had stems on both the top and bottom. The leader handed it to Jack who then sniffed at it. His counterpart produced another one and wiped it on his sleeve. He took a bite after that and chewed. He gave a satisfied nod to Jack and apparently this was some invitation to join him.

Replicating the process down to the last detail Jack then took a bite himself. He took a small one to start with. He was pleasantly surprised. As ugly as this thing was it tasted divine if for no other reason than Jack had been living off dehydrated rations for the last few weeks.

Even back on the ship most of what they ate had been powdered crap. The few fresh vegetables and fruits that came out of Julia's greenhouse had been only good because of its competition. There was never enough of it either. At best it had only aided in warding off the old sailors curse of scurvy, but nothing more.

Jack took another bite. This time he nibbled off a piece near one of the ends. It was a lot sweeter than in the middle. Jack was genuinely impressed and now the desires of his taste buds overrode simple curiosity. The slender man in front of Jack smiled at the reaction he saw.

Jack held the fruit up at eye level, "good!"

The slender man kept smiling, "rutzelina."

Jack smiled some more and this time took a good-sized bite. He pointed to the man and repeated as best he could, "rutzelina."

One of the two "soldiers" behind the man suddenly developed a red face. It was like he had become angry. The man next to him started to snicker. He managed to catch himself before that turned to full blown laughter. Their leader seemed to be agonizing over which one to scold first. In the end he ignored them both. Looking to Jack he pointed to the fruit in his hand, "zelina."

Vitosk slapped his forehead, "dear lord."

Dee still didn't understand, "What! What's just happened?"

"Unless I have missed my guess," said the Russian, "Jack just called the man a fruit."

There was a session of hand waving, more charades, and this time drawing in the dirt. Finally Jack came trotting back up the hill with a somewhat smug look on his face. "I think he just invited us to dinner."

"All of us?" asked Vitosk with a hint of concern in his voice.

"No, we counted off on our fingers. I think I told him five. Us right here, and Gary."

The last part did not get a favorable reaction from anyone. Jack put his foot down, "He's a linguist, and if you just went through what I did you'd want him too."

"Oh for Lenin’s sake Jack," said the Russian, "Barringer is a book worm. He has no field experience. Besides, I would think the lesson you should have just learned was not to get into that just yet."

Pete, being the junior officer here, had to say something good about his commander’s idea, "why not?"

"Well look at what just happened," explained Yurgani. "Look, communications is far from just verbal. I should think that our first order of business, as far as talking with these people, would be to learn their gestures. I have been noting them. Have any of you even thought about it?"

There was no response, because they had not.

Vitosk continued, "We need to make sure that our body language is compatible first. Most people don't even realize how important it is. We're so used to it that we scarcely notice how much is often said by that means. These people have no common ground as we do. They might have some that are completely different or even with radically different meanings that we don't yet understand."

Thinking back on his meeting, Jack began going over his "chat" with the leader guy down there. It seemed that it had been somewhat awkward but, many of the emotional responses and gestures looked familiar. None were that unexpected. "Yeah, good point Vitosk. We still need Gary. Body Language is fine but I need to be able to talk to these people. Fact is we’re running out of water. If we move, we'll have to ditch most of our equipment. I want to avoid that."

"Yeah," added Pete, "They have a way we could actually move a lot of our stuff."

"Not just that," responded Dee. "We have a new element here. If they have an agrarian society, and it's even similar to ours on Earth, then there isn't going to be food for the taking wherever we decide to go. Plus, whoever lives there could be belligerently territorial. I mean look at those guys down there. They aren't the Alpha Centauri Boy Scouts, that's for sure."

"Yeah," Jack summed up, "They know things we need too. Now just to figure how to get it."

For once the night was ablaze. The giant campfires of the Moemen rose high into the sky. McCandles did not even bother with his night vision goggles as he watched and listened to the revelry of the alien camp. From his vantage point on the perimeter he could see a good deal of it. The fires illuminated everything very well. The tents that these aliens used were large, colorful, and decorative. Their horde of Moe Chickens seemed to all be running free. Some of the "Vulcans" were watching them but, only loosely. The animals were constantly pecking at the desert floor and seemed more intent on eating than escaping. McCandles hoped that they ate every one of those little pesky rats.

Red came up from behind. At first the Sergeant Major dropped his weapon to the ready until he could identify his friend. Red just laughed and handed his buddy a steaming cup of coffee. McCandles sniffed it, and then took a swig, "Damn Red, where did you get this at?"

