My eyes went directly to Goldhaven, centered on my surround and also visible near the edge of our long-range sensor grid. At first little more than a tiny white globe reflecting the light of its nearby star, a well-practiced hand gesture zoomed in one of the auxiliary cameras, changing only my personal view of the planet.

  “Nice job, Tee,” I summarized, beyond unimpressed with the place. “Of all the planets in this galaxy, you picked Tatooine.”

  Goldhaven wasn’t exactly Tatooine, but it was close enough in appearance. Predominantly a pale brown mass, there was little sign of water from orbit, though the shadows of the topography suggested that oceans might have once occupied a swath of what looked like sand near the equator. Mingled with gorges where rivers had once flowed, darker smudges of brown and gray, with occasional splotches of green mixed in, indicated once verdant forests that had mostly dried out and died. No matter what Goldhaven had been in the past, it now appeared to be an inhospitable desert—bleak and barren.

  Hearing my comment, Ben replaced the natural view through the forward transparencies with the zoomed-in feed, revealing the planet to the rest of the crew.

  “I told you we should have gone somewhere closer,” Alyssa said. “We just wasted two weeks.”

  “Jump to conclusions, much?” Tyler replied. “I admit, it looks inhospitable, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get what we came here for.”

  “The atmosphere seems thin but breathable," Ben said. “Comparable to Earth. We aren’t close enough for surface temperature readings, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess that it’s probably pretty hot.”

  “What do you think happened here?” Ally asked.

  “The system’s star is a red giant,” Leo said. “It’s old, and at the end stage of its life cycle before going supernova. I bet the planet is billions of years old. The climate was probably fine before the star’s rise in temperature, but now it’s no longer in the Goldilocks zone.”

  “Seems like that might’ve happened pretty recently,” Tyler said. “There’s still evidence of large cities down there.”

  “Celestial bodies don’t do anything quickly. This process has probably been happening for centuries. If people still live down there, I bet they have underground aquifers or moisture condensers to keep them going. But it can’t be all that comfortable unless they live underground. I’d guesstimate they have maybe another thousand years before they’ll have no choice but to abandon the planet.”

  “Sensors aren’t reading any other planets or moons nearby,” Ben said. “No ships in orbit either, including satellites or debris.”

  “So you’re saying that whoever lives here, they don’t have space flight?” Tyler guessed.

  “They might not have flight or technology of any kind anymore, but judging from the sizes and configurations of those cities, the civilization here was probably well-developed at one time. And now, who knows what they have left if it’s all underground.”

  "Probably why no one’s answering my hails,” Alyssa said from the comms station.

  “Maybe no one’s home at all,” I said. “We have no idea if the Warden’s data is accurate. It could be totally outdated, or a complete fabrication. This could be a totally dead planet.”

  “Gee, I can’t believe the Warden would lie to us,” Tyler announced, his words dripping in sarcasm.

  "It does look pretty quiet down there," Ben admitted. “But…” He drew a circle on the feed, around a faint smudge of light spilling westward from the darkened curve of Goldhaven's nightside. “Those look like lights to me.”

  The thin swath of illumination fringed what I assumed had once been a lake or inland sea. The dim illumination failed to penetrate far past a ridge of towering cliffs fronting dry oceanfront property. Yet that wasn't what grabbed my attention. Instead, I found myself squinting toward the darkness beyond the distant shoreline. If I unfocused my eyes just right, the blackness there seemed to ripple...to almost flow.

  What was out there?

  “I’m not seeing any other light, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other settlements on the far side of the planet,” Ben said. “We’ll know more when we get closer.”

  “Are we sure we want to get closer?” Matt asked. “I’m with Noah. This place feels like a bust.”

  “Luke Skywalker came from Tatooine,” Tyler said, defending his pick. “He wasn’t a bust. You never know.”

  “I’m with Tee on this one,” Ben said. “There are lights, which means there’s intelligent life. Considering we know zero about Warexia or the Warden, even folk tales would be helpful right now. Otherwise, our next pick could be just as bad. Or worse.”

  “Not if we pick a larger population,” Meg said.

  “That’s not a given,” Leo countered. “We could drop into the middle of a war zone or something. Tyler’s right. This planet doesn’t look like much, but that may not be a bad thing.”

  “Thank you, Leo,” Tee said.

  “It can’t hurt anything to swing in for a closer look,” Matt said, opening the throttle on the main thrusters. I felt the light shift as we gained velocity. The last two weeks had allowed Meg and Leo to repair most of the damage to the ship, including the thruster Head Case had lost to the unidentified ship that attacked us in Earth’s orbit. The whole ride felt smoother for it, though it was a subtle change.

  Having intentionally come out of hyperspace at a distance from Goldhaven where we couldn’t be taken by surprise, we remained quiet and introspective as we burned toward the planet. Soon enough, we were at the natural distance of the original zoom-in.

  “Let’s see what we’ve got,” Ben said as the PCS shifted from less accurate long-range sensors to the primary arrays. His fingers tapping on the control board was the only other sound on the flight deck as we waited for the main display to show a satellite view of Goldhaven's northern subcontinent.

