"I cannot find those documents," Trib announced in a tense voice, as he climbed back down out of the cockpit of his one man ship. "I must have left them in my quarters on my home planet, Lask."
Trib fumbled around on the ground piling stacks of paper and various artifacts randomly back into the crates arranged haphazardly around the base of his ships ladder.
"How far away is it?" Captain Mitchell asked while handing him a paper that had tried to float away.
"Not far. It is the closest inhabited planet to Exandra," he answered while carting a full crate back up into his ship. "Platonia is the next closest. It's only another solar system away, but you wouldn't want to get mixed up with those creatures. They love to cause pain and suffering," Trib explained.
The crate now stored in his ship Trib paused in thought at the top of his ladder, "Would you like to come and visit Lask?"
"We need to meet back at our ship's landing site with the rest of our group, but I am sure a visit is well within our mission." Captain Mitchell smiled as he observed the disorganized explorer. He seemed friendly and anxious to share his home with newcomers.
Trib followed the group back to the original landing site to meet Laurie and Dr. Smith.
As Captain Mitchell gave the introductions Laurie stood speechless, staring uncomfortably at the alien.
"You do realize this is the second intelligent extraterrestrial we've come across today!" She blurted.
Dr. Kingston shot Laurie a look that undeniably said, "That was rude!" Embarrassment colored Laurie's cheeks.
Trib noticed Laurie's embarrassment. "That's ok, there are worse things to be called than intelligent." Laurie looked up at him sheepishly. "That's odd though, most of the time the creatures here keep to themselves. Who did you meet?"
Glad to be free of the awkward moment, Dr. Smith excitedly told the group about the discovery of the scorpions and how the scorpions first spoke in a language they couldn't understand.
"But the second time we DID understand it!" Laurie announced. The excitement of the story emboldened her, washing away her previous embarrassment. "It wasn't like the scorpions changed their language… we could still hear the clicks from their original speech. It was more like their words were being translated for us.
"I hadn't even tried to turn on the MTD's translation program yet." Dr. Smith added.
"Each different species has its own language, but no doubt if you happen to meet more of the creatures on Exandra, you will have more of those occurrences of spontaneous translation," Trib explained. "There is something in the composition of the atmosphere, it psychically translates everyone's communication."
"There are other creatures?" Dr. Smith asked.
"A few explorers from my planet have seen them, but we do not visit Exandra often," Trib answered, "I've experienced Exandra's translation influence only once. I met the scorpions during one of my first visits here."
"Hmm," Dr. Smith mumbled, wondering if the other creatures on this planet would know where the cylinder was.
Captain Mitchell stepped away from the group for a moment and used his MTD to radio EASA. The EASA scientists told him to look for ways Earth could contribute to the community on Lask in return for their hospitality.
"Roger that- over and out!" Captain Mitchell replied and then clipped his MTD back onto his belt, before walking back to the group surrounding the alien ship.
It was determined that Trib would join them in the Star Traveler for the trip to his home planet. Trib looked through the computer's star charts and plotted the trip to his home world before taking a seat in an extra chair beside the Star Traveler's main bridge door and settled in for the trip. Dr. Kingston looked at the computer's readings as they approached the planet. "We will have to put space suits on. There's barely any oxygen," said Dr. Kingston.
"I hope it is not too much of a problem," Trib remarked.
"No, not at all. They were designed to be flexible and comfortable. The EASA scientists were not sure how long we would need to wear them," Dr. Kingston answered.
"My people and yours are different in many ways, it seems," said Trib as the crew stood and went to their lockers on the main deck.
"We aren't able to go from one planet to another without being affected by air composition, air pressure, or climate," Dr. Kingston explained.
"I can tell that Exandra isn't translating your words to us anymore. Talking with you isn't like when we talked with the scorpions. How did you learn our language?" Laurie asked while she helped everyone do a quick check of his or her suit's controls.
"A long time back, I was on a special mission that passed through your planetary system. On a whim, I collected damaged pieces of your technology and was able to recreate some of it. Researching your system and your culture became a hobby of mine. I am the only one, so far, that has learned your language. Exandra's translation influence only lasts while you are breathing Exandrian air. That is why I was chosen to meet you. I can be a translator once the planet's influence fades."
"Amazing!" Dr. Smith exclaimed, interrupting the conversation by pointing out the Laskonian city as they approached.
The cities on planet Lask were all inside separate iridescent domes. The Star Traveler crew watched as other vehicles entered or exited as though they were passing through the wall of a soap bubble. Trib explained that the domes protected from the devastating sandstorms that frequently occurred on their desert planet.
Trib asked them to land the Star Traveler on top of a triangular skyscraper. Once they had landed, the pad lowered itself into the building. Their ship and the platform stopped about midway through the building. The crew stepped out into the hanger with Trib leading the way. Lights reflected off their domed helmets as they made their way toward a door painted with a yellow symbol. Beside the door was a control room from which two Laskonians stared at the crew from behind glass.
Trib led them through the door in the glass wall and ushered them into the control room.
"This airport has twenty-four bays; one launch bay per floor," Trib explained as he saw Laurie peering at a map of the building that was posted on the wall beside her.
Trib led them into a huge clear-glass box at the back of the room and proceeded to explain that, using the human definition, it was a teleporter.
"When the door closes, ‒ the object inside‒ in this case us‒ could be sent anywhere that the controller could confidently send a signal to in one piece. Even though sending ourselves to random places was fun at first, we eventually learned how to program the teleporter to go to a specific place at the push of a few buttons."
In his own language filled with soft whirs and throated clicks, Trib quickly told the Laskonian at the controls to send them to the Capitol City.
They reappeared in the Capitol City's airport, on the first floor. Trib took the astonished crew from there, across a busy street teeming with many Laskonians, many of whom stopped to share at the humans as they passed. All around, buildings made of packed sand blocks towered above them carved into detailed architectural designs. Laying in the shade of the taller towers was a shorter much more detailed building that took up four street blocks. Wide stone steps led up to the multiple sets of doors at the main entrance.
"You are welcome to explore our… (Trib paused, searching for the word) university library for information that may be helpful to your species," Trib mentioned motioning the team toward the wide stone steps with a sweep of his hand, "Before we head back we can stop by my home where I have more information on Exandra," Trib said.
"Agreed," Captain Mitchell replied, as he and the team took in the familiar relaxing sight of long rows of shelves filed with books and disk cases.
"It might be helpful if we have a way to translate your written language first." Laurie suggested.
"Good idea, I'll be happy to add that!" Trib called back while wandering down the library's aisles and selecting some books along the way.
He walked over to a drop box in the end of one of the bookshelves and put the books in. Trib tapped a few options on a screen above the drop box to translate the books into English. After a few moments a tiny disk appeared out of a slot under the drop box. Trib explained that the disk contained all the information from the books that he had just put in. "I also included some material about our teleportation system; I thought you might find it interesting."
"Where did the books go?" Dr. Smith inquired.
Trib pointed out that the original books had been transported back to their places.
"No need for a photocopier!" Laurie exclaimed, as everyone quietly laughed at her insight.