"It's a stupid song. In addition to that it gets on my nerves," scowled Vitosk as he played with the transmitter.

Pete was kneeling next to his horse that was lazily chewing on the tall grass. "I wouldn't expect a Russian to understand the cowboy spirit. It's an American thing, you know?"

Vitosk put the constant source of his troubles down and looked over to the Marine, "For one thing, there are no Antelope in North America. For another, why would you want to be given a home where creatures like that shit all of the time? You Americans have every comfort in the world and yet you long for the nostalgia of something that you did your best to leave behind."

With a stalk of grass hanging out of his mouth, Pete just took in what the Russian had to say with a grain of salt. This big open country, with it’s infinite seas of tall grass, dotted with sporadic islands of clean cool water, and huge open skies of blue, was like a dream come true to Pete. This place could be used very easily for a location of a western film.

They had been cooped up aboard the USS Hermes for too long. After that they were stranded in that bleak and cold desert for months. Pete found that he really liked this change of pace and how could anyone blame him? He liked riding it, sleeping in the open, cooking over a fire, and all of that with a big colt .45 strapped to his side. What more could an American ask for?

There was one thing. "Just fix the radio. Have you even figured out what's wrong with it yet?"

"Yes I have," Vitosk sighed, "and it's something I can't fix."

Pete stood up, "I thought you said it all checked out ok?"

"It did," replied Vitosk standing to meet him, "there is nothing wrong with the radio. Maybe, the next time your beloved capitalist system mounts an extra solar expedition your efficient capitalist contractors will not buy Croatian Army, surplus, batteries for their satellite uplinks!"

Pete scratched his head, "No wonder I couldn't read the writing on those damn things. I thought it was acid eating through."

Vitosk tossed the useless block of acid aside, "Well I don't think it's all that funny."

Neither did Pete, but he was still having a great time out here on his own. Unfortunately all of that was coming to an end. Joey came riding towards them on his galloping mount. His excitement was obvious even as he crossed the distant rise. This could only mean what Pete already knew from the maps. They were getting close to this city they had been looking for.

The kid was already trying to get the words out when his horse slid to a stop, "Less than a mile that way Pete! You can see it from that rise over yonder."

Vitosk began packing up the radio. If he could somehow find or make a power source it would work again. "Yonder? What kind of word is that exactly?"

Joey steadied his horse, "Texan, what else would I talk?"

The three riders stopped at the next set of ridges. Both Vitosk and Pete were gripped in a trance by what lay before them. They grabbed for binoculars, with a gusto, and began systematically picking out details. The city had a wall but it was easily apparent that it had long since outgrown it. Nearly a third of the city sat outside of it. As the buildings started to thin, the fields of crops began to take their place and then stretch out for miles in every direction. There was a very elaborate irrigation system down there as well.

"No skyscrapers," remarked Pete. It was not that he had really expected to see any but, at this point, nothing would have surprised him. The one detail about this place that did leave him guessing was, "I wonder what that haze is. It's just hanging there over the city." Pete chuckled, “you’d think these guys never heard of the EPA.”

"Fires," answered Vitosk. "I don't see any electric poles so it would be a safe bet that fire is still how they cook, stay warm, and see with."

Pete spied something else down there and it looked very much out of place. He pointed it out to Vitosk, "What's that?"

For the moment Vitosk was still busy noticing other details. The individual buildings seemed to be mostly made of some kind of adobe, or mud brick. When it rained, the roofs probably leaked horribly given their apparent condition. There were also quite a few made of thatch as well.

There were a few, tall, brick, smoke stacks rising up on the far side of the city. Vitosk was guessing that it was some kind of industrial complex. Other than that it looked as if there were no structures of any sort that Vitosk would call “modern.”

When Vitosk finally trained his binoculars towards what Pete had gotten all excited about he found it just as extraordinary as the Marine had. From this distance it was nothing more than a straight line that ran from one horizon, right through the outskirts of the city, on the far side, and then continued on until vanishing on the other.

"Do you see it Vitosk?"

"You mean that set of tracks?"

"Tracks?" asked Joey.

"It looks like a railroad to me," said Vitosk.

"Can't be!” Pete was still stunned by the first city he had seen in years. Now he had found an alien railroad too? “And if those smoke stacks over there don‘t go to some kind of factory you can kiss my ass."

Vitosk put his binoculars down, "I think it's time we go take a closer look."

_____________________

The size of the caravan that left behind the wrecked shuttle, just over a month before, was now a shadow of it’s former self. The party had shrunk to something that seemed less of a caravan and more of an oversized camping trip. The biggest subtraction had been the departure of the Assur.

For some reason, and one that Jack could only guess at, halfway into the "Jumani," they turned around and left. Lang seemed to be all right with this so Jack said nothing about it. That, unfortunately, was becoming all to routine in his relations with Lang. Something would happen and Jack would look to see if Lang was disturbed by it. If Lang was upset then Jack was upset. It worked but the system left a lot to be desired.

The more heart wrenching pain came from the fact that Jack was standing in the midst of only seven others. His group of Earthling explorers had grown smaller just like the caravan they traveled with. His three lost sheep had yet to report in. There had been no word from Pete and his group. While that could be for any reason, at all, Jack could not help but fear the worst. He never liked them leaving in the first place but, there had been no real way to stop them.

A part of Jack wanted to be right there with them. Julia was missing and he had to do something about that. Letting Pete go after her seemed to be about the only chance they had of finding her again. Even if the odds were poor it was better than nothing.

With the deaths and departures there was one unwanted arrival. It was not that the Dark Haired Girl was exactly new to the caravan but, when this trip had started out she had been far less noticeable. Now with the Zeat group reduced down too just Lang, five of his soldiers, and about a bakers dozen worth of women and children, the girl was too noticeable. It would have been a little better had she actually stayed with her people but, she almost never left Jack's side.

After almost a month, about the time they reached the foothills, Jack finally wrangled the girl’s name. He supposed, being a bit shy after getting Lang's name wrong, that she was called Finny. She said “FEN EEE,” so that is exactly what Jack called her.

If “Finny” was not her name then she did not complain about being called that. This of course meant nothing really since she never complained about anything. You had to talk to complain and that was something she was obviously not too fond of.