  It zeroed in on an isolated concentration of crumbling structures tucked into a sheltered cove along the dried-up coastline. Now that we were closer, I could see that nothing but encroaching badlands surrounded three sides of the settlement. Some water still remained of the ocean, though it had receded from the old shoreline by hundreds of feet. Other than the faint glow, little else suggested this lonely outpost hosted any living things.

  "Tricky approach for a landing,” Matt said. “It’s such a treacherous location, I wonder why they settled here."

  “I doubt it was so treacherous a few hundred years ago,” Ben replied.

  “True. How do you want to play this? For all we know, whoever lives here has never seen a spaceship before.”

  “And they might not be friendly to unidentified visitors,” Alyssa added.

  Ben turned toward Alyssa and Tyler. “I don't suppose either of you happened to pack a WE COME IN PEACE banner?”

  "No, sorry,” Tyler replied. “Never got around to packing. Period.”

  "We did leave in kind of a hurry,” Alyssa added, tongue-in-cheek.

  “You mean you don’t keep banners like that in storage?” I asked, joining in. ”You know, for the little green men on Mars.”

  Ben grinned. “I really should have had Asshole print a couple of those up.”

  “I doubt whoever is down there can read English,” Leo said, apparently missing the nature and point of our banter.

  “I’m still not convinced there’s anything down there,” Meg added. “Those lights could be the remnants of civilization, not proof a civilization still exists.”

  “Since we aren’t getting an answer on the comms and our sensors aren’t picking up wireless activity, there’s only one way to find out,” Ben said. “Matt, take us down, but stay ready to bail if things go south.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” he replied, guiding Head Case into a gentle descent, angling toward the settlement. We plowed through the thin atmosphere, violet skies giving way to an endless, ugly brown landscape.

  “Readings show the surface temperature is close to a hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit,” Ben announced. “Humidity is ten percent.”

  “Sweater weather,” Tyler joked.

  “There’s a reason no one lives in Death Valley,” I added. “I don’t suppose you guys have climate controlled underwear?”

  “Actually, we do,” Matt said. ”But let’s worry about that later.”

  I watched the arid wasteland gaining definition as we continued our descent. Goldhaven was nothing like what I had envisioned as our first destination outside the Milky Way. In my daydreams, I’d imagined something picturesque, with all kinds of alien creatures and exotic humanoids in a range of colors, perhaps selling overpriced souvenirs in glistening cities. Of course, that expectation was stupidly naive, but right now even the real Tatooine looked more appealing than this grim proxy.

  Our shadow swept in a hurry across the barren landscape, the ragged peaks ahead growing steadily larger in the forward viewport. Matt banked gently, dropping us low over the crumbling stone spires, the deep gorges and sheer cliff faces, clearing one last rise before dropping down over the flat coastline. He cut the throttle considerably, letting friction slow our approach.

  Finer details of the settlement emerged as we neared it. Instead of civilized streets and powered structures, we discovered only the remains of what might have once been the city from my daydreams. A pack of animals resembling hairless coyotes lifted their heads from small piles of refuse to look in our direction. There were no immediate signs of life beyond the naked doggos.

  “No way sixteen thousand people live here,” Tyler groaned as Head Case swept over the settlement at a few thousand feet. “No way anybody lives here,” he corrected.

  “The Warden’s population stats are completely wrong,” Alyssa agreed.

  “Are we sure this is where civilization should be?” I asked.

  “Matt, bring us back around, and find somewhere to land,” Ben said.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Alyssa asked.

  “Not at all,” Ben replied. “But we have to work with what we’ve got.”

  Matt slowed Head Case even more, making a slow, wide arc over the dwindling ocean to come about on approach to the settlement. “I can put us down there, near the edge of the plateau.”

  “I feel sorry for the sucker who paid oceanfront prices for such scenic property,” Tyler joked about the landing zone. Rubble speckled the area, confirming a structure had stood there at some point in Goldhaven’s history. “Oh, crap!” He threw his hand out, pointer finger aiming toward an unseen target.

  All eyes followed the line of his finger toward a pair of figures emerging from the blowing dust. Even at a distance their alien nature was obvious. With a height rivaling the Warden’s Prall, combined with an awkwardly slight build, it seemed as though we’d stumbled on a society of Slendermen. Rubbery black skin glistened under the harsh sunlight, draping their elongated skulls and apparently naked forms. Their large dark eyes fixed unblinkingly in our direction.

  “At least we know now this place isn’t abandoned,” Ben said.

  “No, but they’re moving right to where I planned to touch down,” Matt answered.

  "Maybe they’re friendly,” Meg suggested without enthusiasm. “Coming out to greet us.”

  "Yeah, right,” Matt replied, putting the external guns on standby. “We didn’t get a chance yet to print out any of those banners.”

  The comment drew tense laughter from a couple of us. Otherwise, his remark fell flat.

  “I’m going down to the armory,” Ben announced. “Matt, you’re with me. Noah, take the stick.”

  “You want me to land?” I replied, surprised.

  “You don’t think you can do it?”

  I shook my head. “No, I can do it.”