"Oh hell Mac, we got a whole fifty pound bag of this stuff up in the shuttle. You knew that."

"No," McCandles really didn't want to complain but it was his job, "I mean the water. You know what the Colonel said about..."

"I know," Red plead guilty. "It's just some of those slope heads came up here a little while ago. Saiid put his ears on for 'em. They laughed their asses off and then gave us a couple of bags of water for it. After we haggled sort of."

That was also against standing orders. McCandles was too much of an old soldier not to report it. He was also old enough to know when a rule needed to be broken. One more taste of coffee confirmed his common sense. He would of course report this but, after he finished his steaming hot caffeine. This contact was, after all, important for more reasons than one. Maybe Saiid even had a future as the first interstellar comedian?

"Haggled huh? What did they try to give you to start with Red?"

Red's eyes bulged out, "Would you believe those guys wanted to give us some gold coins even! They had writing on it and everything."

That might be important as well. It was not the worry at the moment anyway. The water was plenty fine for a trade since McCandles had missed his coffee. The real issue here was the immediate concern of how the slope heads had gotten that close without him finding out.

"Red, take over here will you. I'm going to check the perimeter. Make sure everybody's all right."

Red started on his own coffee and assumed the post. What were friends for? He came up here to give the guy some coffee and got rewarded by pulling McCandles’ watch. Red moaned and sat down on the ground. At least the camp in front of him was fascinating. He watched, and wondered, how his comrades down there were making out at their dinner party.

There had been some confusion to begin with and it all seemed to revolve around Dee. Jack should have noticed when they entered big tent and began pulling up pillows in a circle. The leader guy, that Jack had been dealing with up till now, was sitting with several of his fellow black shirt gentlemen off to one side. They looked rather disturbed by Dee, however the "leader" himself quelled any outburst before it got started. Jack would have sworn that they were insulted.

The large tent flap on the opposite side was opened shortly after they arrived. All but Leader rose as a short Neanderthal lead a small procession of his comrades in. This Neanderthal did not wear robes that were as shabby as his kinsmen. Instead his were of an offbeat white and laced with gold trim. He never wore his hood which his fellow peculiar brand of Moe's seemed to have on all of the time.

"Short Shot," the name that Pete dubbed the Neanderthal, sat in a chair. His was the only one in the tent. Vitosk saw a comparison as the chair being the “head of the table.” Not that there was any table or much of any furniture at all. It was just a big open space with a rug situated in the middle of the pillows.

Short Shot quickly noticed Dee and had something to say about it. He pointed at her while talking with the Leader. Gary listened with intense interest. He was like a kid on Christmas morn, "Two different languages. Can you hear it? They're talking in two different languages!"

Dee was less enthusiastic, "Yeah, and all that babble is obviously about me.” She sucked up closer to Jack and gripped his arm with an iron vice. “Jack?"

Her free hand slipped over and squeezed his knuckles tight. Jack almost wanted to pull back from the pain. He could sympathize though. After all, Jack had the pleasure of vicariously feeling anything that his people experienced. Oh Joy.

Vitosk leaned over and whispered, "Maybe she should leave and go back to camp."

"No," replied Jack. He had made up his mind that he would stick to his guns, "for who we are, remember?"

"Oh bloody hell, Jack, you don't have to an insult the man," Vitosk grumbled but, mostly to himself.

The disagreement between Short Shot and Leader continued for a little while longer. When it was over, somehow, Jack got the impression that Leader had won his debate. Short Shot looked a bit distressed but he got on with the evening. He clapped his hands and several veiled women came in from various other entrances to the tent. They each had large plates of food.

Pete took careful notice of the women. They were hairier than his taste cared for. They were wearing body veils that were as white as satin and partially see through. When one sat a plate of food down close to Pete he got a good look at her face. She was one of the Neanderthal brands of Moeman with the big, pointed, ears and all. It went a long way towards explaining the hair, and, to some extent, the smell. None of them were pleasing to the nose at close range, as Pete discovered to his dismay.

The food was far less exotic than one might have imagined. The main course turned out to be one of the Moe Chickens. Vitosk took a big slab. He was sure it had been cooked well done over a spit. He had seen them preparing it on the way in.