What she did like was nerve racking. Jack found it hard to do things for himself anymore. Even if it was something as simple as filling his canteen from a mountain stream, or trying to fix a meal for himself, Finny would always be one step ahead of him. Sometimes she would even have these things done before Jack had even thought to do it!

This came to a head one night. Right after Lang had insisted that they set up a semi permanent residence, near a stream, Jack had decided to take the time to finally clean himself. With one of the bigger tents now set up, and everybody off doing a little impromptu exploring of the green environs that now surrounded them, Jack pulled out a wash pan and got himself ready for a well earned bath.

After wading into the little babbling creek he had unzipped his coveralls and slid them down around his waste. It was at that moment when Finny had appeared with a kettle of water that she had warmed on the campfire. Jack took that with no problem. It was a far sight better than the cold run off water of the creek.

The problem arose when Finny produced several pieces of scented cloth. It didn't take Jack long to realize what it was she was trying to do. Years of military service had all but blown Jack's modesty away but, only in front of the same sex. He almost had to fight the girl to get rid of her. In the end she had stormed off, angry, and crying. That made Jack feel like a heel. She still wasn't going to wash him though. In this case it was better she just cry.

All of this had more than just an impact on Jack. It was clear to everyone in the group that the women here were treated with little to no dignity. Slave would be the word for it. That was what everyone was calling Finny, too. At least they would behind Jack’s back. This, of course, did not keep him from getting wind of it. Jack saw the looks he was getting from everyone. At first it was just embarrassing but, after a few days of it, the entire situation just down right pissed him off.

Jack had even tried to give the papers back to Lang. If he had known what the deal was from the start he would have never taken them in the first place. This simple solution did not work however. It was like Lang did not even understand what Jack was doing. At least Lang pretended not to know. That was what Jack thought. If Vitosk had been around he would chalked it up to a cultural difference but Jack knew that was horse crap. Lang did not want to understand, and did not want those papers, and he went out of his way to keep the situation with Finny as it was.

The worst response was from Dee. Jack had been starting to like her before they left the wreck sight. He had even allowed himself to break down and kiss her. Jack liked it even though he would not quite admit this to himself. After everything that had happened since then, Jack had thrown his shields back up. Dee reciprocated but she also took it out on Finny.

Dee did not do it verbally with Finny, as she did with Jack, but she managed to get her point across all the same. It made Jack feel like he was damned anyway he went. Those complications that he had thought about before they left Earth were indeed far more subtle, and stinging, than he had ever dreamed possible.

Dee and Pam stopped on the rocky ledge. After two and half years in space, and then another couple of months in the desert, the sight before them was a vision of pure heaven. A great forest lay just to the south. The trees were tall, even from this distance, and Dee would bet they left Redwoods back home coming up short. Both women just gazed at it for a while. It was a very captivating sight.

"I can't wait to get down there," remarked Pam.

That snapped Dee out of her daze. She was just as thankful to be actually standing here looking at it without an armed guard. With the Assur long gone, the need for protection seemed to be gone with them, although, Dee was not about to give up the rifle that she had fought so hard to keep from carrying in the first place. The brush with the realities of living on this alien world had changed her mind about a lot of things.

"Wonder why Lang is hell bent that we don't go down there yet?" was Pam's next question. She wanted to get around different scenery so bad it hurt. Trees and fresh air were just what the doctor wanted to order. They were still at a fairly high elevation and on this world it was causing shortness of breath even with the increased supply of oxygen in the air.

"I stopped asking why," replied Dee. This was as good enough a spot as any to set up her antenna array. She dropped her backpack and began sliding the poles for the dish into place. "Lang has done right by us so far."

Pam got to work helping her companion, "that's what worries me. I mean we've been sitting here for a week and for no reason that I can see. One of his guys rode off. You add all of that up."

"I'm too damn tired to worry right now Pam. You know I just wish you would stop being so damned morbid all the time." Indeed, the doctor had been very gloomy since the incident with Julia, and McCandles, back on the other side of the mountains. Dee suspected that Pam was blaming herself much the way Jack had. "It's not your fault Pam."

Pam stopped from opening up one of the boxes, "what's not my fault?"

Dee just kept right on working, "You know damn well what I'm talking about. I just wish you would stop kicking yourself. It's driving me, well everybody, nuts."

There was a look of almost surprise coming from Pam. She acted like she did not already know this. There was no way she could be that dumb. Dee stopped what she was doing and returned the favor. She looked right into Pam’s eyes, "Don't look at me like that Pam. Somebody needed to say it. You know when I first met you I thought you were a cocky little shit. Right now, I kind of wish you really were."

Pam bowed her head with a deep sigh. She went back to unpacking the satellite uplink. A mumble came from her lips. It kept right on till finally she came out with "I can't help how I feel. If I hadn't been flirting with Pete none of this would have ever happened."

Dee tossed down the small wrench in her hand. She plopped her butt down on a smooth rock and folded her arms over her bent knees. "Jesus! Am I the only one that hasn't flipped out around this place? Pam, it wasn't flirting!"

The doctor sat back as well, "what would you call it?"

"You didn't mean anything by it."

A look of despair came over Pam, "that's why I feel like shit Dee. I'm not sure that I didn't. All that time on board the ship. I... well you know Pete and her were together right off the bat, you know? I wonder if I didn't get close to Julia just because I was attracted to him. I just don't know what to think anymore. I mean I did all of that, and now both of them are gone, probably even dead."

"Well he is cute you know," Dee’s glum expression broke into a half smile and soon they were both giggling at the other. They were the kind of laughs that came when there was nothing left to do.

Pam recovered from her laughing the quickest. She realized that she had never really talked to Dee like this before. For that matter almost no one had talked to Dee at all. She had always stayed so unapproachable. "You know Dee, speaking of what you thought about me."

Dee was still smiling, "Yeah, go ahead. I bared my soul."

"Well… Hell… I'm embarrassed… Can you believe that? I worked at a Detroit Metro ER, and I'm embarrassed? Who would have thought?"

"Come on, you're not going to get out of this," Dee was firm but still smiling.

