Galèa rises to her feet from her crouching position, and takes a deep breath in the early evening air. She looks out, admiring the large expanse of land filled with any plant they could need for food, medicine, or any other purpose. This is her happy place: the smell of the dirt and plants, the feel of them between her bare toes and the sun shining down on her skin, warm and comforting. She feels the most comfortable outside, especially gardening for her community. She takes a moment more to absorb the warmth of the sun before grabbing the large wicker basket at her feet that is so full it’s nearly overflowing with plants of varying shades of green and yellow. The person nearest her, also picking that seasons harvest, nods and smiles in acknowledgment and Galèa returns the gesture. She walks back toward the grassy strip and dirt road that run parallel with the gardening land to empty her basket and return to the garden to fill it again like she has been doing all day and carefully places her haul into the back of one of the parked trucks the group drove there. Galèa turns to head back but notices the children who play in the grass while their parents work in the field are staring at something in the sky, she turns her attention to them.

“What are you looking at?” She yells to them.

One of the children looks back at her and excitedly yells “there’s a shooting star!” While pointing to the sky.

Galèa looks to where the child is pointing and sees a light in the sky. ‘A shooting star during the day? How odd’ thinks Galèa. Then she notices the smoke trailing behind the strange light.

“That’s not a shooting star.” Says Galèa.

“Well then what is it?” Asks one of the other children.

“I have no idea...” Galèa says, cupping her hand over her eyes to shield the sun.

The others working in the garden stop and turn to see what they are staring at.

“It’s getting closer, I think!” Shouts someone.

“It is and it’s going to land!” Shouts another.

Galèa brings her middle finger and thumb to her lips and gives a shrill whistle.

“Everybody listen, let’s head back and see if anyone in town knows what’s going on. Load up.” She yells.

Everyone, almost in unison, grabs their baskets, motions to the children to follow, and heads back to the trucks.

~~~

The whole community saw the light in the sky and stands staring at the large metal object that crash landed where the large fountain in town center used to be. There is so much smoke coming off it that you could make out only the shape of the object, and the heat is so intense everyone has to keep their distance. There are murmurs from the crowd asking ‘what is it’ or ‘what’s going on’. Then over everything there is a clicking and then air hissing noise like a great pressure being released, more clicking, then a pop, and metallic thud. You barely see some sort of movement in the smoky haze. Then as the figures moved closer the vague outline of 3 beings emerge.

“Hello, my name is commander Sheffield. I would like to speak with whoever is in charge.”

Everyone looks around at each other, confused, stunned, frozen. No one knows what to do, no one wants to be the first to make a move. The beings are quite short and stalky in comparison to the native planet dwellers. They wear some kind of protective suits with large, round helmets.

“Does anyone understand me? We’re here to speak with your highest ranking official.” Says commander Sheffield, his voice is muffled by his protective suit.

“We understand you, what did you call yourself? Commander? Our people speak several languages.” Says a voice from the crowd.

A woman steps forward. “You have to forgive us, it isn’t every day someone crash lands in Town Center.” She says with her hands folded.

“Yes, well, we apologize. We didn’t think this planet would be inhabited, certainly not by creatures capable of building such an intricate village. Are you the one that’s in charge around here?” Says commander Sheffield in a slightly agitated tone.

“No, no one is really in charge here. That’s not how our society functions.” She says with a tight smile.

Commander Sheffield scoffs. “Someone has to be in charge, here. You can’t function without a leader.”

“Our ancestors found a long time ago we really don’t, and having someone ‘in charge’ causes more problems then solves them.” She says.

“Alright, well what is your name?” Commander Sheffield asks his annoyance starting to escalate in his tone.

“Call me Maè.” She says, bowing her head slightly.

“Is your atmosphere hospitable? Is there oxygen?” Asks commander Sheffield.

“Our planet is very oxygen rich, yes.” Maè assures him.

Commander Sheffield fidgets with his helmet, twists, then pulls. His face is revealed and it’s similar to the native planet inhabitants in some ways but his features are smaller, squatty looking. Commander Sheffield takes a deep breath, satisfied he motions for the 2 other beings to do the same. They nod to the crowd and smile.

“This is Greer and Brennan.” Says commander Sheffield, motioning to them. “We’re here because our planet became uninhabitable and eventually ravaged by fire. No one saw it coming beforehand so we fled. We were hoping to rebuild here, but it looks like you already have that covered.”

“We would be happy to host you until you find somewhere you could go to rebuild.” Maè says. “Is it just you three?”

“We’ll talk about all that later, but in the meantime we have come an awfully long way and would greatly appreciate being fed.” Says commander Sheffield.

“I think we can arrange a feast to welcome our new guests.” Maè looks around at the crowd for confirmation and sees everyone nodding back at her. “It would be our pleasure.” She says smiling, looking back at the beings.

The native people would quickly regret the decision to welcome the strange beings forever.