There were a few other side courses including something that resembled a boiled potato but it had a sweet smell. There were fruit of all kinds and they looked very tempting to the weary star travelers. They all waited, anyway, to see who would go first.

Vitosk reached down and tore a piece of meat from his slab. He noticed that not only his own people were watching him but, the black shirts as well. He took a tiny bite and then chewed. The next time he took an even larger bite signaling that the test was over.

Pete watched with great curiosity. "Well, now it's time to test Harry's theory. It tastes like Chicken, right?"

"No," replied Vitosk while licking his fingers, "I would say steak. It seems to be red meat."

The fruits were all saltier than expected. The meat did indeed taste like a good T-bone. The potato thing tasted sweeter than expected but, Jack reckoned that butter and sour cream would have gone well enough with it. All of it was far better than what his body had grown accustomed to over the last few years. As he ate his pleasure was visible and the black shirt leader seemed to be happy with this.

It was obvious that all parties here were watching each other very closely. Now it was clear that there were three groups and not just two. Short Shot and his people never quite took with the idea of Dee being there. They never once looked in her direction but, at least they tolerated it. Leader's men handled it differently. While they did not seem pleased that she was eating with them their reaction was decidedly different from that of the Neanderthals in that they constantly looked at her with fascination.

Dee hated having so many eyes on her at once. "I guess these guys never heard of women's lib. I know they have some with them. We saw them earlier, remember Jack?"

"Yeah I do. Right now what I hope he's heard of is maps. Pete let's see how far we can get. Pull 'em out."

They rolled out several of the maps that had been made from the OK probes. Jack started with the world map of this planet which basically showed the single continent. Leader was quickly taken with it once he saw it. He ran his fingers over it as if it were a woman he loved. The colors and the detail seemed to astound him and he made obvious signs of his pleasure at the quality. Then he snapped his finger and soon one of his men brought a leather bound case. Leader rolled it out next to Jacks map.

It was the same continent only it appeared to be hand drawn and lacked many details. There were no lines or curves indicating elevations. There was not much in the way of details about anything. It was mostly just pictures giving certain land marks. What it did have, that sparked some interest, was the coast lines of this world drawn out very accurately. It was in stark contrast to the generalized nature of the plotted points of the interior.

Jack made a gesture to Leader. He pointed at the man and then pointed at the map. Leader caught on to the question quickly. Apparently it was the exact same question he had in mind. He pointed at himself and then put his finger right down on the map.

Vitosk put his spectacles on, "It's the hilly region to the southwest of here. Just over these large mountains. You know the ones that border this desert."

Jack pointed to the grassy plain to their south. That was the one he had always planned on moving his people into. He made his fingers walk across the map from where their location was and to that plain. Leader only shook his head and pointed back to his area. He then pointed to the plain, "Ithan! Rushtatook. Ithan!"

"He must not like this Ithan guy," remarked Pete.

"Shut up Pete," said Jack. He pointed right next to Leader's finger. Leader picked up on it and then pointed to himself, "Zeat."

"They call themselves Zeat's," replied Gary.

"SHJA-ET," replied Leader. This time he said it slowly and concentrated on each individual syllable. The Earth travelers tried to copy him but in the end only massacred the name over and over.

Seeing as how that led nowhere the Leader put the same question to Jack. It was the one that Jack had been expecting for a while. Jack had wondered how he was going to handle the question when it came up. He decided he would stick to his policy. He would tell this man the truth as best he could. Leader pointed to Jack, and then to the map. He made circles over the map instead of pointing to any one region.

Jack stood. He motioned for Leader to follow him outside the tent. They both indicated to their people to stay put. Jack stopped and looked up to the night sky. There was Sol burning brightly near the northern horizon. Jack pointed to himself and then at his home star. At first Leader did not look up at what Jack was pointing too. It took a couple of exaggerated points to get the message across.

Jack had been seriously wondering how Leader was going to take this news. Jack had never dreamed that the man would react in the way that he did. Leader became somewhat withdrawn. He rubbed at his chin and appeared to be in deep thought. Finally the man pointed, first at Jack, and then to the star filled night.

Jack smiled at him, "Yes, by George, I think he's got it."

Leader never did smile. He was certainly not hostile. It seemed as if the man was not sure exactly what to think. Jack might have understood, even sympathized, had there not been something else there. Why was it that Jack got the impression that he had just laid some serious weight on this man’s shoulders? That gave Jack some of his own to worry about.