"I... Uh... I thought you were a snobby stuck up little rich girl that thought she was better than everybody else."

Dee laughed hardily. She had never been really forced to look at herself from another’s point of view, save that of her Uncle. Even now, and all along, Dee had been working just like Uncle Isaac was looking over her shoulder every step of the way. "I guess that's fair enough. I... I'm shy Pam. I think I've always been insecure around other people."

"Why?" Pam's eyes poked out, "god you're pretty and you're smart. I mean, look, you got a PhD, you built the engine that got us here, Dee? You're an important person."

Dee just shook her head. While most of that might be true she did not feel it. The part about being pretty was definitely not. She couldn't imagine someone saying any of that about her let alone anyone thinking it. In Dee's eyes she was anything but that. Even Gary had, at best, only ever called her various things like cute, lovely, adoring, sexy, anything but the "B" word. He had never even called her just plain pretty. Those were the kind of compliments meant to tap dance around the truth. It was a truth that Dee had resolved, a long time ago, to be an unquestionable fact.

"No, I'm not all of that Pam. I'm... just me. I mean look at Jack."

The way she said his name spoke volumes about how she felt at the moment. "You know I actually had the nerve to think that he liked me. He was just horny. Men! Now that he's got his little harem tramp with him, he's all set."

"No," said Pam resolutely. "Whatever is going on with him and her, don't give up yet. I've seen the way he looks at you. When he doesn't know somebody else is looking that is."

Dee rolled her eyes, "yeah right. Come on, we better get this thing set up and see if we can contact the guys. It'll be getting dark in a few hours and I want to be back in camp when it does."

_____________________

The trip to the city took a lot longer than they had expected. Once they found something that looked like a road it did speed things up a little bit. It seemed that most of the agricultural fields around this town were partially flooded. It made for slow going on horseback. The mounts were definitely showing their weariness once they finally reached the road. Vitosk was thankful that they had not broken one of the animal’s legs getting through all of the muck and mud.

Joey knew how easy it was for a horse to break its leg. Growing up in Texas had taught him a lot of that. He just could never understand why? The conversation rolled around to the subject as they walked along beside their horses. The animals had earned a well deserved rest.

Joey asked, "I don't understand how a critter this damn big has legs so skinny?"

"Watch your mouth," remarked Pete. He was only interested in the conversation to that point. The road was filled with traffic. There were more than enough by standers along the way. Many of them were the Neanderthal like Assur but, many more were normal looking brands of human. They all gave Pete and his party more than just a simple glance.

Vitosk and Joey ignored the Marine’s paranoia. The Russian was not oblivious to the looks they were getting but, he had judged none of them threatening. Vitosk went on with the conversation, "It's because the horse was originally the size of a large dog. They are so big now because we bred them to be."

That was a thought. Joey had seen some tiny horses, once, at a show. The owner had said they were full grown animals. Joey couldn't remember the name of the breed but he related the tale to Vitosk anyway. The Russian simply nodded.

Then another thought crossed Joey's mind. Vitosk smiled when he saw that twinkle in boy’s eye. "Well mister Vitosk, we're on another planet. I mean, I remember, all the stuff you and the others were talking about, even though, in Texas, they wouldn't let them teach evolution, Mom used to tell me…."

"And you thought these people were backwards Winston," commented Vitosk.

Pete just turned his head, "Huh?"

"Nothing," replied the Russian. "Well Joey that is exactly right. If we bred them on Earth, did they do so here as well? I mean given that we have seen other pack animals, such as that hairy elephant up ahead, one has to wonder."

"What's the difference between them things and elephants back home? I mean that one up there has hair. Just like the wooly mammoths that we learned about in school."

Vitosk's eyes opened wide, "You mean to tell me that they taught you about mammoths and not evolution? How in the.... and they said the Soviet Union was backwards. Joey, I'm not quite sure if there is a difference save the few observations I have noted. These animals do not have natural tusks. They seem to be completely domesticated and somewhat smaller than modern elephants back home."

Pete skipped over a spot in the road, "well they shit just as big. Looks like we got a check point up ahead. We're starting to get into buildings now, so..."

Vitosk was ahead of him. He reached into his saddlebag and took out a folded paper with a wax seal on it. He placed it in his side pocket and continued walking. Then, for a while, they sat behind what must have been a traffic jam to these people and the locals were every bit as angry about it as a rush hour pedestrian would be back home. Even the soldiers up ahead of them, the very cause of the slow down, were not particularly happy about the situation.

Joey noticed something and pointed, "Pete, do you see that?"

The uniformed jackets, of the soldiers, were faded red with silver embroidery. They were not even double-breasted coats like the Zeats had. Up till now those black uniforms were all Pete had seen. Even the head gear worn by these guys was different. They were not the white leather helmets that Joe ZeTan and his people had. These appeared to be made of some kind of black felt and were pointed like a cone. They were a "dunce cap" in every respect except for the silver rounded plate that was fixed to the front.

At least everything else about them looked familiar. They were similarly armed to the Zeats. The rifles and bayonets they carried, the white leather body harness, even their canteens looked identical to those worn by Joe and his people. The good news was, to Pete, was that these Red Jacket guys were also normal looking humans and not Assur. That was of some relief.

When it came time to talk with them the red coat, that seemed to be in charge, said something that was completely unintelligible. Pete just shrugged to the guy, "I don't understand you, sorry pal."

The man took note of the M-16 slung on Pete's shoulder. He seemed a bit confused by it. Vitosk did not give him the chance to look at it any more carefully than he already had. Producing the letter from his pocket Vitosk handed it to the man, "corlat."

Pete backed off as the soldier broke the seal and began browsing over the paper. "What did you say to him?"

"I said ‘Read’ I think. Even if my vocabulary was correct I'm not sure it will help here. What I have heard him speaking, so far, does not even sound remotely like Zeat."

The soldier glanced up at Vitosk with one eye as he kept on reading. He then called out and some of his men ran down the road towards the city. Pete began to get nervous. Vitosk took note of the M-16 slowly sliding down from the Marine’s shoulder. Vitosk reached out, "No, it'll be all right. When Lang gave that to me he seemed to make it clear that they were some kind of letters of safe passage. I almost expected this kind of response."