  “Good, because I want Matt to meet the natives with me.” He tapped his comm badge. “Ixy, meet us in the hangar.”

  “Yesss, Captainsss,” she replied.

  “What about us?” Ally asked, motioning to herself and Tyler.

  “Wait here,” Ben answered.

  “Sidelined again?” Tyler questioned. “Come on, man. We’ve been training for two weeks so we can be useful.”

  Ben considered before nodding. “If that’s what you want, let’s go. Noah, you have the stick and the flight deck.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  Tyler grinned as he jumped out of his seat. Alyssa was a little more restrained, but she rose and hurried to join them as they exited the flight deck. Within seconds, I was alone with Meg and Leo.

  “What does that mean, I have the flight deck?” I asked them.

  “It means you’re in charge,” Leo replied. “You get to boss us around.”

  “That doesn’t seem right. You’re actual crew. We’re just renting the ship.”

  “Exactly. Which means you have command when the owners aren’t around.”

  “And sometimes when they are,” Meg added. “If you read the contract in its entirety.”

  I swallowed hard. “Uh…I never did.”

  Meg offered an adorable, spritely chuckle. “You probably should.”

  “Noted. I’ll do a closer read-through once we’re out of trouble. If we’re ever out of trouble.”

  “Ben will bend over backwards to make everything right. That’s who he is.”

  Returning my attention to the camera feed in my surround, I noticed that our presence continued to attract attention I wasn’t sure we wanted. More elongated forms converged from hovels and rubble piles, massing like an angry mob. They clutched wicked looking spears, though at the moment, their three-fingered hands held them non threateningly. It didn’t matter that the spears were ancient technology, I got the distinct impression the mob could shift into a lethal threat within a single breath.

  "That's quite the welcome wagon,” Leo remarked.

  Part of me was grateful Ben had left me behind. As excited as I was to make contact with another alien race, it seemed this one was no less aggressive than the Prall, and I wasn’t in the mood to have a hole punched through my chest. Hopefully, these aliens were at least in control of themselves and their decisions.

  “Have you guys done anything like this before?” I asked, adjusting the throttle to slow Head Case further, while increasing power to the anti-gravity plates tucked below the hangar bay decking. I could hear their faint throbbing as the ship came to a near-hover a few hundred feet over the aliens’ heads.

  “You mean make contact with a technologically inferior alien race?” Meg said. “No. This is our first time, too.” That didn’t make me feel any better. “Don’t worry. Ben knows what he’s doing,” she tacked on after reading my tense expression.

  “Noah, do you copy?” Ben said, his voice loud and clear over the comms.

  “I copy. What do you need, Captain?”

  “Nothing right now. I’m just testing the comms. I’ll keep my channel open so you can hear what’s happening. If things get ugly, get the ship out of here. Don’t get caught, too.”

  I didn’t want to acknowledge Ben’s order to abandon them, because then I would feel compelled to follow through. “I’ll do what I have to,” I replied instead.

  “Copy. We’re on our way to the hangar. Bring us in for a landing.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” I replied in the same tone Matt used to affirm commands. “Initiating landing sequence.”

  “You don’t need to say that,” Matt said. “Just tell us when we’re skids down.”

  “Right. We’re on final approach. Skids down in twenty seconds.”

  “And try not to crush any locals beneath the ship,” Matt added. “That doesn’t tend to get relations off on the right foot.”

  “Ten-four.” I adjusted the flight controls, bringing Head Case ever closer to the arid ground. The aliens had stopped emerging from their shanty town, but there were enough out there that I couldn’t easily count them all. Four hundred? Five? Not quite the sixteen thousand the Warden’s map had promised, but enough to overwhelm us if things got out of hand.

  Then again, how bad could it get when there was no way we each spoke the others’ language?

  The aliens stopped their advance less than twenty feet from the landing zone, leaving me enough room to safely bring the ship down. Despite their primitive appearance and living conditions, their composed demeanor suggested they had seen spacecraft before.

  I focused on the final fifty feet, repeating the motions I had practiced in simulation dozens of times over the last fourteen days. Hand steady on the stick, I reached over and flipped the switch to extend the landing skids, the vibration through the hull confirming the release. A few seconds later, Head Case settled gently on its tripod legs.

  “Nice landing,” Matt praised through the comms. “I knew you had it in you.”

  “It’s not like I just blew up the Death Star or anything.” I replied.

  “Still impressive for your first time. Except you forgot to tell us we’re skids down.”

  “You didn’t give me a chance,” I complained.

  “How do the natives look?” Ben asked, waiting to make their appearance.

  I eyed the aliens. Three of them had stepped forward, implying they were the leadership. Now that we were so close, I could tell that the rubbery black I took for skin from a distance wasn’t skin at all, but a protective covering of some kind, like a wetsuit for the sun. A sunsuit? The skin-hugging material clung to their faces, revealing only their large eyes, while giving no hint as to their male or female gender or even if there was that kind of distinction between them.

  “They don’t look like they’re itching for a fight,” I told Ben, noting the aliens with the spears remained back with the rest of the group. “If I had to guess, they seem like they want to talk.”