Colonization Protocols

First Contacts

The oddest thing about alien landscapes was often the myriad of colors we would see. As it became twilight there was a transition from yellow to green then a shimmering turquoise haze that lingered for about a half hour. The colors never ceased to amaze me no matter what planet I was on.

"It puts on quite a show doesn't it?" I heard Anna say from behind me.

"It does. This is one of the perks of this job -To see things no other man has ever seen before."

Clearing her throats she coughed, "Or woman."

"Yeah , whatever, you know what I mean."

We formed a line to get our dinner and eventually everyone began peeling off one by one. They began filling out their daily reports and a few venturing out a little to get small plant and rock samples close to the campsite. The temperature was warm and made us all sweat.

As it got dark I had Leopold take his 3 men to guard the perimeter in shifts as the crew set up their hammocks inside the vehicles. There were too many unknowns to sleep outside. Although privately I wanted to do it myself to escape the stifling heat inside.

After about an hour of sleep in my reclined seat I was being shaken awake by Anna and Private Lucas one of the Marines.

"Captain sorry to have to do this but Sargeant Leopold sent me to get you."

Half asleep I sat up not quite comprehending where I was.

Anna tugged on my arm to get me into a fully upright sitting position.

"Wake up Andros we've got a situation that needs your attention!"

"What's going on?" I asked as I became more aware of my surroundings.

"We have a visitor outside." Anna replied.

Grabbing my light jacket she began leading me to the outer side door where Asa and Leon were peeking out a port window  straining to get a clear view of the shadowy figure standing about 30 feet away. The night had cooled the temperatures down significantly.

One of the Marines who went by the name of Drake stood guard outside with his weapon drawn and ready.

"Drake can I borrow your night vision goggles a second?"

"Sure." he replied handing him his headset.

"I just want to see this guy and what he's carrying in his hands."

"OK  just to keep your fingers off the lens. It's so easy to smudge and really hard to clean."

Handing it over I put it on and the foggy outlines disappeared replaced by the crisp detailed image of a gray skinned humanoid wearing a loose brown tunic, carrying a bag on his back and a staff in his hand. Ugly is too kind a word to describe him but it was the first word that came to mind upon seeing his face.

He waved his free hand in the air to get my attention and approached cautiously until we were about 12 feet apart. Beside me I heard Drake taking the safety off his weapon while tipping his helmet slightly forward.

"Drake! Just take it easy. I think he's harmless." I said.

I didn't see how it could be threatening since he was alone and although obviously humanoid he was also a different species than the ones we had encountered earlier. His movements were more fluid and intelligence was inherent in it's eyes. His skin was mostly blue and his body seemed proportionately similar to our own. It's feet consisted of 3 large toes and gave me the impression that they were powerful enough to leap to great heights if needed. He opened his large hands to show they were empty and never took his eyes off of me.