"Yeah Vitosk," replied Pete, "but this doesn't look like it's the same army as his."

"Well, Lang seemed to think it would help us here." Vitosk thought about it for a minute and then reconsidered a little, "Keep your guard up though. Just look friendly about the way you threaten these people."

Pete groaned, "Well there's some good advice."

There was a commotion down the street. All three of the Earth travelers strained to see what it was. Finally the crowd backed away as a man on a horse slowly picked his way through the traffic. He wore a black tunic and a helmet that looked to be almost identical to that worn by Lang. Several more soldiers followed him. Pete tensed up and slowly slid his hand down on his sidearm. He quietly unsnapped the holster.

The horseman stopped at the roadblock and had a prolonged conversation with the red jacket who had taken the paper. After he seemed satisfied, the horseman gestured with his riding crop at Vitosk and his companions. He looked them over very carefully from head to toe.

"Who do you figure this guy is," asked Pete?

Vitosk was busy returning the favor of a close inspection. "I don't know, but someone of importance it would seem."

The imposing figure slid down out of his saddle. He was on the tall and lanky side. It seemed to be that way with most of these people. He stepped up to Vitosk and said something in Zeat. Vitosk could only make out part of it.

The surprising part came when the man held out his hand. Vitosk was unsure of himself but he reached out and they shook. The man returned the gesture as if it were perfectly normal. He then nodded over his shoulder towards the city, remounted, and turned his horse.

"He shook hands?" noted Joey.

Vitosk agreed, "Yes he most certainly did."

"I wonder what all that nodding was that Lang and Joe were doing?" asked Pete. Mostly just thinking out loud.

Vitosk shrugged, "maybe they were just as afraid of offending us as we were them? I suppose this fellow doesn't share the same opinion of us that Joe ZeTan did."

"Don't you have any idea of what that letter said Vitosk?" Pete was more nervous than ever. In the desert he could see his threats coming. Now he had no idea what they even were.

"I told you before Winston, No."

_____________________

Jack stopped just outside of camp. They had a commanding view of the neighboring ridges from here. Harry handed his binoculars over. Jack moved his line of sight up Harry's arm and then brought the lenses to his eyes. He refocused and the image became clear. "Well I'll be damned."

Dee coughed, "with that little tramp I don't doubt it."

Red slapped her on the arm while giggling. They all seemed to be handing out points for the best jibes. Jack just kept on looking, "Is that a deer out there?"

"Seven pointer," replied Harry, "If my count is right anyway. A little bit more shag than the ones back home but a deer nonetheless."

Something spooked it. The deer turn and ran off out of view so Jack handed the binoculars back to Harry, "What do you make of all this?"

"I don't know," Harry reluctantly shrugged. "I mean one species, well, that's one thing. Particularly if we are talking a sentient race it would not be that far beyond imagination. For all we know, nature may favor hominid forms for that kind of thing. So many others though? We've seen horses, and elephants, and now deer? The only thing we've seen that has no cousins on Earth are those Moe Chicken things the Assur use. Even so, they are, no matter how much they look like some kind of absurd dinosaur, mammals.”

Harry raised another point, “It's not just that either. How about a lack of things? Like one of the most common forms of life on Earth."

"What do you mean?" asked Saiid. He was standing next to Gina and Jack had to take a second look when saw his arm hanging over her shoulder. It was so shocking Jack almost forgot the conversation they were having.

Harry scratched his head in response to the question, "Well birds for one actually. I haven't seen the first one. Back home, not counting insects and microorganisms, they're the most common form of life on Earth."

"Speaking of which," responded Pam, "I've got a ton of bug juice in my med kit. We haven't used the first drop."

Red's eyes lit up, "Yeah! You know back during the war the Mosquitoes used to eat my ass alive. I haven't been bit once since we been here."

All of the observations were very correct. They might even have concerned Jack had all of this not been ground they had been over before. It was hard not to pay attention though. The point of it all being that there was too much about this planet that seemed impossible.

If for no other reason, all of this information just seemed to good to be true. Jack suspected that the answers they were looking for would not be found in observing more wildlife though. The wildlife would not say what it was he wanted to know. The native life that would do this was waiting for Jack up in a tent right now. Jack and Lang had been working on it but the progress was slow. They were each trying to say what was on their minds in some meaningful way that could be understood. It was frustrating that, so far, they could not.

_____________________

It was far from what Pete had expected. That meant it was just like so many other things on this world. For a change, Pete was pleasantly surprised. It was not the worst-case scenario at all and if it was a prison then it was a fine one. In fact, this place was better than the best-case scenario that Pete had dreamed up.

The building was not a barracks but, you would never have guessed that from the numbers of soldiers around it. It was a house, a mansion being a more accurate description, and it was quite colorful in contrast to the mass of, muddy looking, brown buildings that dominated this city’s skyline.

The house was not even the most attractive feature here. The grounds were well cultivated and meticulously cared for. The assortment of shrubs and trees all served to compliment each other rather well. These plants were not quite what you would see on Earth but, they certainly were a welcomed sight. Pete could not even remember the last time he had seen a real tree.

They were all very pretty to look at. The intense diversity of colors just jumped right out at the star travelers. Despite the aesthetic quality Pete could not help but make some more technical observations. He had learned a lot more about plants in the last two years, with Julia, than he ever wanted to know. Before Julia had come along, Pete’s only thoughts on the subject of plant life was how to hide behind the stuff. Now he was taking careful note of all sorts of things. The biggest of which was how skinny and tall all of these plants were. At least they seemed so to his Earth born eyes.

Joey was taken in more by the house. Vitosk seemed to be in his camp on that subject. The house had a circular stairway of white marble that wound down from the front doors. The black railing was caste iron. The tall white columns of the front porch were made of wood. None of which was all that surprising to the Russian. What did catch his attention were the windows, "They have glass here. I saw windows in town but no glass in any of them. Just lots and lots of wooden shutters."

Pete stopped with the rest of the group. Several soldiers in black jackets were coming out to take the reigns of their mounts. Pete gladly dismounted and replied, "So what Vitosk. We just came out of a big desert. It's not like they don't have enough sand to make all the glass they want."

"You saw the factories Winston," said the Russian as he followed the lead of his host and dismounted. "They have industry but, apparently, it is not so common as to allow a great many glass foundries. This house is the first one I've seen with an extensive use of windows. That is in spite of their apparent lack of descent artificial lighting."

The man who brought them here gave orders to his fellow black shirts. Pete felt uneasy as he watched their saddlebags pulled down from the horses. Their host said something else that was directed at Pete, who had no idea what it meant. The man apparently expected that and his statement was rhetorical at best. He motioned for them to follow him.

The next surprise was even better. It was a room on the second floor of the house. It had three beds, a night stand, chamber pot, water basin, and pitcher. Their bags had been deposited here next to a huge piece of furniture that Pete guessed to be a wardrobe. There were numerous candle holders in the room and Vitosk quickly located a supply of candles in a night stand drawer. He immediately went to studying the wax like material they were made of. Joey was more fascinated with all of the mirrors.

"Well it's not exactly my color, but I guess it'll have to do," said Pete with a blank look on his face. Joey wasted no time tossing his shoulder bag, next to their other luggage, before jumping onto one of the beds. He nearly sank out of sight. Pete smirked and laid his own things by the window. He looked out at the giant green lawn behind the house. The fancy fountains and flowers were ringed with tents and soldiers. "Take back what I said about this not being a barracks.”

Vitosk joined the American at the window, "back home, I mean in Russia, it was not unusual to quarter troops at private residences. Considering that there are a good deal of Black Shirts out there, and Red Coats at the city gate, I deduce that the black fellows must be visiting."

Pete started poking at the mattress on his bed. It was very soft and gave way under almost no pressure. "Wonder what they stuff these with."

Vitosk stretched out on his bed. At the moment he could care less, "Why don't you cut it open and find out?"

Considering the number of soldiers with long gleaming bayonets, that were his hosts, Pete decided otherwise. He rolled over on the bed, and fell fast asleep.

_____________________

Lang pointed at the map in front of them, "go... we... there."

Jack racked his brain for the words. He couldn't think of them so Gary responded for him. Jack looked at Gary, "can you get out of him why we're waiting."

There was no need for a translation. Lang was looking directly at Jack and seemed to understand the question well enough. "Wo… woman."

Gary was slumping in a chair with a cup of coffee in his hands. His wounds were healing but, still way too painful for his liking. He did his best not to sit back on anything, "He keeps saying that Jack."

In the month that it took them to cross the mountains a communications of sorts was starting to form. It was a mix of English, Zeat, and charades. It allowed for a better understanding than those conversations that Jack had first had with Joe but, it still left a lot to be desired. Many times they had to resort more to their games of acting out than actual words. Unfortunately more complicated ideas, and many simple ones, were still beyond reach.

Jack pounded his fists on the table and began pacing around. Dee sat in one of the fold out chairs and was obviously pleased to see Jack in such distress. She had located the group's supply of popcorn and fixed her a pan of it over the fire. She was munching away, "I guess that it has something to with us?"

"Great help you are," replied Jack.

"Well I could be a lot more if you wouldn't ignore everything I give you," was Dee's sharp response.

Jack stopped, turned, and walked back to the table, "What is that suppose to mean?"

Gary rolled his eyes, "would you stick to the point Dee. We don't have time for this."

Slinging her legs down off the table, Dee then reached into her field bag. She shoved some pictures in front of them. They were easily recognizable as down loads from the satellite, "weather. I told you that it's a hell of a lot wetter on this side of the mountain. Rain is coming in and, at this elevation, it's probably going to turn to snow."

Jack sat down and looked at Lang. The man was frustrated as well. Jack just shook his head, "Women what?"

"No... women... bangs!"

Dee slung her legs back up on the table and crossed them. She tossed another piece of popcorn in her mouth, "I'm not cutting my hair again buddy."

"He means our guns," replied Gary.

"Yeah you said that already Gary," Dee was being as snide with all of them as she could, particularly Lang. "I'm not laying down my gun either."

"A couple of months ago I practically had to shoot you to make you take it," said Jack angrily. "Do I have to order you to secure it now."

Lang rubbed his forehead, "Jack Zeati... Wo… man, ok Zeat."

Dee slung her legs back off the table and stood up. She slapped her bowl of popcorn down on the table. "OK! You're not getting any where near me pal."

"I think he means safe," said Gary.

"Yeah," replied Dee, "Well I've seen what his idea of safe is. I'm sorry but it's going to take more than ET's word here to get me to lay down my piece. So you figure something else out, Jack. Do it in a hurry too, cause I don't like the idea of being stuck up here, ass high, in snow." She looked right at Gary before she stormed out, "It would remind me too much of Boston."

Dee stormed out of the tent and Jack followed. He grabbed her by the arm. She angrily yanked it back, "don't you touch me Kelly. I'm not some little teenager that you can order around."

"Is that what this all about? Finny?"

"Well duhhhh! You haven't figured it out yet? It's not just her Jack. I'm going to make damn sure that… that… man in there knows damn well I'm not some human chattel that can just be bought and sold or done with as you please! I had enough of that with Gary!"

Jack let a out a grunt, "What? I haven't been doing enough to protect you three?"

"Four Jack, four of us made it down here. There's three of us now. There's also three less men for the exact same reason."

Now Jack was angry. He lost any control of his temper. He yanked his cold weather cap off and tossed it to the ground, "I did everything within my power! That's not fair and you know it. Besides, we might not be in this mess in the first place if you hadn't been lying to me from the start!"

"Oh here we go with that again! I'm not going to keep repeating myself mister! So you just better take whatever explanation I feel like and live with it!"

There was a crowd gathering. It was not just Earthlings either. Everybody in the camp was watching now. Several of the Zeat soldiers tried to run their women back to a tent. It was a useless endeavor since many of the native women thought this was all quite entertaining. No one did in the Hermes crew. Pam rushed over and pulled Dee back while Red did the same with Jack.

Lang and Gary watched from the tent. Lang lowered his head. He looked like a man with a serious problem on his hands. He also had an air of defeat about him. Gary gave him a friendly slap on the back, "don't worry, it's just that time probably. Trust me Lang, I was married to that firecracker."

Lang did not understand the words. He did obviously catch the meaning which was well illustrated by his response, "boom."

_____________________

The building was recognizable to Vitosk. He had never been here before or ever set eyes on this building but, its purpose was clear enough. This was an academic institution of some type. Vitosk's mouth not only watered at the prospect of finding out how their educational system worked but he might finally actually meet a Moeman that would be worth communicating with. Perhaps even a scientist of some kind? That was, of course, provided that these people actually had science in the conventional sense. There was no telling how they viewed the universe. Finding that out would be a genuine thrill.

It was obvious from the technology displayed, in this town that they called Ninvey, that their engineering was following a somewhat recognizable course. The tracks leading through town were indeed a railroad. The engines that rode the rails appeared to be steam driven. They were not unlike the ones used on Earth in the nineteenth century. They were bulkier of course and Vitosk had assumed they would be. Things here did not weigh as much as back home. Pete was far less excited by where he was. As their escort walked off into one of the buildings the two Earthmen waited by a tree on the neatly groomed campus. It was rather clean compared to the rest of the city. Like the house they stayed in, it seemed out of place here. That was mainly due to architecture but their were other clues such as the glass.

This place even had some stained glass that were set in some high windows. There were no towers or bells or columns that were popular with campuses back home, yet, the sight of a professor giving instructions to a group of students was enough to give Vitosk fits. The idea of lecturing out on the cool green grass under the shade of a tree was his every fantasy come true."Do you see that Pete? You never see that back home. The sterile environs of the classroom on modern Earth! Damn speed of light communications!"

Pete was far from understanding the last remark made by his associate. "We're not here to go sniffing around a college Vitosk."

"Answers man! We are at the point of answers here. If we are unable to find someone in there that can be made to understand us then our time here will be very poor indeed."

The black shirt returned shortly thereafter with another man in what was civilian dress. It was a suit of sorts and Vitosk was happy to see that these people had not taken up with the ridiculous custom of tying something around their neck for no purpose. He had a rather rugged looking brown coat that did not close and lacked buttons. His shirt was also brown with a double-breasted row of buttons similar to the military black shirt style. Closer examination revealed that the civilian buttons were purely decorative. The shirt was a pull down. His black pants stopped at the ankles and his feet were covered with an uncomfortable and unpolished looking pair of black leather shoes.

"Vitosk," said the soldier who had brought them here. Yurgani was happy to hear his name pronounced right. While being treated to a grand, if not unusual, breakfast by Pascal, the officer who escorted them in yesterday, Vitosk had managed an introductions of sort. The aliens were just at inept with Russian and English as Vitosk was with their language but, they seemed to be quick learners at least. Vitosk was theorizing that this was due to a multitude of different languages in close proximity to each other. That was usually how it worked back on Earth.

Nodding to the civilian got a similar greeting. The man pointed to himself, "Kenday."

Joey's eyes perked up, "Did he say Kennedy?"

The man repeated himself. This little custom was becoming almost an official greeting with these people. It took Vitosk almost an hour over breakfast to get the name “Pascal” sounding anywhere near the way the he pronounced it.

It was starting to look as if all of the Zeat that Vitosk had studied, up till this point, had been a waste of time. Here in this city, there was almost no one who spoke the language. Pascal did, but he always seemed to lapse back into another tongue when chatting with his comrades. His pronunciation of Zeat seemed to be very crude compared Joe or Lang. It led Vitosk to believe that he was not Zeat, yet, the man wore the same uniform?

Pete protested as Vitosk quickly fell in behind Kenday. The military black shirt raised his hand and said, "Pet." They seemed to have a hard time with Pete and saying Winston was out of the question. The man pointed down the busy city street and motioned for him and Joey to follow.

"I don't like this Vitosk," said Pete to the ever growing distant Russian. "It's like this was all programmed."

Yurgani turned around and walked backwards as he yelled out, "It probably is but, I think it's for the best. See you back at the house tonight."

"Shit!" Pete had a red face. He did not like splitting his command. Then again to say that anyone commanded Vitosk was a mistake. Pete certainly pitied whoever his CO was in the Russian Peoples Army. "Come on Joey, let’s follow this guy."

If these people did not have a printing press then someone had very sore hands. The room was one giant library! There were shelves of books that ran up every wall for at least two stories. Giant ladders, that rolled on rails, were in constant use by men trying to reach the top shelves! This was not what Vitosk had been brought here for though. It was too bad because he salivated at thought of diving into this place with both feet.

There was a table in the center of the room. Four men sat on one side of the table. Kenday sat down making it five. There was an empty chair on the other. The man in the center held out his hand in a seemingly polite manner. Vitosk took his invitation.

For a while they all just sat in silence and stared at each other. Finally Vitosk spoke, "well gentleman I do have other things I could be doing at the moment."

The men began exchanging shrugs and confused looks. Finally they began rattling off what sounded like names and seemingly in a multitude of languages. Vitosk stood up and raised his hands. He spoke, knowing full well that they would not understand, "as a scientific mind myself. I understand the principles of eliminating the variables. I think I can save time if I may be allowed some paper."

There were more shrugs and chattering between the five men. When it stopped Kenday shrugged, "Paper?"

Vitosk pulled out his small notebook and ripped out a sheet. He held it up, "paper."

_____________________

The horse was careful all on it's own. The ground was slippery. In this humidity, and with the below freezing temperatures at night, ice formed on the exposed seems of rock that were practically everywhere. Dee nudged her horse forward. She had become very confident on this particular animal. She stopped it next to Jack who was busy making sure he had everything. When he saw her sitting in the saddle and watching him he gave her a forced smile and went right back to checking his gear.

"Jack," Dee said very softly.

"What is it?"

"Well would you at least look at me when I'm apologizing?"

Jack stopped and looked at her straight, "for which part exactly?”

"Blowing up at you yesterday. I'm not apologizing for what I had to say. You're going to take this gun from me over my dead body. Still, I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Jack lowered his head. Women always made him feel like a heel. He hated that power that they had over him. "Well, you had a point. I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have lost it ether. Let's just let it go and be done with it, that ok with you?"

There was a cheer from the rest of the group who were mounted nearby and ready to move. Jack shot them an evil look, "this is private. Mind your own damn business will you."

That brought a round of laughter as they began working their way down the trail that would take the party to the lower elevations and high forests. Dee was blushing as they left. "Where's your little friend at?"

"I managed to ditch her for a little while. She took off early with Lang and some of his people." Jack was relieved. He had little privacy as it was and it had been reduced to none at all ever since Finny came along. He just couldn't make Lang understand he didn't want what appeared to be, a slave at best, a wife at worst. Equally confusing to Jack was how he wound up with her in the first place. That much he still had to figure out. Why was she given to him?

All that aside, when Lang needed some extra guides for the pack elephants, this morning, Jack had wasted no time sending his little servant along to help. For once she did not put up a fight when he pointed her away. Normally she would have to be dragged off kicking and screaming if told to leave Jack's side. Maybe this guide thing was a job that she thought was a function of her servitude? Anyway it went, Jack was glad she was gone for a while.

Dee looked over her shoulder and back down the trail. "You know it's going to be slow going down this mountain side. One hell of a drop in elevation between that desert and this place. We probably got ice on the trail so they'll catch the pack animals real quick. Slow moving. You know?"

"Yeah, and everybody else is out of sight now Dee. Nice chatting with you but don't you think we better catch up?"

Dee slid down off her mount. She walked around the remains of the camp sight. "Well you know I can't say that I had the greatest time staying here. Not a lot of space to move around with the cliff over there. You know? Got that gully on the other too."

Jack rubbed his chin and wondered. Was she finally going nuts? "What are you doing? Yesterday you couldn't wait to get out of here. Bit my head off saying as much. Now your kicking around like this was your childhood home?"

Wandering over to Jack, Dee reached up and pulled the rolled up cold weather hat off of her head. Her hair had not grown out to the length it used to be but it was considerably longer. Dee shook it out so that it would fall down to her shoulders. She unzipped her jacket just a tiny bit. Then she grabbed the reigns to Jacks ride. "Would you come down off your high horse for just a minute please, oh mister colonel sir."

Jack looked away for a second. He was trying to hide the chuckle and smile. When his composure returned, somewhat, as he looked back, "I don't believe you."

"Well," Dee poked his leg, "you know I could never be a little slave girl, oh colonel sir. I am just little old me, though, under your command and everything. By law of course. I'm not a big strong colonel and if you ordered me to do something. I guess I would just have to obey. I mean, by law, it would be my duty, right?"

Now Jack wanted to laugh. Her little miss servant girl routine was too much, "oh really? Right now? In the cold? Out in front of god and everybody?"

Dee let loose of the reigns and began to walk back to her own mount. She took her time and swung her head from side to side as her hips followed suit. "I guess, if you ordered me to go down the trail. I'd have to do that as well?"

Of all the decisions that he had been faced with, why was this one so hard to make? His mind told him to ride off down the trail. Then, of course, she would probably never speak to him again. His body was telling him something else. His Colonels Eagles did not make him any less human. His emotions wanted to strangle her though! Was this one of those well plotted ploys to just drive him crazy!

Jack played for time. His mind needed it, "yeah, and just suppose that somebody came back up here to see what happened to us?"

Dee resisted the urge to look at her watch. She had thought about that before hand. Pam was taking care of that business for her. She stopped at her horse and leaned her back against the animal. She raised her hands out and stretched her arms. "If you were just to order me to strip. You know, because you might have to search me to make sure I'm not a spy or something? Why, what choice would I have?"

Getting down off the horse, Jack was trying to convince himself that he was not committed to this. He stepped closer and closer to her. No! He could still back out and that would be the smart thing. There was just too much he had to do right now, too much on his mind, too much responsibility. He stopped within reach of her. He had to say something. He didn't.

Pulling her hands back in Dee unzipped her jacket violently. She gently let it fall to the ground. She reached back up and unzipped the top of her jumpsuit. One arm at a time she slid out of it and then put both arms up high in the air. The suit fell completely down just past her hips exposing her bare skin to the cold morning air. Goose bumps quickly started to form and her nipples began to harden. She closed her eyes and waved her body back and forth.

"I think you better search me before I catch a cold."

There was no thinking about it. Jack reached out and pulled her in close. Dee's arms slid in around him and their lips came together. Moments later, two years worth of pent up hormones were finding a crack in the dam. Then they both had to catch their breath. Jack asked, "and how long did you tell Pam to give us?"

That caused a short laugh from Dee, "an hour. I got a sleeping bag right over there above my saddlebag. Get it will you? It's cold as hell out here."

_____________________

It was universal! Vitosk could see no way around it. He drew the circle and then put two other marks on the paper. The first was a character that the Russian had learned from his time with Lang. Since Lang seemed to be some type of military engineer he had understood what Vitosk was fishing for. These men caught on even quicker than Lang had. The marks were the Zeat character, and it's counterpart from Earth, for Pi. It was from this point on that they began communicating in math. Finally! Vitosk had met some men with enough education to do so at a meaningful level. They had established a reference for yes and no, positive and negative. They now could converse in geometric symbols and even basic calculus.

It was a good thing that these people were just as uncreative as the people back on Earth. They used base ten, and their measurements were basically metric in formula if not in actual distances. A standard of weight and other such basic engineering numbers such as Pi had now been formalized. Soon they began throwing words to each other and a language of sorts started to develop. It was a combination of Russian, English, Zeat, and two other languages that Vitosk had yet to discover the name of. When the math was thrown into the mix, suddenly, Vitosk was communicating more than just simple intent and actions.

Then came what the men of this academy really wanted to know. Vitosk was finally able to answer their question somewhat. He wished he knew what the letter that Lang had sent, really said. These men seemed far more curious about him than the reverse. Lang had told them something in his writing that had seriously sparked their curiosity.

Taking the tablet of paper they had been scribbling on, Vitosk drew a series of circles for them. He pointed at the big circle in the middle. He followed by pointing at one of the windows in the roof. Shining directly above the window was the star Alpha Centauri.

Kenday got a giant smile on his face. He pointed to the second circle out from the big one and then at the floor. "Alak Du Ahdemkreeg."

During his time back at the crash site Vitosk had attempted to find out what the natives called their world. Working with Joe, and then later Lang, he was not sure that he had actually succeeded in getting it. Now for the third time he heard the “Ahdem” part. He was not sure he could pronounce what Joe and Lang had said that followed but, then again, they spoke in a such a rushed fashion that words just ran together. At least these men were slowly spacing their speech. Whether it was natural for them, or they were being polite, Vitosk was not sure.

This seemed to be the planet Ahdem at least. Maybe it was Kreeg? Vitosk’s past language studies seemed to indicate it was one of the two. It was not what the alien scholars wanted to know however. Kenday ran off and came back with several large rolls of paper. Everything on the table was pushed aside and they spread them out for all to see. These papers proved to be illustrations or, maybe even charts. The information seemed a bit crude from what Vitosk was used too but it was easily discernable. There was a big red circle in the middle of the chart and even the planets, with their orbits drawn out, were present.

Kenday pointed to the representation of their sun, "Ahdem." He pointed to the second planet, "Kreeg."

Now he knew. Vitosk felt like he had made more progress in the last couple of hours than in the last two months. Kenday repeated his action one more time to make sure that Vitosk got it. Then he pointed to the Russian, "You... Vitosk?" Kenday pointed back to the map of the star system.

It was amazing! They actually had little trouble believing that he was not from this world. If star explorers had landed on Earth when it was as primitive as this place appeared to be, they would not have received such a warm welcome. If they were even believed they would probably have been burned at the stake. Vitosk was somewhat relieved by all of this. Even his modern colleagues would have scorned the existence of extra terrestrials if you drug a kicking and screaming little green man in front of them. Such taboo's seemed to be non-existent here.

"You... Vitosk," Kenday pointed to the third planet of the Alpha Centauri system. At this point the amazement and exhilaration of breakthrough was replaced with a common sense observation that Vitosk had missed. He wrote his lapse off to excitement. These people, with only roughly nineteenth century technology, had a map of this system that included all seven of its planets. The thinner atmosphere could account for better stargazing but, the outermost planet was not much more than a glorified asteroid. Earth had not found some it’s, smaller, distant, outer planets until well into the previous century.

"No," Vitosk replied. They understood that word quite well now.

The fact that they seemed to think he was from the third planet in this system seemed to indicate that the Alien academic types were fully aware that it was a habitable world. They seemed perplexed by his answer and a bit disappointed as well. They seemed to have anticipated him being from there. Vitosk sighed and realized that what he needed now was a star chart.

The aliens were ahead of him. They were all conversing excitedly when one of them ran off and returned with several more scrolls. The next one that went on the table was also recognizable to Vitosk. It was of the Proxima Centauri system. They pointed to its third planet. Vitosk again told them, "no."

Once again they began chattering and this time the debate was a bit more heated. Finally one of them reluctantly unrolled a third map. Vitosk knew he should not have been surprised but, he was anyway. It was the only thing that made any sense at all.

The man pointed to the chart, "Vitosk."

Laying his finger gently beside his alien counterpart Vitosk shook his head yes. "Terra Firma. Vitosk, Terra Firma."

Sitting down, Vitosk scratched his head and wondered. What did he do now? He turned his mind to a few practical considerations for the moment. The moral implications of this discovery would have to wait. He allowed the scholars to quibble amongst themselves. They seemed just as confused, just as struck by a lighting bolt, as Vitosk. After the commotion settled down Vitosk began using his knew symbol language to spell out some basic chemical compounds. He decided to deal with the small things first. Hopefully, if this were a respectful institution of learning, they would have a chemistry department.

_____________________

She wiggled on top of him one more time. The sleeping bag was one of those deluxe thermal kind and they were both soaked with sweat. Jack’s body slid so naturally into her curves and it felt good. His hands still rested on the small of her back. He playfully slid one down and fondled a cheek while the other began rubbing in small circles up her back. He hit that spot once again. Dee flinched once again too but her eyes still didn't open.

Moaning, "Oh would you stop that. You're so naughty."

It was obvious to Jack that her body was only playing on the sensations that his only wished it could. That sensation being the want for sleep. Dee was almost there. Despite a good night's rest Jack wanted to go that route with her. He could not do it. If they both fell asleep then Pam or somebody else would come riding back up the trail in a little bit. Not that Jack figured their little moment was a secret. If Pam knew then they all did by now. Still, the thought of being caught in the raw was too embarrassing.

"Come on darlin’ time to wake up."

"Oh do it for both of us please," her eyes would not open.

Jack pinched her bare behind. Dee's head shot up, "I'm up!" She gave him a short slap on the chest. "Oh you..."

The thought of laying her head back down on his chest was foremost in her mind. Before Dee could do it, though, her eye caught something at the edge of the nearby gully. It was standing in plain view but, did not so much as flinch! Even with Dee looking right at the thing it did nothing! It was so still that it almost looked like a statue. She had almost completely failed to notice it for that reason alone.

Could it be real? It looked like something out of a drawing, almost, yet there it was. It was a man of some kind, maybe? It was only about two and a half feet tall at best. It wore a mixture of skins and metal rings. It carried a pole in its left hand that was almost twice as tall as it was. There was a shinny spearhead atop the pole! "Uh... Jack."

Jack rolled over and looked at whatever had caught Dee's eye. He saw nothing. "What?"

"Damn it! It just ran down the hill Jack! Jesus, we got to get out of here." Dee darted right out of the sleeping bag. The cold no longer bothered her in the least. She started dressing in a big hurry.

Jack was a little more discreet about how he dressed. He pulled his clothing inside the bag with him, "What was it?"

"A little man!"

"Huh? How little was he?" the remark was dripping with sarcasm.

"I saw him Jack!" She was already dressed and had her M-16 in hand. "I'll cover you while you get dressed!"

Jack almost broke out into tears, laughing now. It made Dee angry, but then she had only unwittingly made a military joke with a reference she could not have known. All of his years in the military, and in all his training, Jack had heard, "cover me while I do this or that." It was the first time he had ever been covered while getting dressed.

Dee was not amused, "It's not funny!"